The Detroit Lions survived a comeback attempt from the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, winning 39-35 in the season opener.
The Detroit Lions nearly blew it against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but held on after losing a 21-3 lead to win 39-35 in their season opener, driving the length of the field in the final 37 seconds to kick the game-winning field goal.
The Rundown
Detroit could do no wrong in the early part of the game. The Lions opened the scoring on a 21-yard run by Theo Riddick to cap off a nine-play, 80-yard drive in the first quarter and Dwayne Washington scored on a one-yard plunge at the end of a 15-play, 82-yard drive in the second quarter to give the Lions a 14-0 lead.
A 50-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri put the Colts on the board, but the Lions responded with their third long touchdown drive of the half, scoring on a six-yard throw from Matthew Stafford to Eric Ebron with 1:37 left in the half. The Colts put it right back, however, going the length of the field without a timeout and scoring on a two-yard pass from Andrew Luck to Donte Moncrief to cut the lead to 21-10 at halftime, eliciting fears that the 2015 season opener—which the Lions lost on the road to the San Diego Chargers after dominating the first half and leading 21-10 at halftime—was repeating itself.
More from Detroit Jock City
- Tigers Sign Manager A.J. Hinch to Long-Term Extension
- Lions vs. Bears Week 14 Opening Odds Disrespect Detroit
- Former Tigers Celebrate Jim Leyland Hall of Fame Call
- This Pistons Team Could be the Worst in Detroit Sports History
- 4 Free Agents Tigers Should Sign During Winter Meetings
Those fears were not calmed after the Lions went three-and-out on their first possession of the half, which was followed by a Colts touchdown on a 19-yard throw from Luck to Dwayne Allen. Indianapolis converted a two-point attempt to further cut the lead to 21-18. An 11-yard Ameer Abdullah touchdown reception gave the Lions a ten-point lead in the third quarter, but the Colts scored ten unanswered points on a 40-yard Vinatieri field goal and 16-yard Jack Doyle touchdown reception to tie the game at 28 with 8:19 left in the fourth.
The Lions responded by putting together their fifth long touchdown drive of the game to take the lead. However, Matt Prater‘s extra point sailed wide right and the Lions led 34-28 with 4:15 left in the fourth. Luck and the Colts made the most of their opportunity, driving the length of the field and scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass from Luck to Doyle, Doyle’s second touchdown of the game. Vinatieri’s extra point put the Colts ahead, 35-34, with 37 seconds left in the game.
The Lions would lay the last blow, though. Stafford led the offense on a furious five-play, 50-yard drive in 33 seconds to set up Prater’s game-winning 43-yard field goal to put the Lions ahead for good. The Colts would have one more chance on a kickoff return, but their attempt at a miracle lateral play yielding only an illegal forward pass in the endzone, which scored a safety for the Lions and made the final score 39-35.
Next: Injuries, Cooterball, Clock Management
Game Notes and Analysis: Injuries, Cooterball, Clock Management
Injury Report
Theo Riddick left the game to be tested for a concussion but returned soon after. Defensive end Wallace Gilberry went to the locker room during the game as well for an unannounced reason.
The Colts lost several members of their already-depleted secondary as the game went on. T.J. Green left the game with a knee injury and Patrick Robinson left with a concussion. Both were ruled out during the second half. Winston Guy, who came in to replace Green, left the game in the fourth after rolling his ankle.
Flirting With History
In 2012, the Colts beat the Lions 35-33 on an Andrew Luck touchdown pass on the final play of the game. In the 2015 season opener, the Lions lost 33-28 on the road to the San Diego Chargers after leading 21-10 at halftime. Despite the ghosts of those losses trying to crash the party and the fears of the Lions ending up on the wrong side another improbable finish, Detroit avoided a cataclysmic meltdown and held it together long enough to get the win, ending a streak of four straight losses to Indianapolis.
More from Detroit Lions
- Lions vs. Bears Week 14 Opening Odds Disrespect Detroit
- Signing This Former Pro-Bowl CB Would Be Huge Mistake for Lions
- Forecasting the Rest of This Lions Season (Score Predictions)
- Lions Get Exciting Injury Update on Rookie QB Hendon Hooker
- Betting Preview: Best Bets for Lions vs. Packers Thanksgiving Day Game
Stafford Leads On Final Drive
Most of the credit for that goes to Matthew Stafford, who didn’t just quarterback his team down the field in the final 37 seconds, he led them down the field in those seconds. He orchestrated the offense masterfully, yelled at his receivers when he had to, looked poised in the pocket and made all of the right decisions. Any doubts that Stafford is the leader of this team should be set aside after that outstanding performance.
Cooterball And Replacing Calvin Johnson
Stafford certainly benefited from the full implementation of Jim Bob Cooter’s offense, which was on display in full force on Sunday. Stafford completed an outstanding 79% (31/39) of his passes, averaging only 10.9 yards per completion as the Lions called mostly short passes and screens, despite the fact that the Colts’ secondary was heavily depleted by injuries.
The longest passing play the Lions made from scrimmage was on Riddick’s first touchdown catch, which was a short pass that Riddick turned into a 21-yard touchdown. Stafford ended the game with 340 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Although it seemed at times that the Lions were not being aggressive enough, especially on third down, this short passing mindset ended up paying several dividends for the offense. Stafford took very few risks and did not turn the ball over.
He was sacked only once and hit only six times as most plays called for him to get the ball out quickly, which kept him upright, and the Lions showed their ability to sustain long drives, gaining over 70 yards on all five of their touchdown drives as well as going the length of the field in a hurry on the final game-winning field goal drive. The Lions ended the game with 448 total yards of offense and no turnovers.
In the passing game, the Lions did not try to replace now-retired Calvin Johnson with one player. Instead, Stafford spread the ball around well, completed passes to eight different receivers, four of whom had five or more receptions and none of whom had more than 85 receiving yards. All four wide receivers on the Lions 53-man roster caught the ball in the game.
Fantasy CPR
Running Backs Stand Out In Air And On Ground
The Lions had an excellent game running the ball overall, rushing for 116 yards on 24 rushing attempts, averaging 4.8 yards per carry as a team. Abdullah and Riddick averaged 5.3 and 6.4 yards per carry respectively. Rookie Dwayne Washington appears to be filling the power back role, as he was called upon twice from inside the one-yard line, scoring on his second attempt.
The backs were perhaps most effective in the short passing game, where Riddick and Abdullah combined for ten receptions, 110 yards and two touchdowns, each scoring once through the air. Four of the Lions’ five touchdowns were scored by running backs on Sunday, one year after the unit combined for only 12 over the entire season.
Clock Management Woes Nearly Cost Lions
Jim Caldwell will certainly be questioned for the clock management decisions he made at the end of this game. After the two-minute warning, when the Colts had the ball down 34-28 deep in Lions territory, Caldwell could have, and perhaps should have, used his timeouts to stop the clock so the Lions offense would have had more time to score in the event the defense failed to get a stop.
The Colts actually used a timeout of their own with 1:15 left in the game, which prevented them from running more time off the clock and helped the Lions. Indianapolis did score on the drive but left just enough time for Stafford and the offense to drive the length of the field, using the timeouts they did not call on defense, to score the game-winning field goal.
Even on that drive, the Lions were not perfect. Eric Ebron fought for extra yardage after making a catch at the Colts’ 46-yard line, which wasted precious seconds, and Marvin Jones failed to get out of bounds on his catch which set up the game-winner. The Lions used their final timeout after that play, but even then they used the timeout with 12 seconds left instead of letting the clock run down to ensure that Prater’s field goal would be the last play of the game.
Stafford had to roll out and throw away a pass—risking an intentional grounding penalty such as the one in the Oklahoma State-Central Michigan game the day before—to kill more time before Prater entered the field with eight seconds left. Even after all of that, the Lions still had to kick off to the Colts with four seconds left, and the Colts tried a miracle lateral play which failed and ultimately gave the Lions two cosmetic points in the end.
All told, the Lions as a team need to work on their clock management in end-game situations, because any of those errors could have cost them in a game this close.
Defense: Coverage Needs Work, Linebackers Inconsistent
The Lions’ secondary did not play well on Sunday. Colts’ wide receivers combined for 237 yards on 16 catches. Darius Slay gave up a 51-yard completion to Phillip Dorsett after tripping in the third quarter, Nevin Lawson blew an assignment on the Colts’ first touchdown drive which cut the lead before halftime and Tavon Wilson, starting for the first time with the Lions, got beat badly by Hilton for a first down in the second half.
The Lions’ linebackers had an up-and-down day overall. They started off well, Tahir Whitehead leading the team in tackles and passes defended with ten and two, respectively, and DeAndre Levy looking like his old self, racking up four tackles, a defended pass and a quarterback hit. Even Kyle Van Noy made a nice play in deep coverage, knocking a pass away from T.Y. Hilton.
However, both of the Lions’ starting linebackers had their rough moments as well. Levy committed a foolish taunting penalty which gave the Colts a first down when they would have been trying to convert on fourth and one in the second half. Whitehead very nearly was called for a late hit on Luck after Luck slid on a scramble, although the flag was picked up, and the Colts’ tight ends were open all day, accounting for three of Indianapolis’ four touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the final minute after Whitehead left Doyle open in the endzone.
Next: Detroit Lions Release LB Josh Bynes From IR
Elsewhere In The NFC North:
The Lions are now 1-0 and tied for first in the NFL North with the Green Bay Packers, who won 27-23 over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Minnesota Vikings, who won 25-16 over the Tennessee Titans. The Chicago Bears lost 23-14 to the Houston Texans.
Up Next:
The Lions will host another AFC South opponent, the Tennesee Titans, next Sunday in their home opener at Ford Field at 1:00 p.m.