DT Ndamukong Suh and the Lions still have plenty to prove. (US Presswire)

There’s a lot on the line when the Lions face the Falcons Saturday night at Ford Field.

No, Detroit’s not trying to clinch a playoff berth in its next-to-last home game, as it did a season ago. No, the Lions are not going to salvage their abysmal season with a win on a Saturday night version of ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast. But Detroit’s players have a lot to prove before a national audience.

They’re playing for pride, and to prove that Sunday’s 38-10 loss to the Cardinals wasn’t an accurate representation of their talent. DT Ndamukong Suh said the team will also try and ruin Atlanta’s attempt to clinch home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

“You just always want to have something positive going into next season,” he said. “We’re going to see Atlanta maybe next year in the playoffs. This is not the first time we’ve played Atlanta. We [lost to them] last year so I hope to, in essence, I guess spoil their season a little bit even though they’re going to the playoffs.”

Suh isn’t alone in that hope. Rather than focusing directly on the Falcons, however, quarterback Matthew Stafford said the team wants to end its six-game losing streak on national television to reward faithful fans who have stuck by the team despite numerous unfulfilled expectations.  

“We’re not going to have a chance to go to the playoffs, But it’s still football on [Saturday],” Stafford said. "We’re still professional football players. We go out there and try and win every game that we’re in. Guys are going to be giving a great effort and… give our fans something to cheer about.”

Stafford’s mention of professionalism brings the other, and perhaps more important battle that will take place Saturday into focus: The battle several Lions’ players will face to keep their jobs this offseason.

There’s a certain security that comes with a 10-6 season and a playoff berth, and that’s why Lions’ GM Martin Mayhew felt confident during the 2012 offseason that simply retaining 21 of 22 2011 starters would get his team back to the promised land of the postseason this year.

At 4-10, however, no such security exists, and the Lions’ players who are free agents this season have 120 minutes of football left to prove they deserve a big payday in Detroit -- or anywhere else -- next season. Stafford said players’ behavior and performance when a postseason berth isn’t on the line can be a measuring stick for a player’s true character.  

“You can learn a lot [in the final two games],” he said. “You can just watch people. Actions are louder than words right now. That’s part of being a professional, seeing how people prepare this week. Honestly I have no qualms about it. I know our guys are going to be preparing as hard as they can be.”

The Detroit Free Press reported that the Lions have almost $7 million in projected cap space next year -- a small figure in overall salary cap terms. The team will also eventually have to pay the piper for restructuring several players’ contracts in previous seasons to comply with the cap.   

The Lions have eight defensive starters poised to enter the free agent market -- including LBs DeAndre Levy and Justin Durant, CB Chris Houston, S Louis Delmas and current franchise tag recipient, DE Cliff Avril. It’s unlikely that Detroit's available money for next season will allow it to negotiate deals with all those players. Add in T Gosder Cherilus and restricted free agents T Jason Fox, DE Willie Young and Amari Spievey and you quickly begin to understand how a player’s effort over the final two weeks could help sort out a very crowded free agent class.


Players like Suh and Stafford, however, both said that the cure for what currently ails the Lions is simply to win Saturday and in Detroit’s final home game next week. Suh said the current Lions’ squad is more than capable of doing just that.

“I think we have a great team,” he said. “I’ve said it continuously before that we’re a team that hurts ourselves. When we don’t hurt ourselves, we’re very unstoppable.”

Follow Lions reporter John Kreger on Twitter at @CBSLions and @JohnKreger.