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NEW ORLEANS -- Just a quick note here before heading back to NFC North blog headquarters.

So we're on the same page, please know that Saturday night's result at the Superdome means the Green Bay Packers will host the winner of Sunday afternoon's game between the Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants next weekend. That game will be Jan. 15 at Lambeau Field. As soon as the matchup is set, I'll post a Quick Take of my initial thoughts on it Sunday afternoon.

I'll also have a Free Head Exam on the Detroit Lions coming in a few hours. Have a lovely morning.

I had no reason not to trust regular reader @swarheit, who tweeted this scenario to me earlier Sunday night. I just had to wait for official confirmation, and now I have it.

Here's how the Detroit Lions can clinch a playoff berth, their first since 1999, as early as Saturday:

1. With a victory or tie Saturday over the San Diego Chargers at Ford Field. (What an early Christmas present that would be!) OR
2. These three games ending this way: A Green Bay Packers victory over the Chicago Bears, a San Francisco 49ers victory over the Seattle Seahawks and a Cincinnati Bengals victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Any combination of one loss apiece by the Bears, Seahawks and Cardinals during the next two weeks would do the trick. But what you see above are the two scenarios for making it happen in Week 16.

CHICAGO -- A few thoughts at halftime from Soldier Field, finally:

• I said "finally" because the first half took an hour and 45 minutes. We're on track to start the third quarter at about 6:20 p.m. ET.
• All things considered, the Detroit Lions are fortunate to be in a two-score game. Turnovers on each of their first two possessions, and questionable execution in their punting game, could have made it much worse.


• Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, by my count, missed on 10 consecutive throws at one point and was not sharp at all in the first quarter. You can only assume he is affected by a finger injury he suffered two weeks against the Denver Broncos. Overall, he has completed 14 of 28 passes.
• Receiver Calvin Johnson hasn't been sharp, either. He lost his first fumble in two seasons in the first quarter and dropped what probably would have been a touchdown pass in the second quarter.
• With that said, the Chicago Bears defense has been exceptional. It has two sacks, but most notably, Lions receivers are getting no yards after the catch. That's a credit to the Bears' coverage and tackling skills.
• Kick returner Devin Hester is clearly not full strength. All he has is an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown and a second return of 29 yards. He hasn’t played on offense and went to the locker room in the second quarter for unknown reasons, but it has been reported he is dealing with a sprained ankle and strep throat.
• Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has completed six passes to receiver Earl Bennett and three to the rest of the Bears' pass-catchers.
• I know there are some Bears fans who are nervous, but the Lions haven't been sharp enough on offense to make this a concerning situation, at least not yet.
• Wind has played a role in this game. Most notably, it seemed to get hold of Robbie Gould's 43-yard field goal attempt just before halftime.

DETROIT -- December 5, 2010.

"That date stands out in my mind," Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola was saying in low tones Sunday afternoon. Not since that seemingly mundane winter day had Raiola's Lions lost, in any venue or under any circumstances. Over the next 312 days, the Lions ran off 13 consecutive victories, if you count the 2011 preseason, and captured both the city of Detroit and the NFL by storm.

Now, as Raiola said Sunday: "We'll see what we're made of."

The Lions were bound to lose at some point. I don't think any of us were expecting an undefeated season. But we'll soon see if they are a team built for long-term success or if they will tumble back to the rest of the NFL pack.

I suspect it is the former, even after a disappointing 25-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, a game punctuated by a stalled offense and concluded by a fracas that revealed a new level of passion and/or lunacy from the Lions' head coach. I know that Lions coach Jim Schwartz was offended by a purported breach of postgame protocol, but to me Jim Harbaugh's jubilance was both compliment and a comment on the Lions' progress and new standing within the league.

Before Dec. 5 of last year, NFL teams didn't celebrate when they beat the Lions. They walked off the field numbly because a victory was a matter of course. Harbaugh and his 49ers are now 5-1, and they fully recognized how formidable the Lions have become.

"We overcame a really good team," Harbaugh said.

The Lions lost Sunday for a number of schematic reasons. They were at a loss against 49ers running back Frank Gore, who ripped off a 55-yard run in the third quarter and finished with 141 yards on 15 carries. Their offense, meanwhile, was left dinking and dunking down the field, inhibited by an ineffective running game and distracted by a 49ers pass rush that sacked quarterback Matthew Stafford five times and hit on him 10 other occasions.

That the 49ers sent an extra pass rusher on only one passing play, according to ESPN Stats & Information, is a bit concerning. But for the most part, the Lions played step-for-step with an opponent that has now emerged as one of the NFC's top teams.

In the grand scheme, that's an encouraging sign. But here is a more important one: The Lions were a determined and resolute group afterward, one that recognizes its progress and has no intention of losing the opportunity it has created for itself in 2011.

As silly as it might have appeared to outsiders, players were thrilled to see Schwartz's postgame charge at Harbaugh and seemed intent on channeling his passion.

"Whether you've got a suit on or you're suiting up for the game," receiver Nate Burleson said, "everyone in this organization is passionate about what we put together and the logo on our helmets. It's not just players. You guys might see it on game day. We talk to you when we're open to the media, but I don't think you guys truly understand how passionate we are about being a good team. And that is obviously seen in the coaches as well as the players."

I know most Lions fans aren't happy with my post on Schwartz's postgame antics. I'm going to stand my ground. I think there are better ways for an NFL coach to comport himself in a moment of high emotions, regardless of the circumstances.

But I don't mind saying that Schwartz's reaction is one of the reasons I think the Lions will move past this loss and get back to it next week against the Atlanta Falcons. I don't think Schwartz was frustrated as much as he was angry and unwilling to accept defeat. (I'm thinking Schwartz also didn't like the fact Harbaugh got to celebrate the way he usually does, but I'm done with that topic for now.)

Through these past 312 days, the Lions "haven't known what it's like to lose," Raiola said. That's a good thing. The Lions got a taste of it Sunday against a really good team and didn't like it one bit. And it wasn't just Schwartz. Lions defensive end Cliff Avril got into it via Twitter with 49ers offensive lineman Anthony Davis, who has since deleted his share of the back-and-forth.

With that said, the Lions will have to address some important football issues this week. At the top of the list is figuring out an answer to the kind of athletic front seven the 49ers presented. For the most part, the 49ers played tight coverage on short-and-intermediate routes and get away with it. The Lions didn't beat them for the kind of big plays that catapulted them for to the 5-0 start.

"We were just behind the sticks today," Stafford said. "We didn't do enough as an offense to make them pay."

But none of the Lions' issues Sunday seemed permanent nor debilitating. They still have an offense that can be explosive and a defense that makes its share of big plays. The only conclusion we can draw, as Schwartz said, is the Lions "are not going to go 16-0."

Schwartz let his emotions get the best of him Sunday, but his team appears built with the appropriate levels of passion and realism to take what it learned over the past 312 days and continue on the right path.

"You can't be too disappointed when you're playing against one of the best defenses in the league," Burleson said. "Obviously our expectations are higher for ourselves. … Today was more or less two very competitive teams and a lot of adrenaline in the air."

It might sound trite, but it's true: You win some, and by rule you're going to lose some, too. The Lions' displeasure with Sunday's result suggests they're in for more of the former and less of the latter.

DETROIT -- Greetings from the general Detroit Metro area, where people keep telling me that Monday night will feel like a playoff atmosphere at Ford Field. I can tell you this much: Members of the tourist industry -- airline employees, car rental agents and hotel staff -- are all decked out in their Detroit Lions garb. When you arrive in Detroit, there is no doubt a football game is fixin' to be played.

That's a start!

I'll be heading downtown in a few hours. But first I wanted to hit a topic that ESPN's Trent Dilfer treated with better context than I could. In his weekly ESPN Insider column, Dilfer breaks down the Lions' offense in a way I haven't seen before.

First, the raw numbers from ESPN Stats & Information:

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has thrown 88 percent of his passes (141 of 161) from the shotgun. Through the first four weeks of the season, Stafford had thrown 27 more shotgun passes than the next most-frequent NFL quarterback.

But an interesting thing has happened on the rare occasion when Stafford has taken a traditional center snap. He's completed 15 of those 20 passes, including six for touchdowns, and hasn't thrown an interception.

Dilfer, naturally has a strong opinion on this dynamic. He thinks the Lions are smart to be in the spread as often as they are, considering their lack of a power running game and the premium they're putting on protecting Stafford. Their success in the small sample of under-center plays should not spur them to do more of it, Dilfer writes. Instead, it reflects in several cases an audible by Stafford. In others, the Lions lucked into favorable matchups.

Many NFL teams use the shotgun, some as their most popular formation. But Dilfer writes that Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has devised the NFL's purest form of the spread offense that he's seen:

Without getting into all the nuances of the various spread offenses you see at the college level, I'll say this: In reviewing the film, I've watched every snap the Lions have taken on offense this season (more than once, in fact), and I don't remember a team running a system closer to what, say, Kevin Wilson was running for years at Oklahoma, producing a run of great quarterbacks. Even New England isn't quite like this, and Tom Brady is in the shotgun constantly. But that's what the Lions under offensive coordinator Scott Linehan are doing this season.

As we get closer to game time Monday, the Chicago Bears should know what the Lions plan to do. How to stop it will be their challenge. If you're interested, here is a handy filter link for all of our "MNF in Detroit" posts over the past week.

The Detroit Lions will be the first NFC North team to get on the field for a training camp practice, and so it makes sense for them to have made signing their draft class a high priority. After a flurry of agreements Thursday afternoon, the Lions are down to one unsigned rookie: First-round pick Nick Fairley.

The Lions have a 10:15 a.m. practice scheduled for Friday morning.

Chicago Bears

Signed

• Round 5(a): Linebacker J.T. Thomas
• Round 5(b): Quarterback Nathan Enderle

Unsigned

• Round 1: Offensive lineman Gabe Carimi
• Round 2: Defensive tackle Stephen Paea
• Round 3: Safety Chris Conte

Detroit Lions

Signed

• Round 2(a): Receiver Titus Young
• Round 2(b): Running back Mikel Leshoure
• Round 5: Linebacker Doug Hogue
• Round 7: Offensive lineman Johnny Culbreath

Unsigned

• Round 1: Defensive tackle Nick Fairley

Green Bay Packers

Unsigned

• Round 1: Offensive lineman Derek Sherrod
• Round 2: Receiver Randall Cobb
• Round 3: Running back Alex Green
• Round 4: Cornerback Davon House
• Round 5: Tight end D.J. Williams
• Round 6(a): Offensive lineman Caleb Schlauderaff
• Round 6(b): Linebacker D.J. Smith
• Round 6(c): Defensive end Ricky Elmore
• Round 7(a): Tight end Ryan Taylor
• Round 7(b): Defensive tackle Lawrence Guy

Minnesota Vikings

Unsigned

• Round 1: Quarterback Christian Ponder
• Round 2: Tight end Kyle Rudolph
• Round 4: Defensive tackle Christian Ballard
• Round 5: Cornerback Brandon Burton
• Round 6(a): Offensive lineman DeMarcus Love
• Round 6(b): Safety Mistral Raymond
• Round 6(c): Center Brandon Fusco
• Round 6(d): Linebacker Ross Homan
• Round 7(a): Defensive end D'Aundre Reed
• Round 7(b): Receiver Stephen Burton

Jon Anik and Cris Carter recap the Philadelphia Eagles win over the Detroit Lions.

How meaningless is the fourth preseason game of the year? So much so that we here at ESPN.com have posted our 2010 season preview.

Our panel of experts predicted the following consensus ranking for the NFC North:

1. Green Bay Packers
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Chicago Bears
4. Detroit Lions

ESPN's Adam Schefter was the only voter to deviate from that ranking, flipping the Bears and Lions' positions.

We have a preview page set up for each team. Follow these links for the Bears, the Lions, the Packers and the Vikings.

Be sure to check out the video below, where ESPN's Monday Night Football announcing crew offers its thoughts on the NFC North. Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden pick an over/under for wins this season.

Dennis Dixon was 6-for-7 with a touchdown in the Pittsburgh Steelers' 23-7 victory over the Detroit Lions

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Okay, we might as well get this out of the way now: I'm headed to Houston and will cover Monday night's game between Minnesota and the Texans. No sense in arguing about it. The game is on ESPN's air and will give us our best (and only) preseason idea if quarterback Brett Favre is going to be ready to play effectively when the regular season begins in two weeks.

If all goes well, I'll arrive in Houston Sunday night in time to take in the entire Chicago-Denver game, which is also nationally televised (on NBC). ESPN Chicago's Jeff Dickerson will be on the scene at Invesco Field, and along with my AFC West colleague Bill Williamson, I'll be adding some Bears-related thoughts to the blog sometime before Monday morning.

I'll have some pregame Bears thoughts posted by mid-afternoon. Thanks for your patience and continued interest during this crazy summer. For now, let's take a Sunday spin around the NFC North:

• Green Bay safety Nick Collins opens up about the offseason death of his father in this interview with Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• Packers receiver Greg Jennings (concussion) might not play in the team's preseason finale Thursday, writes Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press was impressed with the play of the Lions' offensive line Saturday against Indianapolis.
• Amelia Rayno of the Detroit News reviews the two-catch preseason debut of Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew.
• I like how the News' Bob Wojnowski described the quarterback competition between Daunte Culpepper and Matthew Stafford: "Stafford is playing like he has a shot to grab something, which is precisely [coach Jim] Schwartz's master plan. Culpepper is playing like he's trying to hang onto something, which also is Schwartz's master plan."
• Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times believes veteran Bears tailback Adrian Peterson will have to beat out tight end Michael Gaines for a roster spot.
• Denver's 3-4 defense will give the Bears a dry run for their Sept. 13 regular season opener against Green Bay, notes Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune.
• Minnesota right tackle Phil Loadholt didn't practice Saturday and might not be available for Monday night's game, writes Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Loadholt's ailment is unknown.
• Favre has lightened up the Vikings' huddle, writes the Pioneer Press' Sean Jensen.
• The threat of local television blackouts in Minnesota has not completely dissipated since Favre's arrival, notes Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Thanks to the magic of digital cable and the NFL Network, I was able to catch a good bit of Detroit's matinee matchup with Indianapolis. The Lions made off with an 18-17 victory, and here are a few thoughts:

• Both Daunte Culpepper and Matthew Stafford played well, if differently, and neither pulled away from the other in my book. Culpepper's passing totals (67 yards on seven completions) were limited by what seemed to be a pretty conservative approach in the early going. Whether by design or coincidence, Culpepper continued to play it safe and didn't make any mistakes. He didn't connect on any of his three downfield passes -- one to receiver Calvin Johnson, one to tight end Brandon Pettigrew and one to tight end Casey Fitzsimmons -- but did make a nice improvisation pass to receiver Bryant Johnson for a touchdown. Stafford, on the other hand, was more aggressive but made more mistakes. He threw a bad interception on a deep pass for Bryant Johnson and nearly threw another when pressured near the end zone. Overall, Culpepper and Stafford seem pretty close in their competition. Some people believe that favors Stafford, but I don't know.
• This would have been an appropriate game plan for a regular-season game. The Lions' starting offense played ball-control in the first half, keeping the Colts' explosive offense on the sideline. Overall, the Lions used 22 running plays in the first half and held the ball for more than 21 of a possible 30 minutes. That helped a depleted Lions defense that was playing without linebacker Ernie Sims and starting cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Henry. The Colts' offense went 80 yards in less than three minutes for its first score, but a Lions blitz ended the Colts' second possession with a punt. I don't know if I trust the Lions' defense over the long haul, but on Saturday this combination seemed to work.
• There has been some discussion about whether tailback Kevin Smith can adjust to a traditional man-blocking scheme after playing in a zone scheme for most of his career. Saturday, he looked pretty good, finishing with 83 all-purpose yards. In fact, I like the backfield the Lions have put together with Smith, Maurice Morris and rookie Aaron Brown. As always with the Lions, the question will be whether the offensive line can open enough holes. It did Saturday, with help from rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew.
  

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Thanks to everyone for hanging in through Friday's technical meltdown. For those of you who like to peruse the archives, you'll notice that most of last week's posts are missing. We're hoping to get those restored soon.

But it's full speed ahead in the meantime. We hit the highlights of Green Bay's romp in Arizona here, and here are a few thoughts about Detroit's preseason game against Indianapolis. The Lions have a 1 p.m. ET kickoff scheduled at Ford Field.

I'll check back in later Saturday, after the Lions game concludes. In the meantime, here's what's happening in Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota:

• Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press wants the Lions to just announce that Daunte Culpepper will be their starting quarterback. Sharp: "I guarantee you if Detroit home blackouts weren't a serious issue this year, [coach Jim] Schwartz would've long ago rendered Culpepper as his starter."
• The Lions are keeping their scheme close to the vest this summer, writes Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the Free Press.
• Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago analyzes recent Bears drafts after defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, a third-round pick in 2006, was lost for the season with a knee injury.
• Bears receivers Brandon Rideau and Devin Aromashodu remain in the thick of competition for roster spots, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times.
• Minnesota coach Brad Childress is wearing a customized headset this season because of a hearing problem, write Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune.
• Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press profiles new Vikings safety Tyrell Johnson.
  

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Dane Looker is hoping to be the next Chad Ochocinco, at least in one regard. Looker, a receiver who spent the past seven seasons in St. Louis, worked as Detroit's placekicker Tuesday in practice. The event occurred less than a week after Ochocinco kicked an extra point and also kicked off in a preseason game for Cincinnati.

According to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press, Looker converted all four attempts -- including a 43-yarder into the wind. Lions coach Jim Schwartz threw Looker into the mix when kicker Swayze Waters reported a sore hamstring. Regular kicker Jason Hanson is recovering from what has been described as minor knee surgery.

During the regular season, punters often serve as the emergency placekicker. But Looker has been working on kicks in practice for most of his career and said he once converted a 56-yarder during pregame warm-ups.

Continuing around the NFC North:
Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com looks at the potential contributions of the Lions' rookie class this season.Great headline on Bob McGinn's story about Green Bay linebacker Brady Poppinga and outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Loony Tune."Packers defensive lineman Justin Harrell, who thought he might have to retire last week, now believes he will play again, writes Tom Pelissero of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.Chicago re-signed special-teams ace Darrell McGlover for linebacker depth, notes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times.Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune notes six things we've learned about new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. Among them: He has a great arm but will throw interceptions.It's still not clear if Minnesota receiver Bernard Berrian (hamstring) will play next Monday at Houston, writes Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune.The Vikings did get quarterback Sage Rosenfels (ankle) and defensive end Jared Allen (foot) back on the practice field Tuesday, writes Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

During my time covering Scott Linehan in Minnesota, I wouldn't have characterized him as a fire and brimstone guy. Like most coaches, Linehan had a temper. But I rarely saw him really let loose during practice.

It sounds like Tuesday was one of those days for Detroit's new offensive coordinator, however. After one particularly sloppy drill, Linehan stopped practice and, according to coach Jim Schwartz, gave the offense an “ear full."
Schwartz: “They didn't have a very good period on the third down period, and we were getting ready to do a red zone period, and he brought them up and gave them an ear full, and I think they responded really well. I think [Daunte Culpepper's] group went like three touchdowns right in a row to lead that series off. And sometimes practice starts to lull a little bit and you have to get the players attention a little bit and let them know, ‘Hey, this isn't acceptable [and] we're not going to continue in this vein.' Scott was embarrassed about their performance and they did something about it."
By all accounts, the Lions turned in a terrible performance in Saturday night's preseason loss at Cleveland. It's good to know the showing didn't go over well internally.