The Lions are rarely competitive, but in their matchup against the Browns they had a shot. Detroit got off to a horrible start by allowing the Browns to score 24 points in the first quarter. But the Lions decided not to lay down for once and battled back for a victory.
Number one overall pick Matthew Stafford had his best game of the year tossing five touchdowns. Calvin “Megatron” Johnson and Kevin Smith both had over 100 yards receiving. As usual, Detroit’s secondary was scorched by the Browns. Brady Quinn went 21 for 33 with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
In the fourth quarter, it looked like the Browns would hand the Lions their ninth loss of the season. Here’s how Shutdown Corner described the insane final drive:
On the final play of the game, a Matthew Stafford(notes) pass fell incomplete and the Browns began to celebrate their second win of the year. But Hank Poteat(notes) was flagged for pass interference, which gave the Lions another down with no time on the clock.
There’s more: On the Poteat play, Stafford was hit when he released the ball and stayed down on the field in obvious pain. The rookie clutched his non-throwing shoulder as he ran off the field and was replaced for the final play by Daunte Culpepper(notes). With a cold Culpepper under center, the Lions prepared to snap the ball from the 1-yard line with the clock reading zeroes to get the go-ahead score. Amazingly, Cleveland called timeout before Culpepper could get the snap. This stoppage allowed Stafford to come back in the game and he promptly hit Brandon Pettigrew(notes) for the game-tying touchdown. A Jason Hanson(notes) extra point sealed the game.
Not that anyone should expect good coaching decisions by Eric Mangini, but that timeout was borderline criminal. Culpepper had to rush onto the field with no warning, having stood on the sideline for the previous three hours. The Lions had no timeouts and were in the confusing spot of having to run another play after having thought the game had ended.
So yeah, the Lions should have lost but got bailed out by a MANGENIUS maneuver. Cleveland came into the day averaging 214 yards of offense per game but had 439 on Sunday. This was after the Lions “solidified” their cornerback situation by naming Philip Buchanon and Will James as starters. Detroit will face Green Bay on Thanksgiving at Lambeau. Cleveland faces a brutal three-game stretch of Cincinnati, San Diego, and Pittsburgh. The highlights from the game are below.
