An NFL game in London finally produced a thriller. The Detroit Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons on a last-second field goal, 22-21, to complete a comeback from a 21-0 deficit at Wembley Stadium. The Lions making a field goal to win a game is remarkable in itself, but HOW that field goal came to be was rather amazing. A confluence of oddities over the last few plays of the game created one of the more bizarre finishes of the NFL season.
What happened in the Lions’ bizarre last-second win over the Falcons
The Lions won a thriller over the Falcons in London after one of the weirdest end-game sequences of the NFL season.
Jamie McDonald
Let’s pick up the action with the Lions in possession of the ball with 24 seconds to play:
3rd and 9 at the ATL 30 -- Joique Bell runs for one yard, Paul Soliai called for defensive holding
The Falcons got flagged, and regardless of the validity of the ref’s opinion, the call saved the Lions’ butts. The Lions got a first-down AND were able to get the clock to stop as a result. They were out of timeouts at the time. Without the call, they would be facing 4th-and-8 with the clock ticking down. They would have had to rush the field goal kicking unit onto the field for a hurried attempt. The Lions couldn’t stop the clock. A spike would have resulted in a turnover on downs.
3rd and 11 at the ATL 24 (:04) -- Matt Prater’s 43-yard field goal attempt is no good, wide right. Lions called for delay of game penalty.
Lions head coach Jim Caldwell would have been the goat of the game if Prater’s initial field goal attempt was good. The Lions were working with a stopped clock and had to kick, so there was no good reason why they play clock should have run all the way down. They couldn’t have been anticipating a Falcons timeout.
So the Lions ended up icing themselves, BUT WAIT, Prater missed and by committing the penalty the Lions gave themselves another chance. Prater’s 48-yard attempt was true, and as a result the Lions were able to get the win.
Keep in mind, that the Falcons were a first down away from sealing the game on their last possession, and that Theo Riddick had to make a ridiculous one-handed grab to help put the Lions in field goal position.
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