In order to be good you have to be a little lucky.

But are the Lions good?

I guess by the NFL’s standards this year they are and they’re also a little lucky given the outcome of today’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Lions were able to stave off a Vikings comeback and win 34-28, keeping their playoff hopes very much alive.

So where does the luck come in?

With the Lions up 34-28 and on the final play of the game, the Vikings were facing a 4th and goal from the Lions one yard line. From there, Vikings quarterback Joe Webb scrambled left and was met by Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy who was able to force a fumble and secure the Lions victory.

However replays showed that Levy did in fact get a hold of Webb’s face mask which went uncalled.

After the game, Levy told reporters: “We get a lot of calls called against us, so they owed us one if I did.”

But should it have been called? Yeah no doubt but like every other game in the NFL and even when we discuss the Lions a game isn’t lost because of one play.

Vikings starting quarterback Christian Ponder was awful going 11/21 for 115 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. One of those interceptions by way of Alphonso Smith came back for a touchdown. Ponder also fumbled the ball when he was sacked by Cliff Avril on the Vikings’ first offensive possession. This resulted in a touchdown when Stephen Tulloch recovered the loose ball in the end zone.

Joe Webb later came in for Ponder who ended up going 12/23 for 84 yards and one touchdown. However Webb did most of his damage on the ground rushing for 109 yards on seven carries in the absence of Adrian Peterson who missed his third straight game.

For Detroit, Matthew Stafford completed 20 of 29 passes for 227 yards and threw first-half touchdowns to Titus Young (57 yards) and Brandon Pettigrew (12 yards).

The Lions now sit at 8-5 and currently hold onto one of the two NFC Wild Card spots (Atlanta holds the other spot) after Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos were able to defeat the Chicago Bears 13-10 in overtime.

Jared Allen apologizes… sort of.

According to Eric Lacy of the Detroit News, Vikings defensive end Jared Allen sort of apologized for saying he would drowned himself in the Detroit River if he ever had to live here.

Here is an excerpt from the Lacy article…

Allen delivered a somewhat playful mea culpa to reporters in the visitors’ locker room after a 34-28 loss to the Lions at Ford Field dropped his team to 2-11.

“I said it on my radio show, and I was joking,” Allen said. “That’s nothing against the people of Detroit; I just would not want to live here. I’m not a city guy. Take it, I guess, how you will.”

Allen made his comments on KFAN in Minneapolis last week.

“I don’t like going to Detroit,” he said on the show. “It’s gloomy, everything’s brown. There’s snow on the ground. If I had to live in Detroit, I think I’d drown myself in the river.”

I’m sure Allen would have different thoughts if his team was able to pull off the comeback and get the win but whatever. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again though if you’re going to make fun of Detroit, at least be original about it.
Lions fans made it vary apparent that they weren’t too happy with Allen as the chorus of boo’s rang down whenever he was involved in a play (3 sacks on Matthew Stafford) or when his name was mentioned on the loud speakers.
The Majors Detroit Facebook Player of the Game: Alphonso Smith, CB
Smith had a huge game for the Lions getting himself two interceptions including a 30 yard pick six of Christian Ponder. He also finished out the day with 5 tackles.
The Majors Detroit Player of the Game: Cliff Avril, DE
Avril was an absolute monster today getting himself three sacks including one that resulted in a touchdown for the Lions in the first quarter.
Avril definitely helped make for the loss of Suh this week and is making it more and more necessary for the Lions to re-sign him to a long-term contract in the off-season.
The Majors Detroit Cryin’ Lion: Sloppy Play?
No one single player really stood out this weekend to take home this honor. However the Lions let the Vikings come back as a result of sloppy play and another week of committing too many penalties. Now it was better this week but the Lions still had 10 penalties for 76 yard while Minnesota only had 5 penalties for 37 yards.
You can probably bet that if the Lions were playing a better team, the penalties would’ve been a contributing factor once again to another Lions loss.
Looking Ahead
Next week the Lions head west to take on the Oakland Raiders who have become a very bizarre team to focus in on. After looking good at times this season the Raiders have looked awful the past two weeks giving up a tremendous amount of points to the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers.
But like this past weekend, next weeks game is another must win if they want to keep pace with the rest of the NFC field in the hunt for two wild card spots.
The Bottom Line
Call today’s win whatever you want, lucky, ugly, whatever. The bottom line is it was a win and at this point in the season you take whatever you can get and move onto the next week.
Do the Lions have plenty to work on during the week?
Sure they do, but so does every other team in NFL.
Ref: DetNews.com, YouTube, Freep.com, ESPN, DFP (image)

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