More than anything, the Detroit Lions have become impressively resilient.
They still have some of the same bad habits that have led to their downfalls over the years. The difference is, they’re finding ways to overcome them.
The Lions did it again Sunday afternoon in a 21-19 victory over the Chicago Bears, taking over sole possession of first place in the NFC North.
That’s right, Detroit -- yes, the Detroit Lions, the same club that lost its final eight games last season and finished 4-12 -- is in position more than half way through the season to win its first division championship in two decades. The Lions (6-3) lead Chicago and Green Bay (both 5-4) by one game with seven weeks remaining.
It got a little shaky late in the final minutes at Soldier Field, but they fixed things in the end. They’re doing that a lot these days.
The Lions committed four personal-foul penalties, which ultimately could have led to a different outcome. We’ve seen it happen before.
The blunders included defensive tackle Nick Fairley committing a foolish unnecessary-roughness penalty on the Bears’ last-minute touchdown drive and then defensive end Willie Young getting called for a helmet-to-helmet blow on the quarterback to give Chicago a second chance at a potential two-point conversion to tie the score with 40 seconds remaining.
Fairley, however, saved the day for both of them. He made the game-winning play when he charged past the center to blow up the retry of the two-point attempt.
That sequence summed up the trademark of this team.
The Lions still make you scratch your head at times, but as coach Jim Schwartz said during his post-game radio show, “We came up with the plays.”
All that matters is the final score, right?
The defense got a fourth-down stop in Detroit territory early in the second quarter and an interception in the end zone by linebacker DeAndre Levy just before halftime.
And then they bailed out the offense early in the fourth quarter. Matthew Stafford’s overthrown pass for an interception, giving Chicago the ball at the Lions’ 9-yard line, seemingly would have been the turning point a year ago.
Not this time. The Lions held Chicago to a field goal, cutting the lead to 14-13, rather than giving up the go-ahead touchdown.
“I thought that was probably the biggest series in the game,” Schwartz said.
It showed that resilience by the Lions and also that the black cloud over this team appears to be lifting.
Good things are happening.
Chicago had two touchdowns taken off the board during that sequence. One was negated by a holding penalty and then video replay overturned an apparent catch by Alshon Jeffery because the Bears’ receiver juggled the ball as he was coming to the ground.
How appropriate. The Bears got burned by the so-called “Calvin Johnson rule” -- failing to “complete the process” of the catch -- three years after it happened to Megatron on the same field.
There’s nothing wrong with a little good fortune. It’s what makes the difference more often than not in the NFL.
The victory was Detroit’s first in Chicago since 2007. Stafford had never won there in four previous trips.
It also gave the Lions a sweep of the two-game series against the Bears, a nice bonus because head-to-head results are the No. 1 tiebreaker for the division title and wildcard playoff bids.
Johnson’s 14-yard touchdown reception with 2:22 left gave the Lions an eight-point lead, which was decisive as things turned out. It was his second TD of the game, breaking the club record for career touchdown receptions with 63, one more than Herman Moore.
Running back Reggie Bush added 105 yards rushing while the Lions’ defense held Matt Forte to 33 yards on 17 carries on the ground.
FOX analyst Daryl Johnston, a former Dallas Cowboy, said he had never seen a team tackle Forte as well as the Lions did.
Jay Cutler returned at quarterback for the Bears, three weeks after he suffered a torn groin. It might have been another break for the Lions.
Chicago scored on its first drive but Cutler struggled much of the game before being replaced by Josh McCown on the final drive. The Bears reported that Cutler was taken out because of an ankle injury.
McCown looked like he might be the hero by forcing overtime before Fairley threw down Forte oi the backfield when the Bears tried to run for the two-point conversion.
Meanwhile, up in Green Bay, the Packers were losing to Philadelphia, which put Detroit at the top all alone.
“We can’t worry about what any other team does, but getting a win and also putting a loss on Chicago was big today,” Schwartz said. “We’re going to have to win on the road. We did it. It was a tough victory.”
They’re 3-2 on the road now heading to Pittsburgh next Sunday. The other road victories were against Washington and Cleveland.
The Lions clearly have emerged as the favorite to win the division. They play four of their final six games at home. Green Bay isn’t the same team without injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Chicago also is hurting with key injuries on defense and Cutler appearing to be limited.
A playoff game at Ford Field? Don’t laugh. It could happen.
It’s going to happen.
EXTRA POINT
Stafford is widely considered a good quarterback, but not necessarily elite, at least not yet.
But that could be starting to change.
FOX analyst Terry Bradshaw, a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, took his praise for Stafford to another level during the pre-game show.
“Matthew Stafford is a humble superstar,” Bradshaw said. “One of the things, America, I hope the Lions are in a lot of playoff games so you’ll get to understand and see this guy because he is a remarkable quarterback.
“If I had to pick between (Drew) Brees, (Tom) Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, (Ben) Roethlisberger and Stafford, this is a guy I’d take. I love this guy. I loved him at Georgia and I love him in Detroit. We just don’t see enough of him.”
