NFC North Report: Bears and Packers sneak out with wins, Lions fall in Week 3
By Adam Patrick
A controversial call gives the Lions their first loss of 2017
In a battle of two unbeaten teams, the matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons turned out to be one of the week’s best games.
The Lions fell behind 17-3 early in the second quarter, but a 37-yard pick-six by Detroit safety Glover Quin and a Matt Prater field goal cut the Lions’ deficit to just seven points at the half.
Trailing 30-26 with 2:23 remaining in the fourth quarter, Detroit’s offense had one final chance to come out of Week 3 with a win. After starting from their own 11-yard line, the Lions put together an offensive drive of 10 plays that eventually led to them facing a 3rd and goal situation with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
Instead of attempting a pass to either sideline to potentially give their offense one final chance on fourth down, Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford opted to throw a pass to a crossing Golden Tate, who was stopped just short of the end zone, thus giving the Falcons a 30-26 win. The play was originally called a touchdown, but after an official review, the score was overturned and a 10-second runoff ended the game due to the Lions having no timeouts left.
Detroit will try and rebound from their first loss of the season in Week 4 when they head to Minnesota to face the 2-1 Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.