All Lions

Lions Fans Breathe Sigh of Relief, Express Worry After Avoiding Upset

Lions fans react to stunning comeback win over New York Giants.
Christian Booher|
Detroit Lions fans.
Detroit Lions fans. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

In this story:

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions truly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the New York Giants.

Out of sorts for much of the afternoon, the Lions mounted a late comeback to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, Detroit's stars showed up in a big way to avoid the upset and improve to 7-4 on the year.

Detroit was unable to make positive movements in the NFC North standings as both Chicago and Green Bay won on Sunday, but a loss would've been very detrimental to their hopes of a third consecutive division title.

The Giants threw the first punch Sunday, scoring on their opening drive thanks to a flea-flicker from Jameis Winston to Devin Singletary, who then threw the ball back to Winston. The quarterback connected with Wan'Dale Robinson for a 39-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

New York would extend its lead to 10-0 before Detroit's offense entered the picture on an 11-yard touchdown from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Giants extended their lead on a scoring strike from Winston to Isaiah Hodgins, and Goff hit Jahmyr Gibbs to pull Detroit back within three.

The two teams would trade field goals to end the half, making it 20-17 in favor of New York entering the third quarter.

Winston would be on the receiving end of a touchdown as the Giants continued their trickery in the third quarter. Gunner Olszewski took a pitch on a reverse, then stepped up and floated the ball up to Winston. After shaking a tackle attempt from Derrick Barnes, Winston waltzed into the end zone to put the Giants up 10 with 12:16 remaining.

It would take the Lions just three plays to respond, as Gibbs scored from 49 yards out to pull the Lions within three with 10:50 to play. New York would go on a long drive, taking nearly seven minutes off the clock while getting deep into Detroit territory.

Facing a fourth-and-goal from Detroit's 6-yard line, the Giants elected to go for it rather than kick a field goal to go up six with 2:59 remaining. Winston's pass fell incomplete, and the Lions wound up tying the game thanks to a career-long 59-yard field goal by Jake Bates with less than a minute to play.

Detroit would need just one play to get the fireworks started in overtime, as Gibbs raced 69 yards on the first play of the extra session. New York would threaten, but Winston was sacked by Aidan Hutchinson on fourth-down to end the game.

Gibbs was the star of the day, finishing with 219 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He added 11 catches for 45 yards as a receiver out of the backfield.

The concerns surrounding the Lions on both sides of the ball remain real, but ultimately the team was able to dig deep and find a way. Sunday's game was their first of three in 11 days, so Detroit is entering a tough stretch as they look to re-enter the playoff picture.

Here's a snippet of the online reaction to the Lions' comeback win on Sunday.

More from Lions OnSI:

Published
Christian Booher
CHRISTIAN BOOHER

Sports journalist who has covered the Detroit Lions the past three NFL seasons. Christian brings expert analysis, insights and an ability to fairly assess how the team is performing in a tough NFC North division. 

Home/News