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The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears by a score of 34-17 on Thursday. Here are my three main takeaways from the game:
It was nice to see the offense play up to its talent level for a change
The Lions certainly got off to a questionable start on offense from a play-calling and execution standpoint, but once everything finally clicked, it was fun to watch. The Lions ended up having 474 total yards, and Matthew Stafford was especially impressive, going 34-for-45 for 390 yards and two touchdowns. Calvin Johnson was also impressive, hauling in 11 catches for 146 yards and a pair of scores.
While we can't forget that the Bears defense is pretty awful, the Lions really needed a game like this to get their offense back on track. Yes, they need to perform like this against good teams, but given their upcoming opponents -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings and Bears -- there isn't even a single good team on the schedule until Week 17. In other words, we should see more of the same from the offense going forward.
The Lions need to stop starting so slow
The Lions have made a habit of getting off to slow starts this season, and that was once again the case on Thursday. Thanks to errors on offense, defense and special teams, the Lions were down 14-3 before the first quarter even came to a close. That deficit didn't hold up for long, but the Lions need to put a stop to these slow starts. As we saw against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, good teams won't let you back in the game after falling into an early hole, so that's something that needs to be corrected going forward.
On paper, the Lions are in great shape to make the playoffs
As mentioned, the Lions' upcoming schedule is extremely favorable. They have home games against the Bucs and Vikings the next two weeks and a road game against the Bears after that. Last year taught us that winnable games don't always equal victories, but the Lions should be 11-4 going into their Week 17 showdown with the Green Bay Packers. Anything short of that will be disappointing, especially since 11 wins will likely be enough to get the Lions into the playoffs.