Let's do something we haven’t done around here in a long time:

Let's celebrate a group that has been criticized and scrutinized — the Detroit Lions’ offensive line.

They are blue-collar workers in this blue-collar town, and they were the main reason the Lions found success on Sunday night in a stunning 26-10 victory over the New England Patriots.

The Lions' offensive linemen were creating gaping holes, as Kerryon Johnson ran for 101 yards on just 16 carries, becoming the first Lions back to break 100 yards in 70 games.

“A lot more comfortable tonight,” rookie left guard Frank Ragnow said. “The first few weeks were not up to my standards at all. This was a lot better. Still a lot more work to go.”

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Lions general manager Bob Quinn has been on a mission to try to remake the offensive line since he arrived in Detroit.

In the 2016 offseason, Quinn drafted left tackle Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow, who now plays center.

The next offseason, he signed right guard TJ Lang and right tackle Rick Wagner.

And this past spring, he drafted Ragnow and Johnson, a ridiculously talented back, and he also signed bruiser LeGarrette Blount in free agency.

That’s how you change a running game.

And yet it didn't seem to fully click until Sunday night.

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“I don’t think there was a switch that flipped,” Ragnow said. “It was just technique coming together and being who you are. It’s getting more comfortable as each game comes along. You gotta keep adding on to it.’’

Ragnow and Decker created massive holes on the left side of the line against the Patriots, which came into the game with the NFL’s 25th-ranked rush defense.

“The backside of the run is where you get the majority of the yardage,” Glasgow said. “From the naked eye, it looked like Frank and I were doing good, but I think Rick and TJ were doing phenomenal as well.”

Indeed. Give them all credit.

And don’t forget about Johnson.

He looks absolutely special.

“I think this was our most physical game that we’ve played so far,” Johnson said. “We came out, we made a decision to run it downhill and our O-line got behind it, we got behind it, and that’s what we started to do. We came out and both of us, me and LG (Blount), were both running the ball downhill at the beginning and we just carried it through the whole game, 60 minutes.”

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The Lions were running the ball at will, which changes everything for Matthew Stafford. Finally, if only for one night, he had a running game.

Haven't we always wondered how good Stafford would be if this offense had balance?

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is famous for trying to take away a team’s strength. And they came out with two safeties in the middle of the field on Sunday. In essence, he was saying: “Go ahead and run on us. You aren’t going to beat us deep.”

So Johnson was ripping off yards, inching closer and closer to that elusive 100-yard mark.

The run game was working so well that it set up a big play in the third quarter, a play-action pass — a fake run to the left — and Stafford rolled to his right and hit Marvin Jones Jr. for a touchdown.

Amazing what a running game can do.

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Lions fans could sense something special all game long.

After the first quarter, the fans gave the Lions a standing ovation, as the offense walked from one end of the field to the other. And it happened again between the third and fourth quarters.

Clearly, they weren't just applauding the stars, like Stafford.

The fans were showing their appreciation for the entire offensive unit.

“It’s just huge for us to be able to go out there and execute and play at a high level," Decker said. “We every day work together. It’s just us. We know how much we put into it."

To be fair, the Patriots were missing several players on defense, including defensive end Trey Flowers and safety Patrick Chung, who were out with concussions.

Consider that when evaluating the Lions’ success in the run game on Sunday.

But that running game set up everything and helped the defense. As the Lions picked up first downs, Tom Brady was over on the sideline, doing nothing.

“I think this was a good day for our confidence,” Glasgow said. “There is still a lot of things we can learn from, and a lot of things we can get better at.”

Now, the Lions have to keep this going.

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Doing it against one of the worst run defenses in the league is just the first step.

The big key will be doing it again and again.

But for one stunning night, Quinn’s plan worked to perfection.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.