After the Lions started 1-7 last season, quarterbacks coach Jim Bob Cooter was named the new offensive coordinator, and Stafford and the offense prospered.
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But this much we do know: It certainly didn’t help his team’s chances on a day when the injury-riddled squad already had so much going against it.
We saw the offensive line hold up long enough for him to make plays.
Detroit came away with a 39-35 win at Indianapolis on Sunday, so instead of bemoaning a defensive collapse that let the Colts back in the game, the Lions can rejoice over a close win.
All for scenarios like Sunday, where timeouts were so precious because of how many times games come down to a single possession at the end. “That’s a tough way to lose”.
But Matthew Stafford marched Detroit 50 yards over the next 33 seconds for a game-winning 43-yard field goal from Matt Prater, and an insane series of laterals on the final kickoff resulted in a safety and a 39-35 victory for the visiting Lions.
Indy was called for a safety on the final play of the game, for throwing an illegal forward pass in its end zone. Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck picked it apart. Miss one field goal or extra point.
Luck wound up 31 of 47 for 385 yards with four touchdowns and had no turnovers – a stark contrast to his mistake-prone ways during an injury-riddled 2015 season. Luck hits Jack Doyle for the TD and the clock stops at:37. That nine-play drive covered 85 yards.
The Lions moved the ball easily against a beat-up Colts defense in the first half, scoring touchdowns on drives of 80, 82 and 75 yards.
Those timeouts were earned – preserved, rather, though the Lions attention to detail over the course of the game.
“When he’s in command and running things, he puts a lot of pressure on the defense”, coach Jim Caldwell said.
“We got some great teachers as coaches”, Luck said.
The sophomore running back was speaking from experience.
“I think our quarterback was exceptional, ” Pagano said. “We ran out of gas at the end”. Another sack quelled a promising drive, forcing the Colts to settle for a field goal and the Lions then drove 75 yards for a 21-3 lead. Marcus Mariota completed 25 of 41 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. Stafford then finally went outside the numbers as free-agent acquisition Marvin Jones turned around Antonio Cromartie in coverage like a top before hauling in a 22-yard gain.
“Yeah, exhausted of talking about slow starts and exhausted of being a part of slow starts”, Luck said, the disappointment showing on his face. “We have to get healthy, and healthy in a hurry”.
“At the end of the day in this business, I can call it a business, it’s about a win or a loss”, he said, “and it doesn’t quite matter how you end up there”.
When the Lions scored their second touchdown to go up 14-0, the second-quarter clock stopped at 9:11.
So back to the Colts’ go-ahead score.
Chuck Pagano has a renewed focus on accountability, onlookers say, as he enters his fifth season leading the Indianapolis Colts.
“Defense 101, ” Mathis said. That last drive, I had some really good pockets and that’s what I told them. At halftime, the Colts will celebrate IN athletes who competed IN the Rio Olympics. He was without Vontae Davis, Darius Butler, Henry Anderson and Clayton Geathers.
Luck tied the game with a 16-yard pass to Doyle at the 8:19 mark, and Stafford put Detroit back in front on a 13-yard pass to Riddick with 4:04 remaining.
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[FOX] Colts vs Lions Li.ve S-tre.am Lucas/Online 11/09/2016 1st Week Brown Paper Tickets – 2 hours ago Lions vs Colts l i v e s t r e a m: W a t c h Detroit Lions vs Indianapolis Colts O n l i n e National Football League week 1 Sunday Rancho Santa Fe Review – 9 hours ago Revenge may not be a primary motivation for the Lions’ coach today, but it surely would mean something special to him on a personal level to beat his old team.
