The Lions improved to an impressive 3-0 by beating the Falcons on Sunday in a wild thrilling game. Matt Stafford hit Golden Tate for the score as time expired to send the Falcons back to Atlanta with a true loss. Let’s take a look at the results.
First Half
Atlanta dominated the first quarter of action. They received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays eating up 6:43 off the clock. The key plays were Atlanta converting a 3rd and 9 to Sanu and a 3rd and 16 on a great catch by Devonta Freeman for 18 yards. Sanu caught the TD and I guess broke the plane. It’s tough to tell these days.
The Lions got two first downs but were forced to punt. TJ Lang got called with a roughing penalty. You can do that kind of stuff in Green Bay only, Mr. Lang. They call it Vince Lombardi hustle. In Detroit, that is a penalty and the Lions had to punt.
The Falcons continued time of possession dominance with another long methodical drive. Detroit held strong in the red zone though and Anthony Zettel sacked Matt Ryan to force a field goal. Atlanta led 10-0.
Detroit responded with Matt Prater and one first down. Deion Jones was called with a roughness penalty as well. The Lions moved the ball only 38 yards but that is all Prater needed. He nailed a 55 yard field goal to cut the score to 10-3.
The Falcons offense was still hot and drove 64 yards after a nice Andre Roberts punt return. Freeman ran well and Ryan hit Jones, Gabriel and Roberts for first downs. Freeman punched it in from the one yard line. Atlanta commanded the game at 17-3.
Detroit moved the ball again. Abdullah cracked a 22 yard run and another 10 yard run. Stafford found Tate for 10 yards and a first down. Stafford missed Riddick on 3rd and 2 and the Lions had to settle for another field goal. Prater nailed the 40 yarder with ease and cut the deficit to 17-6.
The Falcons smelled blood and kept passing. However, this time Glover Quin baited Matt Ryan and picked the pass off. Quin returned it 37 yards for the score and changed the game. The Lions were back in the game at 17-3.
Atlanta wasn’t done scoring though and moved the ball with under 2 minutes. Coleman grabbed a big 27 yarder and Freeman caught a 10 yard first down. Ryan missed Sanu on 3rd down but Matt Bryant nailed the 48 field yard field goal for a 20-13 lead.
The Lions went 3 and out and the half ended.
Second Half
Detroit received the ball but went backwards with Clayborn sacking Stafford. The Lions punted and former Lion Andre Roberts made them pay 27 yards on the return. The Falcons got one first down but the Lions defense held strong despite the short field. Bryant nailed another field goal for the 23-13 lead.
Detroit’s offense woke up. Stafford orchestrated a beautiful 75 yard drive and hit Golden Tate for the score from 11 yards. Detroit cut the lead to 3.
Matt Ryan was let down by his Tevin Coleman on the next drive. Ryan missed a little behind Coleman and the ball hits his hands but bounced into the hands of Darius Slay. The Lions had a great short field. They did nothing with the short field and Prater nailed another field goal to tie the game. It was a new ball game at 23 all.
This angered the Falcons and they moved 75 yards in 4 plays. Freeman ran well on three straight plays. Detroit suffered in run defense without Jarrad Davis and Tavon Wilson (two key run defenders). Ryan hit Gabriel on a bubble screen and Diggs missed a tackle. Gabriel used his speed for the 40 yard TD. The Falcons were back up 30-23.
Detroit responded with Matt Prater again. Detroit drove 37 yards with one big 3rd down conversion to Tate for 18 yards. Ebron dropped a ball and Stafford missed to Tate to kill the drive. However, Prater nailed a 57 yard field goal. The guy is automatic.
Matt Ryan again was let down by his receiver. This time Mohammed Sanu mishandled a ball and again Slay was waiting for the interception. Detroit got the ball at their own 45 but failed with a miss to Jones, a bad run and only 8 yards to Ebron short of the sticks.
The Falcons got the ball back up 4 but Detroit’s defense ROSE UP. Detroit stopped the Falcons and got the ball back. The Lions offense didn’t rise though with another 3 and out. Ebron dropped a second ball and Stafford missed deep to Tate on 3rd down.
The Falcons just had to run out the clock. They couldn’t run it out as Julio Jones was stopped by Glover Quin short of the first down. The Lions had one more chance. Matt Bosher had a great punt and backed the Lions at their own 11.
It was time for Stafford magic down 4 with 2:23 to play. Stafford hit Golden Tate who got crushed but held on for 15 yards. Stafford hit TJ Jones for 29 yards who also got crushed by Ricardo Allen. Allen was hurt on the play as TJ Jones is a man. Stafford finally hit Riddick in the middle for 16 yards beating Deion Jones. Matt scrambled for 11 yards to the Falcons 18.
Referee Fuckery
The referees decided to start cheating for the Falcons. Stafford hit Marvin Jones to the Falcons 2 but called a holding on Lions 3rd string left guard Zach Kerin. Bogus call and Detroit was backed up. The Falcons were holding all day. The refs weren’t satisfied and called a bogus OPI on Marvin Jones. It was 1st and 30 at Detroit’s 38 yard line now. It was obvious the referees were cheating in Atlanta’s favor.
Stafford threw it deep and the ball was picked off but Desmond Trufant had an obvious defensive hold and Detroit rightfully got a first down. The referees couldn’t deny the hold. Stafford hit TJ Jones again for 14 yards with new life. Stafford missed to Ebron twice but on 3rd down Trufant molested Marvin Jones for the obvious DPI. Detroit got the ball at the one yard line with four (4) chances.
Stafford tried to Riddick first. Riddick was interfered with but the refs did not call it. Stafford threw high to Kenny Golladay on the next play. They still had two more shots. No worries.
Stafford hits Golden Tate for the called TD. The refs made the call, not the Lions. They then decide to review the call and despite hazy evidence, call Tate down short of the sticks. Due to a referee error, they decide to have a 10 second run off even though Detroit clearly would have had time for one more play.
The Lions moved 27 yards in 7 seconds against the Vikings last year. They had time for a 4th down play. Instead, the referees used the obscure rule to cheat for Atlanta and run ten seconds off the clock due to their own error. Not to mention, Tate was interfered with on that play by the cheating molesty dirty bird Falcons.
The real result though is Stafford hit Tate for the score on 4th down as time expired. The Lions won the game 33-30.
Referee should be done by AI. At the very least goal line technology, should be via computer not ref judgment. A referee stopping the game due to their error should never result in a run-off and if it does, the run-off should not be a crazy 10 seconds (maybe 5 seconds).
Detroit won the game. The referees clearly wanted Atlanta to win due to the bogus hold on Kerin, bogus OPI call, bogus non DPI call twice including the Tate play, referee goal line mistake and bogus 10 second crazy run off.
Detroit is 3-0. Anything else will be denied.