NFC North Report: Bears and Packers sneak out with wins, Lions fall in Week 3

CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 24: Sherrick McManis #27 of the Chicago Bears celebrates after the Chicago Bears defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-17 at Soldier Field on September 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 24: Sherrick McManis #27 of the Chicago Bears celebrates after the Chicago Bears defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-17 at Soldier Field on September 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) Golden Tate
(Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) Golden Tate /

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.