Lions 31–17. Heading back home, the Lions edged past the struggling Vikings 34–28. The next week, the Lions went to Oakland to take on the Oakland Raiders. At the end of a close game, Matthew Stafford drove the team downfield and threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson. After the Raiders got the ball back, they attempted to kick a game-winning field goal, but Suh blocked the attempt to secure a 28–27 win for the Lions. In Week 16, the Lions defeated the San Diego Chargers at home 38–10. With the win, the Lions clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 1999. With only seeding still in question, they went to Green Bay to take on the Packers. Matt Flynn threw six touchdown passes, which was good enough to help the Packers defeat the Lions 45–41. As such, the Lions were relegated to facing the Saints on the road as the #6 seed with a 10–6 record. In the Wild Card Round, the Saints defeated the Lions 45–28. 2012–15 The 2012 season saw the Lions try to improve over their impressive 2011 season. They started 4–4, then lost their last eight games to finish 4–12. Following the season, long time kicker Jason Hanson retired. The 2013 season saw the team improve. By Week 10, following their first season series sweep of the Chicago Bears since 2007, the team was in first place in the NFC North. However, the Lions went on to lose their next two games. In Week 13, the team won their first Thanksgiving game since 2003 in a 40–10 whipping of the Green Bay Packers. The Lions then lost the final four games of the season to finish 7–9. This resulted in the firing of head coach Jim Schwartz on December 30. On January 14, 2014, the Lions hired Jim Caldwell as their new head coach. He is the first African American head coach in the franchise's history. On March 9, 2014, long time owner William Clay Ford Sr. died at the age of 88. On March 10, it was announced that controlling interest of the franchise would be passed down to Ford's widow, Martha. During the 2014 season, the influence of Jim Caldwell improved the Lions drastically from the previous two seasons. Touting the league's second-best defense, the Lions posted an 11–5 record and qualified for the playoffs. However, the Lions suffered a