ALLEN PARK — You can’t trick Lions coach Jim Caldwell into talking about the playoffs. Try a question using any angle and he won’t bite.

He can’t. If he talks about the playoffs, then it opens the door for his players and that is clearly against the Caldwell rules.

All season Caldwell has focused on one game at a time. That has not changed with just two games remaining and playoff talk filling the air.

On Monday he compared it to texting and driving. If you’re texting then you can’t focus on driving.

If the Lions beat the Bears in Chicago on Sunday, they will earn a wild-card berth. If they beat the Bears and then the Packers at Green Bay on Dec. 28 they will win the NFC North.

It’s just not a topic of discussion for Caldwell.

He said his wife and family know better than to bring it up too.

So there you go. 

His focus is real and it spreads to the team.

“You have to earn your way into the playoffs, you can’t talk your way in,’’ Caldwell said.

PHOTOS FROM WIN OVER VIKINGS

— Right tackle LaAdrian Waddle had to be carted off the field in the third quarter on Sunday with a knee injury. Caldwell said on Monday they will know more on his status in the next day or two.

— Caldwell said one of Matthew Stafford’s valuable skills is his ability to re-set. Despite starting Sunday’s game with three three-and-outs, Stafford kept pushing.

“He’s like a bit of a riverboat gambler in that regard, with a short memory,’’ Caldwell said. “He goes out and plays hard, if things don’t go quite the way you like them, certainly he’s disappointed about it when he comes off on the sideline. He can re-set pretty quickly, I think that’s a valuable skill at that position.’’

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