The quirky NFL schedule made Detroit Lions fans wait an excruciatingly long time between the Week 8 win over the Raiders and Sunday’s late-afternoon kickoff in Los Angeles against the Chargers. It was worth the wait.
Riley Patterson nailed a 41-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Lions to a 41-38 win in Week 10. The Lions had the last shot and made it count in a thrilling shootout that was tight for the entire second half.
Detroit played very well in the first half but only managed to eke out a 24-17 lead at halftime. Two failed red zone possessions made the game a lot tighter than it should have been with the Lions largely dominating the first two quarters.
The Chargers scored on the opening drive of the second half to tie the game a 24. The two teams then exchanged touchdowns again. And again. Equal parts great offense and really bad defense from both squads progressed to a 38-38 tie when Justin Herbert hit Keenan Allen for a too-easy catch-and-run touchdown with just under four minutes to play.
The Chargers scored touchdowns on three different fourth-down snaps, including Allen’s late TD. Detroit answered with a gutsy fourth-down conversion of its own to set up Patterson’s game-winner, which was dead solid perfect the whole way.
Detroit racked up 533 yards of total offense and scored five touchdowns. The Chargers matched the TD total and cranked out 421 yards of offense on their own. The Lions raced out to over 300 in the first half, but the inability to cash in drives kept the game close and tense.
The second half had the feel of a game where whoever had the ball last would win. It took the clutch 4th-and-2 pass from Jared Goff to rookie TE Sam LaPorta to allow the Lions to be that team.
With the win, the Lions improved to 7-2 on the season and have won two games in a row. The Chargers fall to 4-5. Next up for Detroit: a 1 p.m. ET kickoff at home against the Chicago Bears in Week 11.