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Someone once said that statistics are for losers.

The Lions showed Saturday that they can be for winners, too.

Detroit not only clinched its first postseason berth since 1999 with a 38-10 victory against San Diego, but rewrote huge chunks of the franchise record book -- and there's still one regular season game left to put the marks farther out of reach and set a few more.

Let's begin with one of the oldest marks in the books. In 1937, the Lions were only a few years removed from being the Portsmouth Spartans. That was the season they scored seven defensive return touchdowns.

When defensive end Cliff Avril reached up and gathered in Philip Rivers' pass late in the fourth quarter and went four yards for Detroit's final touchdown, it was the seventh time this season that the Lions have scored on an interception or fumble return.

In 1952, Cloyce Box caught 15 touchdown passes. In the 59 years since then, others have come close but Box's record withstood all challenges -- until Calvin Johnson came along.

Johnson's 14-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Matthew Stafford during the final minute of the first half was his 15th of the year, matching Box's total.

That was news to Johnson.

"I didn't know I did that until somebody told me," he said. "That's a great honor to have. Hopefully, we can get some more."

His 15 total touchdowns also tied the club record shared by Barry Sanders (1990, 1991), Billy Sims (1980, 1981) and Box.

Johnson and Stafford are a major part of the highest-scoring team in Lions history. Detroit has scored 52 touchdowns, breaking the mark of 51 set by the 1995 team that featured Sanders, Herman Moore, Brett Perriman and Scott Mitchell.

Stafford put his own name in the record books a few times Sunday.

He completed 29-of-36 passes, a completion percentage of 80.6, which is the team's single-game record for a passer with at least 25 attempts. His quarterback rating was 137.6, the highest by a Lions quarterback with 35 or more pass attempts.

Stafford has rewarded the Lions who made him the first-overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

"Probably the key to the franchise is having a good quarterback," said coach Jim Schwartz. "I think we'll hold on to him for a while."

Stafford passed for 373 yards. That boosted his season total to 4,518 yards, surpassing Mitchell's club record of 4,338 in 1995. His 385 completions are also a record, breaking Jon Kitna's old mark of 372 in 2006. Stafford has thrown 604 passes, becoming the only quarterback in club history to attempt 600 passes.

Sunday was Stafford's eighth game of more than 300 yards passing, tying him with Mitchell for the team record.

Veteran tackle Jeff Backus doesn't think that Stafford and Johnson are finished setting records.

"They're great players," he said. "Calvin, there's nobody like him. Matthew, he's just becoming what he's going to be. Guys are going to be debating if he's a top quarterback in this league in the next 10-15 years. They're a lot of fun to play with. It's a privilege."

Jason Hanson kicked five extra points in Sunday's victory, giving him 50 for the season. That eclipses his record of 48 in 1995.

Hanson's 50-yard field goal in the first half was the 50th of his career of 50 yards or more. He's the only kicker in NFL history to accomplish that feat.

Brandon Pettigrew caught nine passes against the Chargers. His fifth reception of the game set a club record for most receptions by a tight end. He now has 76, beating the old mark of 71 he set last season.

"That is huge," Pettigrew said. "I'm not a person that is big on stats and I always say that, but it's great. I'll try to move forward from here."

There's another record Pettigrew can aim for next week. He has 661 receiving yards, second-most by a Lions tight end. Pettigrew set that record last year, too, with 722.

A couple more club records can be broken in Green Bay next Sunday. The Lions have scored 433 points, three fewer than the record set by the 1995 team. Detroit is averaging 28.9 points-per-game, slightly ahead of the franchise record of 28.7 set by the 1952 team that won the NFL Championship.

Lions fans also figured in the record-setting spree.

Sunday's Christmas Eve crowd of 62,469 boosted the season's total attendance to 509,949 -- the most since Ford Field opened in 2002.