Lucky Lions hold off late Vikings comeback to win 34-28 – NFL Recap Week 14
A Lucky break saw the Detroit Lions just make it over the line to see off the Minnesota Vikings 34-28 to keep their advantage over Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons in the race for National Football Conference Wild card spots.
The Lions were close to blowing a huge 31-14 first half lead to Minnesota Vikings as the Vikings replacement quarterback Joe Webb nearly led a second half comeback. Coming on for rookie quarterback Christian Ponder in the second
period who struggled with a hip-pointer the replacement quarterback rushed a 65-yard touchdown and passed for another as the Vikings came within one scoring play for victory.
And Webb almost got that score. The quarterback was a yard away from scoring the winning points and completing an audacious comeback but Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy forced a fumble with replays showing he grabbed Webb’s facemask
but officials did not call the penalty.
"We get a lot of calls called against us," the Lions linebacker said. "So, they owed us one if I did."
As defensive end Cliff Avril recovered the loose ball and possession the Lions survived and held on for the victory.
"No one is going to remember how this game ended," insisted Cliff Avril. "It only matters that we got the win."
Webb did not complain however saying he didn’t even know if his face mask was grabbed.
"I had so many things running through my head," Webb said. "I was just trying to make a play."
The Lions built up a big lead in the first half thanks to quarterback Matthew Stafford’s two passing touchdowns as he covered 227 yards completing 20 out of 29 attempted passes.
Vikings rookie quarterback Christian Ponder was taken off early in the third quarter as he threw three interceptions while struggling with a hip pointer injury. Ponder ended his game with two touchdown passes completing 11 out
of 21 attempted passes for just 115 yards.
His replacement at quarterback Joe Webb passed for 84 yards creating a touchdown as he completed 12 of 23 pass attempts. Webb also scored a brilliant 65-yard rushing touchdown as he almost led an improbable Vikings comeback.
The Lions started on fire with linebacker Stephen Tulloch scoring the first touchdown of the night early in the first quarter recovering a fumble in the end-zone. Stafford showed his class five minutes later with an eagle eyed
57-yard pass to wide receiver Titus Young to double the Lions advantage.
Stafford threw his second passing touchdown of the night four minutes later to bring the score to 21-0 from 12-yards to Brandon Pettigrew. The Vikings hit back two minutes from the end of the first quarter when Ponder sent a 7-yard
pass to Visanthe Shiancoe to make it 21-7.
Ponder struggled in the second quarter. Alphonso Smith intercepted the quarterback for his second pass interception and scored a touchdown with a brilliant 30-yard return early in the second quarter. Ponder however hit back with
a second touchdown pass at 7:36 to Percy Harvin from 6-yards.
With the score at 28-14 Lions Kicker Jason Hanson increased the Lions lead to 31-14 with a field goal from 30 yards.
Vikings Coach Leslie Frazier took off Ponder when he threw his third interception early in the third quarter replacing him with Joe Webb. Webb immediately got in on the action with a brilliant 65-yard run to the Lions end-zone
to make it 31-21.
The Lions got three more points early in the fourth quarter through a Jason Hanson 26-yard field goal but Webb was looking determined. The replacement quarterback sent a 2-yard pass to Toby Gerhart to bring the Vikings who were
playing for pride back in the game. With just one scoring play needed for victory Webb got the Vikings one-yard away from the end-zone with another brilliant rush.
As the play started Webb got hold of the ball but fumbled when DeAndre Levy got hold of his face mask and no penalty was called with Lions recovering possession and winning the game.
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