This Lions season feels like something special, a feeling that hasn't been sensed since 1999. They should make the playoffs. Mathematically it would seem nearly a given, but I'll leave the possibility that it's not a done deal yet given my frustration with math.

The season has been special for so many reasons, but most importantly because the Lions have exceeded expectations. It seemed far fetched to think this team would have two shots at double-digit wins with a couple of games remaining on their schedule and yet here they sit. It seemed foolish to expect that a fifth running back option would emerge in the second half of the season and show the form that had so many fans excited years ago when he first burst on the scene and yet, here's Kevin Smith straight off the couch and into a Lions uniform. And it sure as hell seemed unlikely that an NFL team would be able to come back from four separate deficits of 13 points or more, only to emerge victorious, and yet...open up your NFL record book and see the Detroit Lions!

The excitement is legitimate, the team is good and destined for better things. The biggest question mark about the Lions coming in to this season was can they keep Matthew Stafford healthy? That has been answered every single week with Stafford picking himself up off the turf and getting his team ready for the next big play.

Sunday against the Raiders, we saw what a franchise quarterback is supposed to do, rally the troops late in a road game and make the plays by finding playmakers. Calvin Johnson is the best receiver in football period! If they can stay healthy and get Louis Delmas back in the next couple of weeks, this team will finally bring back all of the skeptics and there would be not a single soul to proclaim they were "Lions Free". What a day that will be!