Here are five reasons why Sbu Mjikeliso thinks the Lions might possibly just make the Super rugby play-offs The element of surpriseWeapon-wielding alleyway muggers have used this tactic for centuries. Using their underdog status, the Lions are the best exponents of the sucker-punch.Firstly, they figured out how to win without the ball - recall victories over the Blues, Reds and Bulls - and then how to put all their might into one decisive blow.During the run of five wins in six matches the Lions slacked off only twice in the final quarter of the games: when they had already lost handsomely to the Crusaders and against the Sharks, when they assumed the game was already won.The two Ws and a bloke named JP.Loosies Warren Whiteley and Warwick Tecklenburg and defence coach JP Ferreira are a force to be reckoned with. The Stormers' renaissance in 2010 was built on a commanding eighthman (Duane Vermeulen), a competent lieutenant (Schalk Burger) and an astute defence coach (Jacques Nienaber).Whiteley, Tecklenburg and Ferreira are to the Lions what the aforementioned trio was to the Stormers. Ferreira isn't endowed with the build to stop the likes of Pierre Spies, Marcell Coetzee and Scott Higginbotham but he crafted the watertight blueprint on which they thrive.Best touring SA teamAny South African touring side would leap at a return of three wins from four overseas matches. The Lions already have those in the bag, while the Bulls and the Sharks still have to travel and the Stormers and the Cheetahs have only managed two wins and one respectively.Lionel MapoeThe old Mapoe would seldom go nine games on the trot without suffering a season-ending injury.This new Mapoe loves playing against his old union, the Cheetahs, whom they face in Johannesburg tomorrow. Last year he scored a hat-trick when they won 60-25 at Ellis Park, while nine of the Lions' 31 log points last season came from the two wins against the Cheetahs.Playing for their rugby livesAssistant coach Swys de Bruin said it best: "It is amazing what the mind can do if you back a guy; if you tell him others didn't want him but you rate him."Most players in the Lions regular XV are castaways from bigger unions. Whiteley is a Sharks Academy product. Andries and Robbie Coetzee, plus Franco Mostert, Tecklenburg and Sampie Mastriet are Bulls finds. Howard Mnisi almost exhausted every franchise before finding a home in Johannesburg. So too did Mapoe, who has bounced back from the Cheetahs to the Sharks and the Bulls on loan.The Lions vs Cheetahs match airs from 4.30pm on Supersport 1..