The Detroit Lions did exactly what they needed to do in Week 17. Coming off a bad loss in Carolina in Week 16, the Lions completely dominated the last-place Chicago Bears in a 41-10 shellacking in Ford Field.
The Bears scored first on a drive with lots of explosive dynamism from QB Justin Fields. After that, the Lions shut down the Bears offense. On the flip side, the Bears defense had very few answers for Detroit’s own offense.
Detroit racked up over 500 total yards of offense, running for a season-high 268 yards on the ground. The Lions posted 26 first downs and scored five touchdowns in their first seven possessions. Jamaal Williams ran for 144 yards and 10 different Lions caught at least one pass in the romp.
After the first two drives, the Lions defense was completely suffocating. Chicago managed just five first downs on the next nine drives before an inordinate amount of garbage time at the end of the game with the Lions up 41-10. The Lions sacked Fields seven times, three from rookie EDGE James Houston and two more from fellow rookie Josh Paschal.
It was a perfect rebound for Dan Campbell’s Lions. They went out and destroyed an inferior opponent. That’s what good teams do. In winning for the seventh time in nine weeks, the Lions continue to assert they’re a good football team. The Week 16 stinker was an anomaly, not a sign of impending collapse.
The win lifts the Lions to 8-8 and with a chance to win their way into the postseason in Week 18. The Bears fall to 3-13 after a 2-1 start.
