Overlooked a bit in the Lions’ 34-28 nail-biter of a win over the Vikings on Sunday was the performance of quarterback Matthew Stafford.

His numbers weren’t gaudy — 20 of 29 for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His rating was a respectable 115.2.

Since his broken index finger has healed, he’s thrown just one interception and that was late in the loss at New Orleans when he was trying to make something, anything happen.

Stafford has been consistent saying he doesn’t care about his stats as long as they win.

“We need to play as good as we need to play to win every week,’’ Stafford said Sunday. “You know, that’s the way it is. Some games are going to be prettier than others. You look at the first-half stats of this one, we played well. We didn’t play as well as we could in the second half but we got the win.’’

The defense pitched in with two touchdowns — one on a fumble recovery and one on an interception return. In this win the defense was the story.

But the Lions can’t get to the playoffs without a well-oiled, smooth-running offense.

“I thought we made some big plays, we made some plays when we needed to, one third down to Titus (Young) for a long one, another third down that Titus caught a quick little slant and you know made a big play for us there,’’ Stafford said.

Stafford was pressured all day long by Jared Allen and the Vikings’ defensive line. But he hung in there and made smart decisions.

It seems like we’re seeing this offense grow up week after week. And even though he never made a big deal about it, Stafford is a much better quarterback now that his broken finger has healed.

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