Lions are a better team and playing much better than they were this time last year. Last Thanksgiving, they were in the midst of a 4-3 stretch that included a blowout loss at Baltimore, a defense-free wild win over the Chargers, the improbable comeback win over the Bears after a 57-minute dud, the Thanksgiving spanking by Green Bay that wasn't as close as the 7-point final score suggests, and a spanking at Chicago.