No because the scores lie. The lions were almost always down by 20 plus points at the half. They only manage to pull with in 7-10 by the end of the game. They were never in more than 1 or 2 games before failing to prevent the other team from pouring on points.
The Lion's season was over as soon as Matt Ryan threw that 62 yd. TD on his first passing play in the NFL. As for the close games, well I think they just lulled the opposition to sleep. Like I said before, it was like playing a game with your kid brother - Play just hard enough to keep him interested, and then rip him a new one when he starts to get a little close.
I think most of the opposition just "played down to our level". Kind of like a "bye week".