Left guard Rob Sims had a quick reply when asked if he was surprised the Lions won because they had 16 penalties.

 “No, because we did it last year. (We’re) getting back to the old Lions, we’re not trying to go all the way back to the old Lions,’’ Sims said. “A couple penalties doesn’t hurt when you’re having fun, making explosive plays and playing as a team.

 Had the Lions lost, those penalties — the high for any team in one NFL game this season — might have been under a microscope. But since they pulled out the comeback win at Philadelphia, there doesn’t seem to be much hand-wringing going on.

“I think I said this in preseason: I’d much rather try to explain 16 penalties and a win than point to a loss but we only had three penalties,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said. “It’s a tough game — we played on the road. Philadelphia is a tough place to play, everybody knows that.’’

 Schwartz said the officials called the line of scrimmage very tight which was one of the points of emphasis in the offseason but got lost in the whole replacement officials scenario.

 “I think the penalties … we had false starts, including veteran players. Jeff Backus had a couple, Calvin Johnson had a couple. They called Dominic (Raiola) on one. I mean those are veteran players. It’s difficult when you play on the road. It’s one of the reasons it’s tough to play on the road in the NFL,’’ Schwartz added.

 The Lions will have an extra practice this week to prepare to play the Bears at Chicago on Monday night.

 (Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter.)