Exhale. Out through the mouth. Breathe, Detroit. Breathe.
The Lions survived in a tense thriller, beating the New York Jets 20-17 when a last-second field goal from the Jets sailed no good.
It was not an easy win, nor was it one fans will watch for anything great other than a couple of select plays. This was a slugfest between two considerably improved teams who very much looked like they were trying to figure out how to beat a good opponent in a close game.
The critical point was the Lions first drive of the fourth quarter, which they entered leading 13-10. The drive stalled out thanks to a couple of holding penalties and some suboptimal execution. After a near-interception thrown by Jared Goff on third down, Lions head coach Dan Campbell opted to try a 54-yard field goal.
Michael Badgley’s kick was well short, giving the Jets good field position. And they quickly took advantage, with Zach Wilson finding Garrett Wilson deep down the right sideline. A few plays later and the Jets found the end zone with Wilson finding TE C.J. Uzomah for the second TD connection between the two in the game.
The Lions had one chance to answer. Fourth-and-1 at the two-minute warning. Goff found Brock Wright on a TE leak route and Wright was off to the races for a 51-yard touchdown. Wright had dropped the first pass on the drive, but he redeemed himself majestically.
It was Detroit’s first offensive TD of the day. Detroit first broke onto the scoreboard with a Kalif Raymond punt return after New York’s first drive.
New York got one last opportunity. After a desperation throw set them on the edge of field goal range with less than a second to play, New York trotted out Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein to attempt a 58-yard field goal. His kick did not come close and the Lions escaped with the road win.
The missed opportunities were a pervasive theme of the day for both teams. For Detroit, there were several early miscues, including some questionable holding calls against the line and some poor choices on runs. The Jets defense was smartly coordinated and didn’t give many second chances for the Lions to try and capitalize. Two red zone possessions resulted in just three points.
But the Jets weren’t quite ready to prove to their fans that they are so good either. Some questionable clock management by Jets coach Robert Saleh and some nice defensive pressure at the end sure helped, too.
The Lions are now 7-7, reversing the 1-6 start to the season. New York falls to the same 7-7 record.
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