DETROIT -- A few thoughts on the Detroit Lions' 24-23 victory against the New Orleans Saints at Ford Field.

What it means: Two weeks ago at Ford Field, the Lions looked like they gave away a game when they missed three field goals against the Buffalo Bills. Two weeks later, they got it back. The Lions went from listless to a team looking like a playoff contender in four minutes Sunday, scoring two touchdowns to beat New Orleans. This might be the spark the Lions offense has needed for the past few weeks. They got a 73-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Golden Tate to give them a chance, and then a huge play from a role player, Corey Fuller, gave them the lead. Those are the types of plays Detroit has needed in the absence of Calvin Johnson the past two weeks. Detroit now heads to London on a big high and a two-game winning streak.

Stock watch: Rising -- Golden Tate. Since Calvin Johnson has been hobbled, Tate has continued to show he can be a true No. 1 receiver. He had 154 yards receiving Sunday, including a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown -- the third time in four games he has gone over 100 yards receiving. Fuller is also on the rise. The receiver made the biggest catch of his career Sunday, a five-yard touchdown catch with 1:48 left to give the Lions a 24-23 lead.

Falling -- Reggie Bush. Unsure if he was injured, but the Lions barely used him in the second half. The Lions heavily favored Joique Bell, using him more on each of their first three drives of the second half. On one of the few plays Bush was in, he dropped a pass. Isa Abdul-Quddus. The safety has been essentially replaced in nickel packages by Don Carey, Cassius Vaughn and Danny Gorrer.

Defense holds up: It wasn’t the yardage shutdown the Lions had been producing throughout the past few weeks, but Detroit’s defense did what it could against an explosive offense and a very difficult-to-sack quarterback in Drew Brees. The Lions still managed to pressure Brees multiple times, including forcing him to change his steps on the interception that led to the Lions’ go-ahead touchdown.

Game ball: Safety Glover Quin was crushing the Saints throughout the day with solid tackling. More important for the Lions, he intercepted Brees late in the fourth quarter, giving the Lions a chance to win after they looked listless much of the day. Quin had six tackles along with the pick.

What’s next: The Lions head to London for their final game of the first half of the season, facing the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley Stadium.