The Lions have all but eliminated the fullback position from their offense. They released Jerome Felton, the lone true fullback on the roster from last season, this week. The Lions have featured mostly one-back or no-back sets on offense. When they have gone to two-backs, they have used No. 3 tight end Will Heller in an H-back role.

--How good has quarterback Matthew Stafford been this preseason? The Lions scored at least 30 points in the first three exhibition games and Stafford was 24 for 31, 356 yards, five touchdowns and no turnovers. His rating -- 154.0.

"You judge a quarterback by his ability to get you in a good play, make good decisions, throw accurate passes and lead you to scores," coach Jim Schwartz said. "He's done that."

The four quarterbacks combined through three exhibition games - Stafford, Shaun Hill, Drew Stanton and Zac Robinson - are 68 for 100, 888 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception.

--The Lions hit the Patriots with a taste of their own medicine last Saturday. They came out in a hurry-up offense, scoring 10 points in less than eight minutes. Stafford engineered three scoring drives, two less than two minutes, one 2:38.

"That is part of our offense," Schwartz said. "We practice it every day. It's just something we do. When you have a quarterback that can handle the line of scrimmage and you have smart players that can handle it, it can put you in good positions. It's a weapon we can use."

--The Lions harassed Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throughout the first half, sacking him twice and hitting him five times. Twice defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh knocked him down.

When asked if he thought Brady got frustrated, Suh said, "I don't pay attention to his emotions. My job is to continue to rattle him, get after him and be in his face. When he starts yelling at me to leave him alone, then I know I've completed my job."

Did that happen?

"No," Suh said. "He doesn't talk much out there. He's a great quarterback and I have the utmost respect for him."

--PK Jason Hanson meant this in the nicest way. "I am glad Dave Rayner is gone," he said, after Rayner was released on Monday, meaning for the 20th season Hanson would be the Lions kicker. "I am glad he's gone because he is good. Dave deserves to play in the NFL and I am just glad it's not right now and right here." Hanson, proving he was healthy after knee injuries hampered him the last two seasons, won the tight kicking battle. Rayner signed with Dallas.

BY THE NUMBERS

29 - Touchdowns scored in the red zone last season in 45 trips.

9 - Touchdowns scored in the red zone in 10 trips by quarterback Matthew Stafford.

100 - Increase in points scored from 2009 to 2010, 6.3 per game.

125 - Decrease in points allowed from 2009 to 2010, 7.8 per game.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I think that the players themselves are very confident. There's a sense on this team that we're going to be a good team and the players expect that of themselves. You don't want to get carried away, but I like the fact that there's healthy confidence...(But) we still have to play. It's nice to hear nice things being said, but at the end of the day, we have to go out and win football games." --Owner William Clay Ford, Jr.

Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.