5 Takeaways from Detroit's 22-21 Win over Atlanta

If last week's thrilling comeback win over New Orleans wasn't enough to raise the pulses of Lions fans, Sunday's stunning rally to knock off the Atlanta Falcons in London probably did the trick.

For the second week in a row, the Lions overcame a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit and pulled out the amazing victory. Matt Prater's 48-yard field goal as time expired capped off the 22-point rally from a 21-point deficit.

The Lions mercifully, and miraculously, enter their bye week with a 6-2 mark. Detroit has won three in a row despite a litany of offensive injuries, notably Calvin Johnson and the entire tight end corps all missing Sunday's game in London.

There are many talking points for the upcoming bye. Coaching adjustments, personnel packages and finding a rudder to help stem the wild ebbs and flows from half to half are chief among them. 

The week off should allow several players to get back to health as the Lions prepare for a stretch run with a real chance to wrap up an elusive playoff berth. 

Here are my top five takeaways from the astonishing win, in no particular order.

Golden Tate Does It Again

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For the second week in a row, Golden Tate provided the Lions their offensive lifeblood. In a game where five of the top six receiving talents on the team were sidelined, Tate made the most of being the healthy one.

A week after setting career-highs with 10 catches and 154 yards, Tate had another smashing line: seven catches, 151 yards, one touchdown. He saw over one-third of Matthew Stafford's 44 targets.

His strong effort caps off an amazing first half of his first season in Detroit.

"

Golden Tate is the second receiver in Lions history with 50+ catches in the first 8 games of a season. Herman Moore the other.

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) October 26, 2014"

It's hard to fathom how the Lions offense would have looked in the past two games without Tate. Nightmarish visions of Kris Durham trying to be Calvin Johnson appear, but thankfully Detroit's prime offseason acquisition has turned into a dream.

"

Golden Tate is unbelievable. Seriously. I expected a lot out of him this season and he's so much better than that.

— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) October 26, 2014"

He's not quite on an MVP-caliber level, but Golden Tate has certainly been Detroit's most consistent player all season long.

Nick Fairley Provides a Scare

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In the midst of the miserable first half, the tone turned from pathetic to somber when defensive tackle Nick Fairley went down with a knee injury. 

It did not look good. In the process of hitting Matt Ryan, Fairley fell victim to friendly fire from Ndamukong Suh. His knee buckled awkwardly underneath him as Suh torqued him down.

"

NICK FAIRLEY carted to locker room. Doubt season ending or surgery. Likely return in 1-3 weeks. Low grade MCL. @Lions @davebirkett

— David J. Chao, MD (@ProFootballDoc) October 26, 2014"

No official medical results are available yet, but the Lions did not sound optimistic after the game according to Kyle Meinke of MLive. 

Fairley has been playing quite well this year, seeming to finally get his act together consistently. He was in good shape and was playing with more awareness and cohesion with his teammates. 

The Lions do have depth at defensive tackle...maybe. C.J. Mosley was sent home for violating team rules, the details of which remain unknown. Jason Jones was fantastic early in the second half in relief of Fairley, but the big man from Auburn will be missed. 

Matthew Stafford, Comeback King

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Another week, another wildly uneven performance from Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. This Atlanta game is probably the greatest example of his schizophrenic nature as the leader of the offense.

In the first half of the game, Stafford was consistently off the mark, going 9-of-20 for 85 yards and one interception

Detroit netted just 105 yards and zero points in the first half. Stafford bounced two passes short of Theo Riddick and misfired high over an open Tate on another. It looked hopeless.

The second half was a completely different story. Stafford was crisp and showed more patience and vision in the pocket. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi got more creative and aggressive, and Stafford responded. 

After the miserable first half, No. 9 wound up quite respectable in the books.

"

Matthew Stafford: 24-47, 325 yards, 2 touchdowns. #LionBlood

— Detroit Lions Fans (@DetLionBlood) October 26, 2014"

His dichotomous performance echoes what Andrew Luck did with the Indianapolis Colts last season. The quarterback's erratic play helped dig the big hole, only to have his own heroics overcome the deficit he was complicit in creating. 

Luck parlayed his repeated self-necessitated heroics into a playoff berth and widespread praise for his clutch performances. Perhaps it's time to view Stafford through the same lens...

"

Matthew Stafford leads his 3rd career 21-pt comeback win. He's one of 3 QBs since 1966 with 3 such wins (Brady, Bledsoe). (via @EliasSports)

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 26, 2014 "

"

#Lions Matthew Stafford's 14th career game-winning drive in 4th Q or OT; also 10th career GW drive in less than 2 minutes. #ComebackKid

— Paula Pasche (@paulapasche) October 26, 2014"

It can be maddening how Stafford can look so good and so bad within the same game. As long as the wins keep piling up, Lions fans will deal with it. 

Still No Running Game

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Any hopes that a trip to another continent would somehow breathe life into Detroit's plodding ground attack were dashed.

The Lions entered the game tied for last (with San Diego) in yards per rush at a paltry 3.1. Alas, that number is going down. Detroit netted just 60 yards on 23 carries, an average of 2.6 yards per attempt.

Atlanta figured to be a game where the Lions could find success. The Falcons were surrendering 4.1 yards per rush, and their defensive line and linebacking corps don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of opponents. 

Instead, the struggle continues. 

There is ample blame to spread around. The blocking continues to be spotty and weak. 

"

Rob Sims three yards in the backfield on a simple dive run block. That cannot happen.

— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) October 26, 2014"

Missing Reggie Bush was a factor too, but Joique Bell and Theo Riddick are both too talented to produce so meagerly. 

"

You're not wrong. Rep has been greater than production. RT @MathBomb: For all the praise Joique Bell gets, you'd expect him to do more.

— Dean Holden (@Dean_Holden) October 26, 2014"

Schematics matter as well. Too often the run plays are telegraphed by formation and immediate action off the snap. Many times the play design is slow developing, a real problem behind this line. To Detroit's credit, the Lions did play off of that predictability and timing with some impressive play-action passing and purposeful misdirection in the second half.

Still, it would be nice to have even one week where the Lions topped 100 yards rushing, a feat they've accomplished just once in the first eight games. 

First Place Tastes Sweet

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If you would have proposed that the Detroit Lions would be 6-2 at this point back in the summer, every single Lions fan would have happily taken that money and run. 

Consider the staggering amount of injuries:

• Calvin Johnson misses three full games and most of two others
• Reggie Bush missing two full games and parts of two others
• LaAdrian Waddle missing more than half of the season thus far
• Waddle's replacement at right tackle, Corey Hilliard, lost after one game
• Nickelback Bill Bentley gone after one game
• Bentley's replacement, Nevin Lawson, lost the following week
• Second-round pick Kyle Van Noy remains on PUP and has not played
• Tight end Joseph Fauria missing half of the season after hurting himself trying to stop his puppy from peeing in his house
• Having to use backup long snapper Jordan Thompson and backup center Travis Swanson as tight ends the past two weeks because Brandon Pettigrew and Eric Ebron joined Fauria on the sidelines

The kicking—though clutch in London—has been abysmal all year. Detroit was 6-of-16 on field goals, spread across three kickers. Matt Prater finally appears to be the answer, but it's worth noting he did initially miss the game-winner Sunday before a delay-of-game penalty bailed him out.

The rookie offensive coordinator has struggled calling plays and managing the regressed offensive line. Stafford has had issues making the proper decisions in the new scheme, an issue compounded by the revolving cast of skill-position players around him.

Yet through all of that mess, all of those very real negatives, the Detroit Lions are 6-2 and own first place in the NFC North. 

"

NFC North standings: #Lions 6-2 #Packers 5-3 #Bears 3-5 #Vikings 3-5 Detroit, GB and Chicago have byes this week.

— Paula Pasche (@paulapasche) October 27, 2014"

In addition, Detroit holds the head-to-head win over Green Bay, though the teams meet again in December. However, the Lions are 5-1 against the NFC while the Packers are just 3-3, and Detroit also holds a 2-0 NFC North mark versus Green Bay's 2-1. Even if the Packers win in Wisconsin, Detroit is still sitting pretty.

All stats are courtesy NFL.com unless otherwise indicated.