So Cliff Avril tweeted on Monday that “the draft and combine might be the two most over rated things I’ve been apart of ...’’

Later he noted he’d been getting some good comments on that.

The Lions’ defensive end was drafted in the third round (92nd overall) by the Lions in the 2008 draft out of Purdue.

According to draft reports prior to that draft Avril moved up the draft boards after a good showing at the Combine. So it’s not like he had a bad experience.

It’s hard to disagree with him on the Combine. It's part of the process, but a lot of weight is put on the results. But the draft? Maybe Avril was pulling our legs. The draft is what matters in the NFL. Don’t draft well, don’t win. It’s pretty simple.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

The Seahawks shocked many NFL fans by knocking off the New Orleans Saints, the Super Bowl defending champions, over the weekend.

It’s even more surprising when you consider the talent they have shipped or lost to Detroit in the last two seasons.

When left guard Rob Sims was traded to Detroit from Seattle in the offseason he marveled at how thrilled he was to get back to football country. After all, in Seattle all they do is drink coffee. OK, drink coffee and win wild card playoff games.

Sims is one of seven Lions on the roster who came to Detroit either in a trade or signed with the Lions as a free agent out of Seattle in the past two years.

Along with Sims, they include: WR Nate Burleson (free agent 2010), RB Maurice Morris (free agent 2009), TE Will Heller (free agent 2009), DE Lawrence Jackson (trade 2010), LB Julian Peterson (traded 2009) and QB Zac Robinson who was picked up off waivers in November to provide backup for the Lions’ injured quarterbacks.

It’s quite a connection.

Lions general manager Martin Mayhew traces it back to Tim Ruskell, the Seahawks general manager who resigned toward the end of the 2009 season and is now the Bears’ director of player personnel.

Ruskell and Mayhew had worked together in Tampa.

“We liked the same kind of players,’’ Mayhew said.

No doubt.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

DETROIT -- It’s simple to choose one play that made the difference for the Lions on Sunday.

Midway through the third quarter Vikings’ defensive end Jared Allen picked off a Shaun Hill pass and ran it 36 yards for a touchdown to bring the Vikings within six.

Here’s the difference between now and early in the season: The Lions did not collapse under the pressure.

Instead they answered back with a 77-yard fourth-quarter drive ending in a Maurice Morris 5-yard touchdown scamper.

In Sunday’s season-ending game, the Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings 20-13 to stretch their win streak to four games. They had not won four in a row since 1999 and they hadn’t ended the season on such a streak since 1995 when they won their final seven games to finish at 10-6 and still miss the playoffs.

“It’s been a process for us getting this thing turned around, the main thing is we did get it turned around,’’ quarterback Shaun Hill said. “We’ve catapulted ourselves into the 2011 season with the way we finished which is nice. I know everybody in that locker room can’t wait to get back at it this spring.

“It took some growing pains early to prepare us for this and make us a better team going forward,’’ said Hill who finished 28 of 39 for 258 yards, one touchdown and that ugly Jared Allen interception which he never saw.

“I still don’t know, did he catch it? Tip it to himself? Clean catch? Step right in there?’’ Hill asked the media.

When he learned it was a clean catch, he said, “I did throw a catchable ball though,’’ and then he laughed.

The laugh and the relief was a long time coming after this team started with a 2-10 record. They finished 6-10.

Wide receiver Nate Burleson, who had his best game of the season with six catches for 83 yards, a touchdown and one 20-yard run on a reverse, said there had not been a change in the locker room.

“We lost all those games in the beginning of the year, we came to work (ticked) off because we were handing games away, I felt like we gave some games away,’’ Burleson said. “We still approach that same way. Regardless of if we won the last four games when we come to work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we’re still mad because we’re not where we want to be , so the attitude hasn’t changed.’’

But here’s the key.

“I think on game day it’s starting to click now. We’re not surprised when we’re winning we’re a good team. I don’t want to stand up here and sound overconfident or cocky. I think we’re realizing how good we are now, in the beginning of the year I don’t think we understood it,’’ he added.

Playing without Calvin Johnson, who was dressed and active but never stepped on the field due to an ankle injury, the offense was able to move the ball.

Coach Jim Schwartz said they knew he couldn’t run well, but they thought he possibly could act as a decoy. But they didn’t need him because everyone else stepped up including Burleson and Bryant Johnson (three catches for 49 yards).

Bryant Johnson had the biggest catch of the day on a third-and-8 at Minnesota’s 28 with the Lions clinging to a 13-10 lead, Hill found Johnson along the sidelines for a 23-yard gain. It was ruled a completion and withstood a challenge.

Schwartz said he thought there should have been defensive pass interference called which would have made the challenge a moot point. “That was a great catch and we needed it but I was disappointed because it looked like there was a lot of contact on that play,’’ Schwartz said.

On the next snap Morris ran in for the touchdown to give the Lions a 20-10 lead. In the second quarter Burleson caught a 7-yard touchdown pass which followed a 55-yard field goal by Dave Rayner who also kicked a 37-yarder in the third quarter. The Lions held a 10-0 lead at the half.

It’s the second time the Lions’ defense held a division opponent without an offensive touchdown. Detroit beat Green Bay 7-3.

“It’s a credit to this locker room because after they got the pick-six you could feel the momentum shifting, I think the first half of the season the old Lions would have given that up,’’ center Dominic Raiola said. “We’ve been up 14-3 on teams and given the lead up. We came up with a big drive in the fourth quarter and scored a touchdown there, some receivers made big plays down the sideline and punched it in. This is a mature locker room.’’

It’s new territory for the Lions. Raiola and Jeff Backus have been around since they were drafted in 2001. They hadn’t won four straight since college.

The change in the last four weeks has been a maturation of this group as a team. The growing pains were ugly, but perhaps necessary to get to this point.

“It’s just what we’ve been through. You look at what we’ve been through the first half of the season -- the first nine years of my career --- the people who were inserted in this locker room. ... I think we’re learning how to win, there was so much losing going on around here I think we forgot that feeling,’’ Raiola said. Now it’s back.

To a man, they expect the momentum to carry over into the offseason and next season.

“I see a lot of this team coming back and I think the people upstairs are going to equip us even more to make a playoff run,’’ Raiola said. “That’s the expectation next year, we have the personnel here to do that.’’

The four-game win streak cemented what the team has known since August -- they are headed in the right direction and they are not the same old Lions.

(Paula Pasche covers the Lions. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaPasche. Read her Lions Lowdown blog at TheOaklandPress.com.)

In a move that is hardly surprising, the Lions placed quarterback Matthew Stafford on injured reserve today.

Stafford has not played since injuring his right/throwing shoulder in the game against the N.Y. Jets on Nov. 7.

He started just three games this season.

In the first half of the opener at Chicago he injured that same shoulder and was out for six weeks.

Safety Randy Phillips was activated from the practice squad to take Stafford’s roster spot.

Either Shaun Hill (broken finger) or Drew Stanton (left shoulder) will start on Sunday. Both are listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report.

Also on the injury report, S Louis Delmas (concussion) is listed as doubtful. LB Landon Johnson (neck) is also questionable.

DE Cliff Avril (rib), RB Jahvid Best (toe), LB Vinny Ciurciu (concussion), DE Lawrence Jackson (groin), WR Calvin Johnson (ankle), DE Turk McBride (ankle), RB Maurice Morris (chest) and S Amari Spievey (back) are probable.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

ALLEN PARK --- When a team has lost five straight, not to mention just four wins over the last two seasons, bright spots are tough to find.

Well, the Detroit Lions found one on Sunday.

Drew Stanton started his first game of the season and second of his career. He did not lead the team to a win, but he played well.

“First of all this was a team that was giving up 14 points a game and he was able to put 20 on the board. We didn’t put enough on the board, there’s some plays we left out on the field. He made a couple plays with his feet. Scored a touchdown one, threw another touchdown pass,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said. “There was no turnovers, that was a big point we had made. That was a team that was getting a lot of turnovers.’’

Stanton showed great improvement over his only other start which was Dec. 27, 2009, in San Francisco. In that loss he threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and was benched in favor of Daunte Culpepper.

This is what 11 more months under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan will do to a 26-year-old quarterback. Also he works closely day to day with Matthew Stafford and Shaun Hill.

Even though it seems like Stanton has been around a while this is his fourth season. But in football terms it’s just his second due to injuries in his first two seasons that kept him out of action.

Even though he’s a local guy -- Farmington Hills Harrison and Michigan State -- fans didn’t seem to have too much faith in him. Perhaps it was that awful outing last year.

What fans think though is quite different from what the Lions coaching staff sees on a daily basis. Linehan and Schwartz both praised Stanton last season. They wouldn’t keep him around if they didn’t see something in him.

This is Stanton’s final year of his contract.

No one really knows if he’s in the Lions’ future plans. But if he plays well again on Sunday (it’s likely he’ll start against the Packers) perhaps they will decide he’s too valuable to let go.

Unlike many NFL teams, the Lions don’t have to worry about developing a youngster. After all Matthew Stafford is just 22. (Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)