DETROIT — Sixteen seconds.
Matthew Stafford has engineered a lot of game-winning drives in his career. In fact, that guy’s engineered more game-winning drives than every other quarterback except Drew Brees since entering the league in 2009. But with just 16 seconds left, his throwing hand wrapped in tape and two of his starting receivers sidelined by hip injuries while staring down the barrel of the league’s No. 1 passing defense, well, few spots have been tougher than this.
Didn’t matter.
Stafford covered 34 yards in those 16 seconds, thanks to two quick completions and perhaps a little bit of acting on a roughing the passer penalty, and Matt Prater buried a 59-yard buzzer-beater to stun Washington 30-27 on Sunday at Ford Field.
“If you know anything about that guy, No. 9, he can literally make any throw,” receiver Marvin Jones said.
Stafford threw touchdown passes to Jones, Marvin Hall and D’Andre Swift in the first 40 minutes of the game. That tied him with Joe Montana for 17th on the NFL’s all-time touchdown passes list, and helped Detroit build a commanding 24-3 lead midway through the third quarter.
But this defense has never been particularly good at holding anything under Matt Patricia, and Washington — a bottom-five offense with a backup quarterback under center — needed just 17 minutes to score 21 unanswered points and tie up the game.
Stafford countered with a go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, a methodical 11-play affair that covered 56 yards, set up Prater for a go-ahead field goal and consumed all but the final 2:37 of regulation. But that was more than enough time for Washington to punch back, converting three third-and-longs and a fourth-and-4 en route to another game-tying field goal with just 16 seconds left.
It seemed like we were headed for overtime.
But then Washington made a strategic error, choosing to send the kickoff through the back of the end zone. That preserved those precious few seconds, and Stafford went to work with all three timeouts remaining.
He connected with rookie Quintez Cephus, in for the injured Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola, on a quick 10-yard pass up the left seam. Detroit took its first timeout, then decided to take a shot coming out the break. Stafford aired out a bomb to Cephus streaking up the left hashes, and the pass seemed to be on the money too, but the rookie broke stride as he extended for the ball and came up short.
Stafford slumped over his knees, clearly disappointed he didn’t connect.
“Almost hit it,” Stafford said, “a little walk-off touchdown pass.”
Just 6 seconds remained, and there was still a whole lot of grass between him and the goal.
But, a flag.
Chase Young, taken second overall in this year’s draft, hit Stafford in the back well after the pass. The contact wasn’t much, but there was contact nonetheless, and it was definitely late. Stafford sold it by falling to the ground too, and the officials bought it.
“Hit him too hard, I guess,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said. “They hit our guy and knocked him to the ground. We didn’t get a penalty. So, you know, just a little inconsistent.”
Sure, but the Lions were happy to take the 15 free yards anyway, and suddenly they were at the 50 with those 6 seconds left. Stafford then slung a quick pass to Marvin Jones on the following play, and Jones immediately took a dive at the 41 so Detroit could call timeout.
Clock: 3 seconds left.
“Great situational football at the end,” Patricia said. “Stafford, (Darrell Bevell), and just organizing all of that — it was very meticulous how we were going to play that. There were certain plays that we had dialed up and then used their timeouts and kind of were able to progress all the way through there. Outstanding execution.”
Of course, the Lions still had to make a 59-yard field goal to finish it off. Then again, the Lions also still have Matt Prater, the best long-ball artist in franchise history. Prater already held the record for longest field goal in club history, a 59-yarder back in 2015. And he pounded this 59-yarder through too, ending Washington in buzzer-beating fashion.
“We got it close enough for the most clutch kicker in football to come out there and do his thing,” Stafford said. “So, I was extremely happy for Matt Prater and that operation to get it up and through the uprights. I mean, 59-yarder to win it, that’s what that guy loves to do and what we love having him for. He’s a special guy in those moments and I was really proud of him for today for that.”
Stafford has been beaten up the last few weeks, including leaving last week’s game to be evaluated for a brain injury, then banging his throwing hand so hard during this one that he was having trouble gripping the ball. He stayed in the game, but needed a tape job to do it.
Then he delivered his 37th game-winning drive, which trails only Brees (39) since entering the league in 2009. He finished 24 of 33 passing overall for 276 yards, three touchdowns, no picks and a season-high passer rating of 127.8.
Not bad for a banged-up quarterback playing against the No. 1 defense in the league.
“There are definitely some things we can do better,” Stafford said, “but I’m just proud of our guys for fighting. A win is a win. It’s tough to win in this league, I’m never going to apologize for one. Could we play better? Yeah. But we did a nice job not turning the ball over, defense did a nice job getting some stops, our special teams was nails as it always is. So, that was great.”
