DETROIT – The Detroit Lions finally won a game on Sunday afternoon. Hence, they won't be going 0-16 again.
But they hardly changed the perception of this team. The Lions aren't good. In fact, they are nowhere close to the team that won 11 games and made the playoffs last season.
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Instead, they had to struggle against a not-good Chicago Bears team at Ford Field.
Yes, the Lions won, 37-34, in overtime. And no one will ever pooh-pooh winning. But just as easily, the Bears (2-4) could have won this game.
Most thought the Lions (1-5) had it in the bag when they scored a touchdown with 21 seconds to go in regulation. Quarterback Matt Stafford's six-yard pass to Calvin Johnson gave Detroit a 34-31 advantage.
But the Bears, as they did basically the entire game, moved the ball down the field with ease in a short amount of time and kicked the game-tying field goal as time expired.
No, it wasn't pretty. But when you're the lone winless team in the NFL, you will gladly take any win.
"We can take away the positives, just like we did with the losses," Stafford said. "But we have to clean up some stuff and build on it."
The problem, again, is that the Lions still have major issues. They turn the ball over a lot, and did so three more times against the Bears.
They don't run the ball well. They're still last in the league despite 155 yards on the ground against the Bears.
This defense is nothing close to last year's version, which was No. 2 overall in the league and the best against the run.
Bears' quarterback Jay Cutler beat the Lions with big plays downfield. In all, he finished with 353 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
"Chicago capitalized on some of our mishaps and made the game longer than it should have been," said Lions' linebacker Stephen Tulloch.
This season, teams have put up big plays against the Lions' defense. The reason for a win this time around was that the sluggish offense finally woke up at the end.
"A hard-fought win," coach Jim Caldwell said. "It's a good one to get."
That's especially true for Stafford. He was public enemy No. 1 on sports-talk radio after he was benched a week ago in the third quarter after his terrible play against the Arizona Cardinals, which included three interceptions.
"(He) kept his composure all week and didn't worry about the past," Johnson said about Stafford.
Against the Bears, Stafford played well in the first half, but had more issues in the second half. In all, he completed 27 of 42 passes for a season-high four touchdowns and a season-high 405 yards.
"Not going to compare it to last week," Stafford said. "I feel good for getting a win for my team."
Stafford also made Lions fans happy for finally getting the ball downfield and to Johnson, who entered the season with a career-low 10.1 yards per catch.
Johnson had a season-high 166 yards on six catches. He also scored the touchdown that put the Lions up in regulation and set up the game-winning field goal with a big catch in OT.
"I didn't play well certain times this year for us to win, I have to play better," Stafford said. "By no means did I play perfect, but well enough to win."
Johnson, who caught the 57-yard pass to set up the winning field goal, said the team worked on the deep ball in practice and it paid off.
"We were able to get that thing downfield a couple of times, had a lot more big plays than we've had in the past," Johnson said.
The Lions hope it's the start of a winning streak. They need one in order to get back in on this NFL season.
"It's still early," Caldwell said.
Caldwell's team feels optimistic as well.
"It just shows the grit and everything that this team has," said Lions' kicker Matt Prater, who nailed a 27-yard field goal to win it. "With the ups and downs and the adversity we went through during the game, to come out with a win really feels good."
Still, it changes little at this point.