Seeing as the main reason for Detroit's brutal offensive performance in last weekend's lopsided loss was gusting winds - that is, according to Jim Schwartz and Matthew Stafford - the Lions shouldn't have much trouble offensively over the next month.

Facing a struggling Carolina Panthers defense also could help the unit get back on track.

Opening a stretch of four straight indoor games, Detroit looks to bounce back from a humbling defeat Sunday when it hosts the Panthers.

After starting the season with five consecutive wins, the Lions (6-3) have dropped three of four. They had a chance Sunday to sweep the season series from NFC North rival Chicago, which also would have given them a two-game lead over the Bears, but were handed a 37-13 loss.

Detroit and Chicago currently own the NFC's two wild-card spots, with Dallas and Atlanta each a game back.

"We are 6-3, we don't want to forget about that, and we had a chance to put this team way behind us, and we didn't," Schwartz said. "We still have seven games to play, we have a long way to go and how we bounce back from this game in the long run will be more important than what happened (Sunday)."

What happened Sunday was undoubtedly the team's worst performance of the season.

The Lions finished with six turnovers - four interceptions and two fumbles - one more than they had through their first eight games. Stafford had thrown four picks all season before matching that total in the span of six possessions Sunday.

Stafford, who finished 33 of 63 for 329 yards with a fourth-quarter touchdown, wore a glove on his right hand to cover a splint protecting a fractured finger.

After the game, Schwartz and Stafford both repeatedly blamed the wind, which gusted around 30 mph, and not the quarterback's finger or even the Bears' defense for the interceptions.

The Lions won't have to worry about playing in the elements for a while. Three of their next four games are at Ford Field, with the only road contest coming at New Orleans' Superdome on Dec. 4.

Detroit, however, has lost its last two home games, averaging 17.5 points and 286.5 yards, but should fare a bit better against Carolina (2-8).

The Panthers, who have lost a franchise-worst 11 straight road games, rank 30th in the NFL in scoring defense (26.3 per game) this season, and are 29th in total defense (373.2 yards per game) since Week 5.

Carolina allowed 383 yards in a 30-3 loss to Tennessee last Sunday, but the defense wasn't the only problem. The offense, which came in ranked fifth in the league, finished with 279 yards - 121 less than its average. The Panthers also turned the ball over twice and had 12 penalties for 99 yards.

"We didn't do anything right," tight end Greg Olsen said. "There isn't one thing that we can hang our hat on. It was just an overall pathetic effort by us."

Cam Newton seemed confused by the Titans' defensive strategy, which was to put a spy on him. He completed 23 of 40 passes for 212 yards with an interception and was sacked a season-high five times. Steve Smith , the NFC leader with 951 receiving yards, was limited to five catches for 33 yards.

Newton ran for 55 yards but didn't get much help from the rest of Carolina's ground game, as DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined for 58 rushing yards.

"We'll continue to have ups and downs, but it's how we handle the downs that's going to dictate who we are," coach Ron Rivera said. "This is a good opportunity for us to bounce back and play well."

It could be tough for Newton and the offense to rebound.

Detroit enters Week 11 tied for sixth in the NFL in sacks (26) and seventh in total defense (318.4 ypg). The unit, led by tackle Ndamukong Suh , limited Chicago's Matt Forte to 67 yards - less than half his NFC-leading average.

Although the Lions succeeded in shutting down one of the NFL's top running backs, their best running back's health remains an issue.

Jahvid Best has missed the last three games because of a concussion, and Detroit is averaging 99.0 rushing yards without him.

The Lions have lost four in a row to the Panthers since beating them 24-9 in their first meeting in 1999. They haven't met since 2008, when Williams rushed for 120 yards and two scores and Stewart ran for 130 yards with one TD in Carolina's 31-22 victory.

Stafford-led Lions rally to beat Panthers 49-35

DETROIT (AP) -- Matthew Stafford shook off a couple of early interceptions, then went about leading the Detroit Lions to yet another memorable comeback.

The Lions quarterback matched a career-best with five touchdown passes, the final one a 7-yarder to Brandon Pettigrew with 2:32 left, and the Lions rallied for a 49-35 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

"We were killing ourselves with turnovers," he said. "We knew that we'd be able to score in the second half if we could just keep our hands on the ball."

The Lions (7-3) scored five second-half touchdowns and became the first NFL team to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points.

"We can get as hot as any team in the league," Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said.

The Panthers (2-8) led by 17 points in the second quarter, and had a 27-14 lead at halftime.

"This is a team loss," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. "You play the second half the way we did, you're going to get beat."

Detroit now can look ahead to its next game, on Thanksgiving at home against undefeated Green Bay.

"Against Green Bay, you can't make the mistakes we did," Schwartz said.

Against Carolina, though, the Comeback Cats were able to overcome their early turnovers with a barrage of touchdown passes by Stafford. The Lions scored 21 straight points to take a 35-27 lead early in the fourth quarter, but couldn't put the game away until the final minutes.

Carolina tied it with 4:59 left on quarterback Cam Newton 's 6-yard run and 2-point conversion pass to Steve Smith .

Stafford then started the game-winning drive with a 30-yard completion to Calvin Johnson and capped it with his sharp pass to Pettigrew in the end zone on a third-down play.

The Lions sealed the win when Newton threw an interception on the Panthers' first play after the ensuing kickoff and the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL draft finished with a season-high four interceptions.

Newton was 22 of 38 for 280 yards with a TD pass and also ran for two scores.

"It was as if we were just trying to hold on," Newton said. "You can't do that to a team like this."

Minnesota and Dallas found that out early this season. The Lions trailed the Vikings and Cowboys by 20-plus points on the road and came back to win each game during their 5-0 start.

Stafford, selected No. 1 overall in the 2009 draft, bounced back from his rough start Sunday to finish 28 of 36 for 335 yards.

"It's just like being a shooting guard," Lions receiver Nate Burleson said. "Once he hit a couple shots, you could see it in his eyes. He was in the huddle winking at guys."

It helped that Stafford had somebody to do something with handoffs.

Kevin Smith gave the Lions a surprising boost on the ground, running for a career-high 140 yards and scoring a career-best three touchdowns two weeks after he was sitting on a couch without a job when his former team gave him a shot.

"There are a lot of great stories in the NFL, but you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better one right now than Kevin Smith ," Schwartz said.

When Detroit looked like it was trying to set up a field goal to take a 10-point lead, Smith took a handoff and ran 19 yards for a TD with two minutes left to finish off the Lions' 35-point second half.

"I knew that in this league, if you are available and you have talent, you'll get a chance," Smith said.

The Panthers were determined to make someone other than Johnson - with 11 TD catches coming in - beat them. Once Stafford figured that out, he flourished. He connected with five different targets - none named Johnson - for scores and settled for short passes instead of long ones.

Stafford had TD passes of 28 yards to Kevin Smith , 3 yards to Titus Young , 16 yards to Burleson, 17 yards to Tony Scheffler and 7 yards to Pettigrew.

"When Matt knows he can throw a short pass to one of our receivers or running backs, they can get yards after the catch, it gives you a lot of confidence as a quarterback," Schwartz said.

The Lions turned the ball over on their first three drives, then pulled within three points when Smith ran for 43 yards and turned a screen pass into a 28-yard TD on back-to-back plays in the second quarter.

Detroit quickly lost the momentum when Panthers rookie Kealoha Pilares returned the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for a score to put Carolina up 17-7 early in the second quarter.

The Lions overcame eight penalties, some that extended drives for Carolina, to avoid a loss that would've hurt their playoff positioning.

Detroit had lost two straight at home and three of four overall and appeared to be headed toward another setback until Stafford started clicking and its defense began slowing down the Panthers.

Notes: Panthers TE Jeremy Shockey (ribs), LB Dan Connor (shoulder) and Lions DL Lawrence Jackson (thigh) and Willie Young (ankle) were inactive. ... Detroit previously ruled out RB Jahvid Best , who hasn't played since Oct. 16 because of a concussion. ... Carolina is winless on the road this season. ... Smith's previous career high in rushing yards was 112 as a Detroit rookie in 2008 at Carolina.

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