Ravens vs. Lions 2013: Baltimore wins ‘bizarre one’ on Monday night

A 61-yard field goal that just snuck through the uprights gave the Ravens a 18-16 victory over the Lions in a game full of mistakes for each team.

by Adam Stites

Dec 17, 2013, 1:30 PM UTC

Jason Miller

The Detroit Lions lost a fourth game in their last five appearances on Monday night, as a slew of mistakes led to an 18-16 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Still, had it not been for a 61-yard field goal from Justin Tucker that just barely snuck through the uprights, the Lions would have survived those mistakes and improved to 8-6.

On Tuesday, Jason Butt of SB Nation’s Ravens blog, Baltimore Beatdown, called it a “bizarre” game that featured plenty of mistakes for both teams:

The game itself was a bizarre one, in a way. It wasn’t the shootout a lot of people thought would happen. After the Lions moved down the field on their first possession, capped with a Reggie Bush rushing touchdown, both offenses sputtered throughout. The game featured a lot of defense and quite a few mistakes - with the typical ones coming from the Detroit side of things.

Sean Yuille of SB Nation’s Lions blog, Pride of Detroit, also lamented the mistakes of the Detroit offense, although it wasn’t for a lack of effort:

Believe it or not, but the Lions actually came out playing like their playoff hopes were on the line, because the first drive of the game was outstanding.

It looked like they were going to put more points on the board when Stafford found a wide open Calvin Johnson on third-and-15, but the ball was dropped. This was the first of many brutal mistakes for the Lions on offense in this game, and this one likely cost them points.

The Lions will play their final home game of the season in Week 16 when they play host to the New York Giants, while the Ravens will look for a fifth-straight win at home against the New England Patriots.