The Detroit Lions have won back-to-back games for the first time in a calendar year.

Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer recently examined why Dan Campbell's squad look increasingly dangerous, following a gutsy victory against the Green Bay Packers.

As Breer explained, "The bigger thing, though, is the reminder of how that roster was assembled, and how the young core is filled with smart guys like (Jahmyr) Gibbs who now have the experience to match. It’s also why, before that 10-play, 71-yard drive, the team could survive a Dan Campbell dice roll, where he left the offense on for a fourth-and-1 from the Lions’ own 24 in tie game with 4:53 left."

The NFC is not as strong as it once appeared, as the Los Angles Rams have stumbled out of the gates.

After early struggles defensively, Kelvin Sheppard has improved the play of the secondar,y, largely through the improved play of D.J. Reed and the emergence of rookie Keith Abney and third-year cornerback Ennis Rakestraw.

Safety Brian Branch gave the defense a spark and there is still hope Kerby Joseph will return to action at some point this season.

Detroit's roster is used to their head coach taking calculated risks, so the debate on the outside regarding Campbell''s in-game decisions do not impact the former NFL tight end.

"As a result, they’re getting closer to controlling the NFC North. Next week, they’ll get the undefeated Vikings at home," writes Breer. "And they couldn’t be more ready for that after riding out some bumps, and injuries, early in the year. Branch and Cade Mays are back now. Joseph will be soon. The team, coming together and beginning to illustrate how Campbell and GM Brad Holmes built it, is starting to roll."

Quarterback Jared Goff Goff has steadily inserted himself into MVP conversations the last couple of weeks. He has tossed 14 touchdowns without throwing an interception yet this year.

Detroit's offensive line only allowed five pressures against the Packers and are expecting to gel with the return of Cade Mays to the lineup. This season, the veteran signal-caller has only been sacked 12 times.

"I mentioned this all the time. Good teams win multiple games at multiple points in a season," said Campbell earlier this week. "And so this is a step in the right direction. We have got back-to-back wins. We need to try to put – stack some more here together. So, this was big. That was against a good opponent that was hot in our division. So those are good things, man. And so we have got to build off of it. And obviously we have got another hot team coming in right now, Minnesota, that we're going to have to be on top of our game. We have got to play a lot cleaner than we did against Green Bay.

"But man, there's some things we are definitely getting better at. I'm excited about this O-line playing together. I mentioned this before, but now that we've kind of got those guys going here, we can get this five settled in and let them just soak them with reps together in real games and let them grow," Campbell added. "And then I'm excited for the defense where it's going. We are improving right now. And this is going to be a big task. This is a tall task against a really good opponent with some weapons, but it's another, man. We're excited about this, man. Second division game at home. So it's good, man. It's good to get a win.”