Golden Tate was the hero in overtime as he makes the 28-yard touchdown catch, giving theDetroit Lions a 22-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis.
A rushing touchdown by tight end Rhett Ellison gave the Vikings (5-3) the 16-13 lead late in the fourth quarter only giving the Lions (5-4) 23 seconds to get down the field. That became even harder after a roughing the kicker penalty occurred during Minnesota’s extra point attempt.
Detroit began at their own 13-yard line. Matthew Stafford to Tate for eight yards and managed to get out of bounds. Next up in play was Andre Roberts in mid-field for 23 yards to the 43-yard line. Detroit offense rushed to the line and was able to spike the ball with two seconds remaining to give kicker Matt Pratt a try for a 58-yard field goal, which was good sending both teams to overtime.
Lions won the toss and elected to receive. A defensive pass interference on the Xavier Rhodes set up the Lions for 13 more yards to the 43 yard line. RB Theo Riddick rushed for four yards but then loss two after the Vikings defense blitzed through the line. A pass short left to Tate set up the win as he kept his feet in bounds pushing off the defender into the end zone for the score.
Trouble in the red zone during the second half was one of the main reasons Minnesota struggled throughout the game. First came the missed extra point to tie the game up at ten by kicker Blair Walsh on their first drive of the third quarter. Then Walsh’s 46-yard field goal attempt was blocked and recovered by Detroit.
Vikings defense did come through as a pass intended for Tate was intercepted by Andrew Sendejo, but a defensive offside penalty made it a no play and gave the ball back to the Lions. Pratt kicked a 53-yard field goal for the 13-9 lead.
Although it was a battle mostly decided by field goals, the first touchdown was by Detroit a one-yard strike from Stafford to Anquan Boldin. He only finished with two receptions for ten yards. Stafford finished with 219 yards, two touchdowns and on interception. Eric Ebron coming off an injury had seven catches for 92 yards.
Bradford’s woes are still intact as he was sacked twice by Kerry Hyder. Bradford had 273 yards passing and one touchdown connecting with nine different receivers, his main being Stefon Diggs who finished with 80 yards receiving.
Minnesota has now lost their third straight game after coming off their bye week. They head to Washington taking on the 4-3-1 Redskins who are currently on a bye week. With this loss, two of division rivals, Green Bay Packers and the Lions are just half a game behind from first place.
Detroit will head now to their bye week before taking on Jacksonville then followed by another match-up with Minnesota on Thanksgiving Day.
