What happened: Just when it seems the Lions have finally run out lives, Matthew Stafford is there to remind folks that there's never too little time on the clock for a patented Stafford fourth-quarter comeback.
Trailing 16-13 with just 23 seconds left on the clock, Stafford completed an 8-yard pass to Golden Tate down the left sideline and then a 27-yard pass to Andre Roberts to set up a 58-yard Matt Prater field goal as time expired to force the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Lions had the ball first. Stafford took them 87 yards in 11 plays, and capped it off with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate, who tiptoed the sideline and put an exclamation point on the win with a flip into the end zone.
The victory marks the fifth comeback win Stafford has orchestrated in the fourth quarter or overtime this season, which leads the NFL. This brings the Lions record to 5-4 on the season heading into their bye week.
QB Comparison: Stafford finished 23 of 36 passing for 219 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 87.6.
Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford completed 31 of his 40 pass attempts with one touchdown and no interceptions. He had a passer rating of 103.4.
Key moment: We've taken care of the late-game dramatics.
Another key moment was when Stafford hadn't thrown an interception in Detroit's last four contests, but that streak ended early in the second quarter in Minnesota, when Stafford threw a bad pass right to Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway.
Greenway returned it to the Lions 18-yard line, and the Vikings looked like they were in business to take their first lead of the game in what was a 3-3 game at the time.
But two penalties on the Vikings offense, a tackle for loss by Ziggy Ansah, and a sack by Kerry Hyder ultimately pushed the Vikings back to the Lions 40-yard line, forcing a punt.
Another key moment: Early in the fourth quarter, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh had a 46-yard field goal try blocked that would have given Minnesota a 12-10 lead. Instead, it was blocked by Lions defense tackle Tyrunn Walker and returned by safety Glover Quin to the Vikings 42-yard line.
The Lions only managed to advance the ball eight yards to the Vikings 34-yard line from there, but that was close enough for Matt Prater to attempt, and make, a 52-yard field goal that bumped the Lions lead to 13-9.
Driver's seat: With the game tied 3-3 and 9:50 left on the clock in the second quarter, Stafford and Co. orchestrated a 17-play, 84-yard drive that took an amazing 9:45 off the clock.
It culminated with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin that gave Detroit a 10-3 halftime lead.
Stafford was up for the task again in overtime with an 11-play, 87-yard drive in 6:39 to win it.
TE woes: It's something the Lions just can't seem to figure out.
Kyle Rudolph's third-quarter 1-yard touchdown catch for the Vikings was the ninth for a tight end against the Lions defense this year. Rhett Ellison made it 10 touchdowns for tight ends with a 1-yard run to give the Vikings the lead with 23 seconds left.
