Live Lions blog: Tate's touchdown gives Lions 22-16 OT win
Golden Tate's 26-yard touchdown catch, and two broken tackles, propelled the Lions to a 22-16 overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings Sunday.
Matt Prater's third field goal, a 58-yard kick, forced overtime as time expired in the fourth quarter.
Matthew Stafford was 23-of-36 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Lions (5-4), who have won four of their last five games.
Tate had 11 catches for 79 yards, while Eric Ebron had seven for a career-high 92.
For the Vikings (5-3), who have lost three in a row, Sam Bradford was 31-of-40 for 273 yards and a touchdown. Stefon Diggs had 13 catches for 80 yards, while Rhett Ellison (rushing) and Kyle Rudolph (receiving) had the touchdowns for Minnesota.
The Lions host the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Prater forces OT with 58-yard FG
Give Matt Prater a game ball, win or lose.
His 58-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter forced overtime, tying the game at 16.
Matthew Stafford's first play of the drive was a 7-yard pass to Golden Tate, who got out of bounds with 17 seconds left. Then, Stafford found Eric Ebron for a gain of 27 to the Minnesota 40-yard-line, before spiking the ball with two seconds left.
Each of Prater's three field goals (37, 52, 58) have gotten progressively longer throughout the game.
Vikings get late TD, take lead
Minnesota took the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Vikings tight end Rhett Ellison's 1-yard touchdown run put Minnesota ahead and Blair Walsh's extra point made it a three-point game, 16-13.
The Vikings converted a crucial fourth-and-4, giving them a first-and-goal at the Detroit 3-yard-line, three plays before the touchdown.
The Lions, with no timeouts left, will have one or two plays, perhaps three at the most, to get into field goal range.
Despite first downs, Lions punt again
The Lions, midway through the fourth quarter, picked up their first two first downs of the second half. However, they were still forced to punt.
Detroit has a 13-9 lead and will need another defensive stop -- perhaps two -- to hold on for the win.
Lions get big 4Q stop
The Lions, for the second straight drive, got a big defensive stop.
This time, the Vikings had a fourth-and-inches from the Lions 5-yard-line. The Vikings, on the previous play, challenged the spot claiming Jerrick McKinnon crossed the line to gain at the Lions 4. But the ruling that he did not was upheld.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Lions lead 13-9.
Prater makes 53-yard FG, Lions up 13-9
Matt Prater has a leg.
His season-long 53-yard field goal made it 13-9 early in the fourth quarter.
Two plays earlier, before the Vikings were flagged for jumping offsides, it appeared that Minnesota defensive back Tre Waynes made contact with Lions receiver Golden Tate -- holding at the least, but arguably pass interference. No flag was thrown on Waynes, though the Lions picked up five yards on the offsides flag.
Lawson blocks FG try
The Lions defense helped the Vikings into Detroit territory, and put Minnesota in a position to score.
However, Nevin Lawson's block of a 46-yard field goal attempt by Blair Walsh kept the Lions ahead, 10-9, early in the fourth quarter.
Glover Quin's 32-yard return gave the Lions the ball at the Vikings 42-yard-line.
Lions still looking to move chains in 3Q
The Lions are still looking to get a first down in the third quarter.
After a short run on first down and an incomplete pass on a second down screen play, Matthew Stafford threw downfield to Marvin Jones, who couldn't come up with the catch -- forcing the punt.
The Lions lead 10-9.
Vikings get TD, but miss PAT in 3Q
The Vikings, on their second drive of the third quarter, marched down the field and scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford to Kyle Rudolph.
But Blair Walsh missed the extra point, keeping the Lions ahead, 10-9.
Bradford is now over 100 yards. He's 15-for-19 for 116 yards.
Lions start half with consecutive punts
The Lions went three-and-out for the second time of the half, but still lead 10-3 in the third quarter.
Matthew Stafford took a shot downfield on first down, but Marvin Jones dropped what would have been a one-handed catch with a defensive back making a fair bit of contact.
Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford is back on the field after being checked for a possible concussion resulting from the sack at the end of the previous drive.
Hyder picks up second sack
Going into Sunday's game, Lions defensive end Kerry Hyder hadn't recorded a sack in four weeks.
He has two today.
Hyder's second sack, early in the third quarter, forced the Vikings into a three-and-out.
The Lions will start their second drive of the second half at their own 23-yard-line after a fair catch from Andre Roberts. Detroit has a 10-3 lead.
Lions go three-and-out to start half
The Lions, who won the coin toss and deferred to start the game, elected to receive the second half kickoff.
On the first drive of the third quarter, they went three-and-out.
On third-and-6, Matthew Stafford threw a screen pass to Golden Tate, who was tackled immediately.
The Lions still lead, 10-3, early in the third quarter.
Halftime: Lions 10, Vikings 3
The Lions, who moved the ball extremely well on their last drive of the first half, got a touchdown in the closing seconds on a 3-yard pass from Matthew Stafford to Anquan Boldin.
The drive, which went 84 yards in 17 plays, had a good mix of run and pass plays. Also going in the Lions favor was the play of tight end Eric Ebron, who had a pair of good catches. Drops have consistently been an issue for Ebron.
At halftime, the Lions lead 10-3.
Stafford has played well, so far. He's 13-of-17 for 95 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Theo Riddick has six carries or 53 yards, while Ebron has four catches for 55 yards.
For the Vikings, Sam Bradford is 11-of-15 for 84 yards, including a 5-yard pass to himself in the first quarter. Ronnie Hillman has five carries for 25 yards, while Stefon Diggs has five catches for 29 yards.
Blair Walsh has a 33-yard field goal for the Vikings, while Matt Prater's 47-yarder gave the Lions a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
Interception proves fruitless for Vikes
The Vikings started their drive in the red zone after Chad Greenway returned his interception to the Detroit 18-yard-line.
But then, Minnesota went backwards. Fast.
A pair of offensive penalties -- first a false start, and then an illegal block in the back -- gave the Vikings second-and-19. Then a 4-yard loss from Ronnie Hillman and a sack from Kerry Hyder on Sam Bradford brought up fourth-and-31, forcing Minnesota to punt from nearly midfield.
The Lions start at their own 16 after Andre Roberts' fair catch, in a 3-3 game.
Stafford picked off, Vikes in red zone
Matthew Stafford's second quarter interception, while not necessarily at a "good" time, certainly came in a bad spot.
Chad Greenway picked Stafford off, returning the interception into the red zone. The Vikings will start at the Detroit 18-yard-line in a 3-3 game.
Vikings tie game with 33-yard FG in 2Q
Blair Walsh's 33-yard field goal early in the second quarter tied the game at 3.
The Vikings, before the field goal, were driving. It took five of the drive's 12 plays to get from the Minnesota 25-yard-line into Detroit territory. Most of Minnesota's 61 yards came on short passes from Sam Bradford. The Lions, with no pass rush to speak of, were ill-equipped to stop Bradford.
The Vikings have 82 pass yards on Bradford's 10-of-14 passing.
Lions go three-and-out
For the first time, late in the first quarter, the Lions went three-and-out.
Detroit was able to pick up two yards on a run from Dwayne Washington before Matthew Stafford connected with Golden Tate for another seven, but that was it.
The Lions still lead, 3-0.
Vikings punt on second straight drive
Despite moving the ball well early in their second drive, the Vikings again punted, down 3-0 in the first quarter.
Sam Bradford started the drive with a 5-yard pass -- to himself -- before the Vikings got to midfield two plays later. However, an offensive pass interference flag on the next play, followed by an incomplete pass, forced Minnesota to punt again.
The Lions currently lead in total offense, 57 yards to 51, but the Vikings lead in passing yards, 33-9.
Prater sinks 47-yard FG, Lions up 3-0
Matt Prater's 47-yard field goal gave the Lions a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Three plays earlier, Theo Riddick's career-long 42-yard run on third-and-7 gave the Lions a fresh set of downs, preventing a three-and-out.
However, the Lions, on a 1-yard pass to Golden Tate, a run for no gain from Dwayne Washington and an incomplete pass out of the hands of Anquan Boldin forced a fourth down.
Lions force punt on first drive
The Lions defense took a few plays to settle in against the Vikings.
Minnesota's first three plays were quick passes. Sam Bradford found Matt Asiata (nine yards), Stefon Diggs (10 yards) and Rhett Ellison (four yards) on back-to-back-to-back plays. Then, the Vikings went to the run -- on an inside handoff to Jerrick McKinnon that only gained a yard. On third down, Bradford threw an incomplete pass intended for Adam Thelen, which was broken up by Johnson Bademosi, forcing the Vikings to punt.
Early in the first quarter, the game is scoreless.
HOW TO WATCH: LIONS VS. VIKINGS
When: Sunday, 1 p.m.
Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
TV: Fox
Radio: WJR AM 760
Records: Lions 4-4, Vikings 5-2
Line: Vikings by 6
Series: Vikings lead 71-36-2
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