The 1995 Lions came back from 0-3 start, but how?

An 0-3 start pretty much is the kiss of death as far as making the NFL playoffs goes.

But don't tell that to coach Jim Caldwell, whose Detroit Lions find themselves in 0-3 after Sunday night's 24-12 loss to the Denver Broncos.

"We do have 13 games left," Caldwell said Sunday. "They're not handing out any trophies after three games, and you can't be eliminated after three games. And I know there's all the stats that are out there about who does what at 0-3. I don't care about all that stuff."

He's right, even if the last 82 teams that started 0-3 couldn't get in the postseason.

But one that did was the 1995 Lions, who lost their first three games, finished 10-6, and went to the playoffs as a wild card.

Coincidentally, a member of that team, offensive tackle Lomas Brown, was on Channel 4 with Bernie Smilovitz after Sunday night's loss. And Brown said the current Lions actually have an advantage over the '95 team: They have a quarterback.

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Ouch. That's a compliment for Matthew Stafford disguised as another dig by Brown at Scott Mitchell. Remember, a few years ago he said on ESPN Radio that he purposely missed a block in a 1994 game to get Mitchell hurt.

But how did those Lions pull off the comeback of '95? It started with an iconic moment on the day after their third loss, to Arizona.

"I'm like that big buck that's in the field," coach Wayne Fontes said at his Monday news conference. "They're trying to hunt him down, trying to shoot him. I just keep dodging those bullets. Everybody wants my rack on the wall.

"Sure, I feel the heat from the fans and the media. Am I under close scrutiny by my owners? No. I have a job to do, and if I don't do it, then when the season's over, we'll see."

Give Fontes credit. He had much better material than the low-key Caldwell.

But Fontes also had:

• Pro Bowl offensive linemen Brown and Kevin Glover.

• Barry Sanders, who rushed for 1,500 yards.

• Productive receivers in Herman Moore (1,686 yards, 14 touchdowns), Brett Perriman (1,488 yards, nine TDs) and Johnnie Morton (590 yards, eight TDs).

• A middle-of-the-pack defense that featured names such as Chris Spielman, Robert Porcher, Bennie Blades, Luther Elliss and Willie (Big Play) Clay. (Sorry, Darius.)

• Jason Hanson.

• And even the much-maligned Mitchell, who — when he wasn't making a fatal mistake — led an offense that was ranked second overall and in passing and scoring (436 points). He passed for 4,338 yards and 32 TDs with just 12 interceptions for a 92.3 passer rating.

Now, while the current Lions face a tough opponent at Seattle next Monday, the 1995 team's path to the playoffs didn't start with an easy step in Game 4, either.

They upset Steve Young, Jerry Rice and the San Francisco 49ers — an eventual 11-5 team — in a Monday night game at the Silverdome, 27-24, on Hanson's 32-yard field goal with 1:12 left. Another coincidence: Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was the 49ers' defensive coordinator.

"We understand we're still 1-3," Clay said then. "That was just one game. It was a hell of a game, but we're still 1-3, still in the basement. We've got to fight our way out.

"Once we get even, then we can start talking about what we can do. But right now, we're just an average team trying to get better."

The Lions made it two in a row with a home win over lowly Cleveland, but then lost three of their next four.

And most 3-6 teams don't make the playoffs, either, but owner William Clay Ford didn't want to hear it. After a 34-22 loss at Atlanta, Ford said he'd probably make a coaching change if the Lions didn't advance to the postseason.

"It's got to be the playoffs," Ford said. "Absolutely. I think we've got enough talent on this team to be (in the) playoffs. And not to make the playoffs is not acceptable.

"I think we've still got the confidence. We just aren't producing. Every time you lose, the hole gets deeper and deeper, and the hole's pretty deep right now. Pretty soon, they're going to start putting mud on top of it."

That lit a fire under the Big Buck. The Lions won their last seven games, starting with a 27-24 home victory over Tampa Bay.

"I'm encouraged, because we have a chance," Fontes said after the Bucs win. "We're not out of it. We're looking at 10-6, but 9-7 will get you in."

The Lions' schedule in their last seven in 1995 wasn't too easy, but it was favorable. Four games were at home, and just two were against a team that finished with a winning record, both against the 9-7 Chicago Bears.

And the hottest team in the NFL finished off the regular season against the same team that started the streak, with a 37-10 win at Tampa Bay.

The Lions actually clinched a playoff berth the week before and still had a chance at the NFC Central title if Green Bay had lost its finale. But that didn't happen.

"I think it's a great accomplishment to go to the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, but we are far from satisfied," Fontes said. "One thing I told my players after the Tampa game was that making the playoffs is not enough anymore. Our job is not finished, it's just started.

"We start over now with a clean slate. Our goal now is to make it to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl."

They lost the wild-card game at Philadelphia, 58-37.

Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.