CHICAGO – After a week of doom and gloom, the Detroit Lions offense was in full swing against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

The Lions took a 20-0 lead early in the game with three straight scores, just as they did against the Bears on Thanksgiving Day, and maintained their lead with a narrower 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 16 .

It wasn’t the cleanest game ever, and Caleb Williams had a decent day against the Lions’ injury-ravaged defense. He threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, but the Lions’ offense was by far the best unit on the field Sunday.

Jared Goff dismantled the Bears’ defense by going 23 of 32 for 336 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and Jahmyr Gibbs had a really big day as he carried a heavier load in the absence of David Montgomery. The explosive sophomore rushed for 109 yards and added four catches for 45 yards through the air.

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The highlight of the day was a trick play that Fox play-by-play announcer Kenny Albert called “The Detroit Special” when Goff and Gibbs fooled the entire Bears defense with a fake trip that left Sam LaPorta wide open running across the field made for easy touchdown.

The win over the Bears was the Lions’ 13th^Th the season, setting a franchise record for wins in a year. It also helped stop the bleeding of a Lions team that seemed to be trending in the wrong direction after a 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills, suffering numerous injuries in the process, including key players Alim McNeill and Carlton Davis III and Montgomery.

The Lions still have a lot of work to do to secure the No. 1 seed with upcoming games at the San Francisco 49ers next week and close out the year with an epic showdown against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18, where the NFC North could be in to be in limbo.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Lions offense was too big for the Bears and won 34-17