CHICAGO -- For the first time since the end of the 2010 season, the Detroit Lions found out what it is like to play without quarterback Matthew Stafford.
It was ugly. Not complete ineptitude ugly, but the difference between where the Lions' offense had been headed with Stafford on the field and where it was with the quarterback in a sweatshirt on the sideline was obvious.
Without the franchise's leader in almost every passing category under center, it's understandable that this offense wouldn’t be that explosive. Other than a brief stretch of the fourth quarter -- when the Lions had five of their seven biggest plays of the day -- it was a lot of dink and dunk.