The Detroit Lions earned a dramatic win over the Atlanta Falcons yesterday afternoon as quarterback Matthew Stafford found tight end T.J. Hockenson in the end zone with no time remaining on the clock.
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CBS Sports put out their weekly grades for each team’s performance in Week 7; the Lions earned passing marks for their win, while the Falcons’s loss was described as a “comedy of decision-making errors”:
Detroit Lions: B+
“When bad things happen in a Lions game, they’re usually happening to Detroit, but on Sunday things finally went their way. In one of the wildest games you’ll ever see, the Lions scored 10 points over the final 3:16 to pull out the win. After Todd Gurley gifted them a possession with one minute left, Matthew Stafford took advantage of it. Stafford drove his team 75 yards in 64 seconds to get the game-winning touchdown. The Lions QB completed four passes on the drive with two going to T.J. Hockenson, including the game-winning TD with no time left. Kicker Matt Prater also came up big. Not only did he hit three long field goals (49, 50, 51), but he also nailed a 48-yard extra point that won the game on the final play.”
Atlanta Falcons: B-
“The Falcons have found some improbable ways to lose this year, but somehow they might have topped themselves in this game. A 10-yard TD run by Todd Gurley with 1:04 left to play set the stage for the Lions to win. The problem for Gurley is that he didn’t need to score; if he had fallen down at the 1, the Falcons could have run more time off the clock and won the game with a short field goal. The Falcons also made a befuddling decision to go for it on fourth-and-5 from Detroit’s 13-yard line while clinging to a 14-13 lead late in the game. Basically, the entire fourth quarter was a comedy of decision-making errors for a Falcons team that probably should have won this game.”
– – Quotes via John Breech of CBS Sports Link – –
