The Detroit Lions won by the skin of their teeth on Sunday and kept their playoff hopes alive. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t get much help early in the week. First, the Falcons upset the Saints to move to 8-5. Then, on Sunday afternoon, the Panthers picked up a huge win over the Minnesota Vikings. Detroit desperately needs the Panthers or Falcons to struggle down the stretch, so Week 14 was rough for them.
But the Lions helped themselves with a win, and they got a little bit of help from the Sunday evening games.