The Detroit Lions went 15-2 last season. Yet many seemed to give up on them after one week this season.

The Lions aren’t in big trouble after all. They started 0-1 with a lopsided loss to the Green Bay Packers but followed up a 52-point game in Week 2 by pulling off a huge win Monday night at the Baltimore Ravens, with their offense putting together drives of 98 and 96 yards as they beat one of the NFL’s premier teams.

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Detroit is 2-1 after an impressive 38-30 win at Baltimore. The Ravens are 1-2 with losses to the Bills and Lions, two of the best teams in the NFL. Baltimore is better than its record. But the Lions were the better team on Monday night, with their offense being as efficient as ever and their defense not allowing Lamar Jackson to go wild against it. That unit sacked Jackson seven times.

And when the Lions had a chance to put the game away on fourth-and-short inside of the two-minute warning, Jared Goff came through with a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first down to seal it. David Montgomery followed with a 31-yard touchdown run that put the Lions up two scores with 1:50 left.

Detroit looked bad in a season-opening loss at the Packers. The offense got next to nothing, which led to a week of concern that the offense couldn’t recover from losing coordinator Ben Johnson over the offseason. Maybe the Packers’ defense is just really good. Or the Lions had an off day that won’t repeat too often.

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Either way, the Lions are still very much alive and well.

The Lions’ offensive issues from Week 1 haven’t carried over. They destroyed the Chicago Bears in Week 2 and then had some impressive drives on Monday night.

On the Lions’ first possession they picked up 67 yards on 11 plays with Jahmyr Gibbs scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run. Later in the half came one of the more impressive drives of the season. The Lions started on their own 2-yard line. The drive took 10:48 off the clock, they ran it 13 times on 18 plays and David Montgomery scored a 1-yard touchdown. Not only did that keep Jackson and the Ravens’ offense on the sideline for almost a full quarter, Detroit established that it could push around Baltimore.

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It was still just a one-touchdown deficit, and the Ravens drove to the 1-yard line on their next drive. But on second and third down runs, Derrick Henry lost a yard. It’s rare to see Henry not be able to push ahead for positive yards. On fourth down, Jackson rolled to his right, had no running lane, looked to pass but was hit and fumbled, and by the time he recovered he lost 18 yards.

The Ravens don’t generally get overwhelmed physically, but the Lions under head coach Dan Campbell are a tough team. And they imposed their will for most of the first half. But the Ravens have Jackson, and his touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman tied the game 14-14 before halftime.

A marquee matchup on Monday night between two Super Bowl contenders lived up to the hype.

The Ravens and Lions kept the show going after halftime. Baltimore took a lead, and then the Lions tied it back up on a nice pass-and-catch between Goff and St. Brown. The Lions then went on their second drive of more than 90 yards, going 96 yards with the highlight being a 72-yard run by Montgomery. The drive ended with a trick play, with Goff handing off to St. Brown in the backfield, and then St. Brown option pitched it to Gibbs on the edge. Gibbs scored to give the Lions the lead. Those tricky plays were standard when Johnson was calling the offense. New coordinator John Morton showed he has creativity as well.

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The Lions’ defense gave up some yards and points, but facing the Ravens is a tough assignment. They also made plays. Jackson was sacked multiple times when he was looking for a lane to run, as the Lions defenders did a good job not letting him get loose. In the fourth quarter, Aidan Hutchinson made an excellent play, punching the ball out of Derrick Henry’s grasp and causing a fumble that Detroit recovered. The Ravens held Detroit to a field goal, giving Jackson the chance to tie up the game in the final minutes.

But the Lions again rallied to stop Jackson. They sacked him on first down, then on third down they stopped him after just a 3-yard gain. The Ravens punted, and had to know they might not get another chance to tie the game. The Lions’ offense was cruising. Detroit had a fourth-and-2 at the two-minute warning and went for it — Campbell doesn’t punt in those situations — and they made the risk even greater by running a play-action pass. It paid off as Goff hit St. Brown for 20 yards. On the next play Montgomery scored on a 31-yard run to put the game away.

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There was a strange amount of skepticism about the Lions through the offseason, and especially after Week 1. Detroit was one of the best teams in the NFL last season, despite a playoff disappointment. The Lions look like they might be one of the best teams in the league this season too.