The Detroit Lions continue to prove this is a once-in-a-generation football team.

The Lions took down the Tennessee Titans 52-14 to move to 6-1 on the season. It is the first time the Lions have started 6-1 since the 1956 season when the Lions were perennial NFL title threats with quarterback Bobby Layne uncder center. It is the fifth time in franchise history the Lions have started 6-1 and the first time in the modern Super Bowl era (since 1970).

The Lions' turnaround began last year. They got off to the fifth 4-1 start in the last 50 years of franchise history (a milestone met again two weeks ago) and became the first Lions team since 1962 to start 8-2 on their way to winning the NFC North for the first time in 30 years and reaching the NFC championship game.

Here's a few facts about that last 6-1 Lions team from 68 years ago.

About the 1956 Detroit Lions

The 1956 Lions were two years removed from appearing in three straight NFL championship games from 1952-54 under Parker and rebounded after a 3-9 record in 1955, where they finished as the bottom team in the league.

The Lions started with back-to-back road wins over the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts to start 2-0 before returning to Detroit. They held off a late rally from the L.A. Rams then rallied to take down the San Francisco 49ers with 10 points from Layne in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning field goal.

They then went on the road to beat the 49ers and Rams to start a perfect 6-0 before dropping the seventh game to the then-Washington Redskins, 18-17. The Lions trailed 18-10 late and got a touchdown from Layne, but did not have a chance to tie since the two-point conversion was not a football rule yet.

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Detroit rebounded with a win over the Colts, lost to the Packers, split a late series with the Chicago Bears and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to finish the regular season at 9-3, good enough for second in the NFL West division. The Lions' loss to the Bears in the last week knocked them out of the NFL championship as Chicago represented the West at 9-2-1 before losing to the Giants, 47-7.

Parker was named the UPI Coach of the Year for Detroit's rebound in what ended up being his last year coaching the Lions in 1956 before he left to coach the Steelers. His offensive coach, George Wilson, replaced him after the Lions finished second in the NFL averaging 25 points per game.

Layne was a first-team All-Pro quarterback after he threw for 1,909 yards with nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions and rushed for an additional 169 yards and five touchdowns. Gene Gedman led the team with 479 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, and they had three other backs with at least 300 yards.

Elsewhere in '56

The Detroit Red Wings were the toast of the NHL in 1956, finishing with a league-best 88 points in the 70-game 1956-57 season. But the Red Wings could not reach the Stanley Cup Finals for a fourth straight year after winning it all in the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons and losing in the 1955-56 season. Detroit fell to the Boston Bruins, 4-1, in the semifinals.

The 1956 Tigers finished 82-72-1 to finish fifth in the American League. A 21-year-old Al Kaline received a second of 13 straight All-Star nods in his fourth season after hitting .314 with 27 home runs and 128 RBIs.

The Detroit Pistons did not exist yet the last time the Lions started this well, though they were coming off an NBA Finals appearance. The franchise, though still named the Pistons, was located in Fort Wayne and finished 34-38 with a playoff appearance before moving to Detroit in 1957.

The top-three grossing movies in 1956 were "The Ten Commandments," "Around the World in 80 Days," and "Giant" and Elvis Presley was the most popular artist with "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Don't Be Cruel" at the top of the charts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions beat Titans for first 6-1 start since 1956