The Detroit Lions got a bit of a boost Thursday night when Dallas knocked off Minnesota, 17-15, giving the Lions essentially a two-game lead in the NFC North with five games remaining on their schedule.

And a win Sunday by Detroit over New Orleans could push that lead over the Vikings to three games with four to play since the Lions hold the tiebreaker over Minnesota.

But what about elsewhere around the league?

From a Lions perspective, here’s what other games you should be paying attention to – and what teams you might want to pull for – with Detroit in the playoff picture.

Kansas City at Atlanta (1 p.m., CBS)

Who the Lions should pull for: Kansas City

Why: The Falcons and Lions are in a seeding competition right now and a win by the Chiefs would help out there. It would also keep Atlanta from picking up a strong strength-of-victory win. But this one is pretty simple for Lions fans.

Los Angeles at New England (1 p.m., FOX)

Who the Lions should pull for: Los Angeles

Why: Again, the strength-of-victory comes into play, especially since any remote chance of a wild card tie between the Rams and Lions would see Detroit holding a tiebreaker edge due to the head-to-head win in October.

Denver at Jacksonville (1 p.m., CBS)

Who the Lions should pull for: Denver

Why: Same reason for the two above games.

Houston at Green Bay (1 p.m., CBS)

Who the Lions should pull for: Houston

Why: A win by the Texans will put the Packers at seven losses and either two or three games behind the Lions with four to play depending on what Detroit does. It’ll also take some momentum from Green Bay after a Monday night win over Philadelphia that helped give the Packers' season some life. Detroit needs to be fearful of Aaron Rodgers and Co. getting on a run, so a Houston win would offer an assist.

Philadelphia at Cincinnati (1 p.m., FOX)

Who the Lions should pull for: Cincinnati

Why: A Bengals win would all but knock Philadelphia from the playoff picture in anything but a chaos scenario and at this point, the Lions should want as few teams as possible vying for a potential wild-card berth in case Detroit somehow ends up in that situation.

New York Giants at Pittsburgh (4:25 p.m., FOX)

Who the Lions should pull for: Pittsburgh

Why: This would further cloud the wild-card picture, and at this point the Lions need that wild-card picture to be as bunched up as possible – particularly by having the Giants fall back a bit. A Giants loss plus a Lions win would give the teams an identical record and would mean that Week 15 game could end up being massive depending on what happens elsewhere.

Washington at Arizona (4:25 p.m., FOX)

Who the Lions should pull for: Arizona

Why: There can be cases for the Lions pulling for both teams, but at this point the longer shot for the playoffs is Arizona, so that’s who Detroit should want to win – particularly with the tie coming into play with Washington. An Arizona win would give the Lions more potential options in a wild-card race.

Tampa Bay at San Diego (4:25 p.m., FOX)

Who the Lions should pull for: San Diego

Why: The Bucs are in the playoff race and a win by the Chargers would knock Tampa Bay back to .500 and behind the Lions no matter what happens in the Detroit-New Orleans game.

Carolina at Seattle (8:30 p.m., NBC)

Who the Lions should pull for: Carolina.

Why: The Panthers are all but out of the playoff race, but a Carolina win over Seattle would put the No. 2 seed even more in play for both the North and South divisional winners. So the pretty easy play is to pull for the Panthers.

Indianapolis at New York Jets (8:30 p.m. Monday, ESPN)

Who the Lions should pull for: Indianapolis

Why: A Colts win would bump up Detroit’s strength-of-victory. That’s the only reason this game matters for the Lions.