ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Considering what’s at stake for the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, where does this game against the Packers rank for Matthew Stafford? What about for Jim Caldwell?

More important, what about for the combination of them as head coach and quarterback? If they fail Sunday, could that be it?

We tackle this, kind of, in the final Lions mailbag of 2016. Happy New Year. To ask a question for a future Mailbag, use the hashtag #LionsMailbag on Twitter, email me at michael.rothstein@espn.com or shoot me a note on Facebook.

Now on to your question.

@mikerothstein has there been a more important game for the duo of Stafford/Caldwell than this one? Consequences of a loss? #LionsMailbag — Alan (@AverageFather) December 30, 2016

That’s actually an interesting question. There’s no doubt the importance of Sunday’s Lions-Packers game to the fan base, to the city, the players, the coaching staff and the front office. It’s huge. It’s massive. Receiver Marvin Jones said Thursday that this entire week has felt like a playoff atmosphere around the building.

And yet it doesn’t seem like this is the biggest game for Matthew Stafford and Jim Caldwell. I’d argue the playoff game in 2014, at Dallas in a winnable environment, was bigger because that team’s defense was historically good. Had Detroit held on to win that game, it would have had a good shot in any game it played because of that front seven. While it may have been Caldwell’s first year and Stafford’s sixth, it could have cemented a lot of different things going forward. For instance, there’s a chance Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand would still be employed by the Lions. And there’s a possibility Detroit doesn’t start 1-7 the next season, leading to massive changes and Caldwell being on the hot seat for almost every moment of the last two seasons.

I’d also say winning last year in Green Bay was probably bigger for the two of them in the moment, because there were questions about the futures of both men in Detroit at that time. The Lions had just fired Mayhew and Lewand, and Stafford had struggled under former coordinator Joe Lombardi. But that win sparked a strong second half of the season. It pushed Stafford to a new level of play he hasn’t really stepped back from. The run Detroit went on -- 6-2 to close the season -- also was part of the reason Caldwell is still employed with the Lions now.

So I would look at those games first. But in terms of looking toward the future, I would say this one is massive for both Caldwell and Stafford. There are not many questions about Stafford’s future with the Lions at this point. He’s eligible for a contract extension this offseason and Detroit would be silly not to get a deal done with him. Caldwell’s future is a bit murkier, especially since the front office has given no indication how they feel about the job he’s done to this point in the season. A win would likely guarantee his safety for at least one more season and it’s tough to truly predict what Bob Quinn would do if the Lions lose.

So for Caldwell’s future, this game is one of the biggest. For Stafford’s legacy-building, it’s pretty huge, but not for his future in Detroit. For that reason, I’d put it a bit lower for the duo as a whole. But for Caldwell, it’s likely the biggest game of his tenure.