Detroit Lions Week 17 report card: A complete thrashing of the Bears

Coaching Staff: 5/5 stars

It was very impressive to be able to get the best version of this team to emerge after last week’s butt-kicking. That speaks to the motivator Dan Campbell is, and by extension the entire coaching staff pushing the right buttons. Detroit came to play, and they completely outclassed an inferior opponent in a fashion they should have.

It will take more than a good effort to make the playoffs, and the coordinators will have their hands full preparing for the Packers next week. That said, you can safely assume Detroit will be ready for that game.

Play(s) of the game: D’Andre Swift’s 35-yard run and Jameson Williams’ 40-yard run on back-to-back snaps.

Coming out of the second half, Detroit’s offense got behind the sticks, and was in danger of going three-and-out to start the third quarter. Despite the 24-10 lead, the Lions couldn’t give the Bears any life. Then on back-to-back plays, the two most electric players on the team flipped the field and set up a touchdown to effectively put the game away.

Swift’s run was the more impressive of the two, turning a nothing play into a monster gain on 3rd-and-18. However, Williams’s speed helped the Lions take the momentum of that Swift run and turn it into even more. This is exactly what Lions fans were hoping for with these two on the field at the same time.

Final thoughts:

Detroit still needs some help to make the playoffs, but with the win, they are up to 8-8 and have leapfrogged the Commanders. At the time of this writing the results of the Packers and Seahawks games are still unknown. But it looks like the stage is being set for Lions-Packers Week 18 to be for the final playoff spot in the NFC, which would make for quite the matchup.

All Detroit can do is win their games and hope things fall into place. As a call back to “Hard Knocks”,  Campbell said the 2022 Detroit Lions would be the team that can and will. Halfway through the season that quote was easily made fun of, but not so much anymore.

At 1-6 the Lions needed a near-perfect record the rest of the way to even have a shot at the postseason.