ALLEN PARK -- Pro Bowl voting opened this week. And of course Darius Slay is already tweeting about it.

Slay has not been shy about naming the Pro Bowl as a goal ever since the Detroit Lions drafted him in the second round in 2013. And his case has never been stronger than this year.

With the exception of a rough day against Kelvin Benjamin, he's neutralized everyone this season. That includes guys like Odell Beckham and Julio Jones. In a particularly masterful performance against the Steelers, Slay traveled everywhere except the slot with Antonio Brown, and allowed just one catch for 9 yards.

Brown is the NFL's receiving leader.

Despite drawing the secondary's toughest assignment every week, Slay is still allowing a QB rating of just 62.4 on balls thrown his way. That's ninth best in the league, according to ProFootballFocus. And he's ranked ninth at the position overall.

But even Slay would admit the Pro Bowl is also a popularity contest. And for the first time in his career, that might not work against him. He's a fourth-year starter who has been around the block a time or two. He has a big-money contract. And he has interceptions. Lots of them.

There's no better way for a corner to gain popularity than picking off passes, and Slay is finally doing it. He just grabbed his fourth of the season Sunday against Cleveland, which is already a career high. It also leads the league's corners, and trails just Kevin Byard and Micah Hyde regardless of position.

"I think the biggest area he's made is really going after the ball and attacking the ball with no fear," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin recently said. "A lot of times, guys, if you're not sure you're going to get there, you're not quite sure, you take the safe route and knock the ball down. But you see him really going after plays and trying to get the ball this year. And I think that's a big difference, and I think that comes with confidence. And obviously he's got plenty of that."

But is he doing enough to make the Pro Bowl?

"That's not for me to judge," Austins said. "I just know that, for us, he's playing at a high level and we really trust him. He's going to help us win games, and that's really the big thing for us, that you help us win games. All that stuff, if we win enough games, ever since I'm young it's always like, 'Hey, if you win enough games and you do things right, there's enough credit to go around.'"

While Slay has an excellent chance to make the Pro Bowl, perhaps no one deserves it more than safety Glover Quin. He's started every game since signing with Detroit in 2013, and done so at a high level. His 19 interceptions rank second among all players since he joined the Lions, and he has another three this season, including one that he returned for a touchdown.

Quin plays nearly mistake free on Detroit's back line, a big reason the club rarely gives up long touchdowns, and he's evolved into one of the club's foremost leaders. And the advanced analytics crowd loves him too. He's third among all safeties according to PFF.

On the offensive side, receiver Golden Tate has perhaps the strongest case. He's fifth in catches, ninth in yards, first in yards after the catch -- plus, he's popular. He's scored game-sealing touchdowns and flipped into end zones and scripted some of the year's most memorable celebrations.

That stuff shouldn't matter, but it definitely does. This a popularity contest, and one in which the Lions have not fared well over the years. Just last year, they were leading the division when Pro Bowl rosters were announced. They didn't have a single player make it.

Detroit did have four players named as alternates, and one -- kicker Matt Prater -- wound up playing in Orlando.

Here are the Lions players that appear on this year's ballot: QB Matthew Stafford, RB Ameer Abdullah, RB Theo Riddick, WR Marvin Jones, WR Golden Tate, WR TJ Jones, TE Eric Ebron, OT Taylor Decker, OT Rick Wagner, G Graham Glasgow, G T.J. Lang, C Travis Swanson, DE Ezekiel Ansah, DE Anthony Zettel, DT A'Shawn Robinson, DT Akeem Spence, ILB Jarrad Davis, OLB Tahir Whitehead, OLB Paul Worrilow, CB Darius Slay, CB Nevin Lawson, SS Tavon Wilson, FS Glover Quin, P Sam Martin, K Matt Prater, PR/KR Jamal Agnew and specialist Don Carey.

The ballot can be found here.