DETROIT – It's not about being overdramatic.
It was reality.
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The Lions had to beat the Chicago Bears at Ford Field on Thanksgiving Day to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
It was partly because the Lions had lost the last two weeks on the road. But more importantly, the Lions are in a dogfight in the NFC postseason picture. In fact, most experts had the Lions on the outside looking in, despite starting the season 7-2.
But the Lions, now 8-4, righted the ship with a 34-17 over the Bears.
The Lions' offense, left for dead after eight straight TD-less quarters in Arizona and New England, exploded with three touchdowns in the second quarter to take over the game.
"I think everybody was extremely motivated coming into this game," Lions' quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "I know I was and it showed."
Don't forget, this is where the swoon started a year ago. The Lions started the season 6-3, but lost six of their final seven and finished 7-9.
On paper, at least, it appeared as if the Lions could have run the table and win out last year.
Instead, they lost three of their final four home games to bad teams: Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and the Giants. The horrible finish ended with a 14-13 loss in Minnesota.
Stafford performed poorly at the end of last season. It had been looking like a repeat the last two games.
But Stafford finally got into a groove and led the offense down the field and, finally, found the endzone.
The Lions QB was 34-for-45 for 390 yards Thursday. He had two touchdowns and no interceptions. He completed 75.6 percent of his passes, a huge improvement from the career-low 39.1% against the Pats.
"You've got to do it for four quarters," said Stafford. "We had shown that we could do it in spurts at times this season, but to put it together for 60 minutes is gratifying."
Calvin Johnson, who was like an invisible man a week ago , had a big day - 11 catches for 146 yards and two TDs. Plus, he set a record, becoming the fastest receiver in the NFL to 10,000 yards. It took just 115 games. "Calvin obviously was on fire today," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said.
The Lions really needed the offense to impose its will on this poor Chicago defense.
After all, the Bears came into the game 5-6. A loss in this spot could have really hurt the Lions.
Johnson said the Lions must continue to put points on the board in the final four games. "It just breeds confidence," Johnson said of the Lions' offensive explosion on Thursday. "We know what we can do."
The Lions will need this Stafford in order to finish strong. Caldwell wasn't fooling himself after this game. He knows it's not typical, but he believes Stafford is capable of delivering big games.
"I do believe you haven't seen the best of him yet," Caldwell said.
The lousy Tampa Bay Bucs are on deck, a week from Sunday. Despite their 2-9 record, they still are in the hunt to win their division.
After that, the Lions host the hapless Minnesota Vikings (4-7).
But after that, the Lions finish the regular season on the road against division rivals Chicago and Green Bay.
The road to the playoffs isn't easy. The NFC has so many strong teams with a lot of wins. Last year, in fact, the Cardinals went 10-6 and didn't make the playoffs.
A double-digit win team again could be left out in the cold this January—hopefully it won't be the Lions.