Detroit @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 14, 2012 ) Detroit 26, Philadelphia 23

Calvin Johnson's mouth has to be watering at the mere thought of facing the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. When Johnson and the Detroit Lions visit the Eagles, who have the league's worst pass defense, all eyes will be on the NFL's leading receiver, as Johnson enters this matchup with 1,299 yards and a league-high 12 touchdown catches. The Eagles' offense is putting up some big numbers of its own, as Nick Foles has 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions and LeSean McCoy leads the NFL with 1,523 yards from scrimmage.

"It’s been something special," said Foles, the NFC's reigning Offensive Player of the Month. "But at the same time we still have a long way to go.” Philadelphia has won four straight games to surge into the playoff picture, while Detroit is coming off its Thanksgiving Day beatdown of Green Bay, 40-10. "It's a step in the right direction for us," said Matthew Stafford, who threw three touchdown passes, including one to Johnson.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, Fox. LINE: Eagles -2.5. O/U: 53.5.

ABOUT THE LIONS (7-5): Detroit, which leads Chicago by one game in the NFC North, continues to ride its talented three-headed offensive attack. Stafford has 627 passing yards and six touchdowns in the last two games, Bush racked up 182 total yards and a touchdown against the Packers and Johnson has 962 receiving yards in his last six games - the best six-game run by any receiver in NFL history. On the defensive side of the ball, defensive end Ziggy Ansah leads all rookies with seven sacks while Ndamukong Suh notched a sack and a safety last week.

ABOUT THE EAGLES (7-5): Philadelphia, playing its third straight home game, enters this weekend tied with Dallas atop the NFC East. While the Eagles have won four straight games, they have not scored a single point in the fourth quarter in any of those contests and their margin of victory has gotten increasingly less (29, 14, eight, three). Foles needs one more touchdown pass to tie Peyton Manning's record, set earlier this season, of 20 touchdown passes without an interception to begin a season.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Philadelphia LB Trent Cole has notched two sacks in each of his last two games.

2. Lions LB DeAndre Levy recorded his NFL-leading sixth interception last week.

3. Former Eagles K David Akers, now with Detroit, is just 15-of-20 on the season, including a missed 31-yarder last week.

PREDICTION: Lions 34, Eagles 24