Detroit Lions – Five things learned from win over Colts in opener

Detroit Lions running back Theo Riddick (25) celebrates as he runs in for a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts during the first half of an NFL football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) hands off to running back Ameer Abdullah (21) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/R Brent Smith)

By Paula Pasche | The Oakland Press

PUBLISHED: September 11, 2016 at 7:58 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2021 at 6:42 a.m.

It was almost eerie when the Lions held a 21-10 lead over the Colts at the half.

That’s the same halftime score from the opener at San Diego a year ago. The Lions lost that one 33-28 and it was the first of five straight losses.

That couldn’t happen again, could it?

It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, but the Lions stayed with it and Matt Prater kicked a 43-yard field goal to win it with four seconds left. He put the Lions up 37-35, but then a safety on the Colts on the next play made the final 39-35.

PHOTOS FROM LIONS 39-35 WIN OVER COLTS

Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter has created an offense by committee.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford has said more than once they need everyone to pitch in and replace Calvin Johnson. That is exactly what happened.

“Guys made plays, that’s what it’s all about. We have a lot of playmakers on this team and guys stepped up,” Stafford said.

The quarterback connected with eight different pass catchers and five (including Stafford) ran for 116 yards. Newcomer Marvin Jones was targeted 10 times and caught four for 85 yards.

“Everyone contributed and that’s how it should be,” said running back Theo Riddick who missed a portion of the second half while undergoing tests for a head injury. He was cleared to return and afterward said he was fine.

It wasn’t perfect, but the Lions were good enough to win on the road which is never easy in the NFL.

Here are five things we learned:

1. Stafford has a good grasp of the offense and did his part completing 79.5 percent of his passes going 31-39 for 340 yards and three touchdowns. “That’s a pretty nice day,” coach Jim Caldwell said. Stafford was cool under pressure when the Lions got the ball back with 37 seconds remaining on their own 25-yard line and needing a field goal to win. They just needed to get in range. “We typically practice that situation with no timeouts, but we had three so we felt pretty good,” Caldwell said. No wonder the offense looked poised, they’ve practiced it every day. Stafford got decent protection from the offensive line which allowed just one sack.

2. Running backs Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick form quite an offensive one-two punch. Each finished with more than 100 total yards. Abdullah had 63 rushing and 57 receiving yards while Riddick had 45 rushing and 63 receiving yards. Abdullah caught a 11-yard touchdown pass. Riddick ran one in from 21 yards and scored the final touchdown on a 13-yard pass play. “We’re all excited, this is what we worked so hard. It wasn’t handed out to us we had to go out and fight for it,” Abdullah said. Big rookie running back Dwayne Washington had just two carries for one yard, but on the second goal-line carry he scored a touchdown. The run game which was the NFL’s worst last season has taken huge strides.

3. The secondary appears to be the weak spot. Of course, they were facing a top-echelon quarterback in Andrew Luck who was 31-47 for 385 yards and four touchdowns. The defense started out containing Luck, but in the second half Luck found success. They were good enough to help get the win, but much work to do there.

4. Two huge standouts on defense were defensive end Kerry Hyder who sacked Luck twice for a loss of 17 yard. Hyder is on a roll – he had three sacks in the final preseason game. Also, linebacker Tahir Whitehead who led the Lions with 10 tackles and a pair of pass defenses. DeAndre Levy, who played only 17 snaps in 2015, had a quarterback hit, four tackles and a pass deflection.

5. Matt Prater missed an extra point on the final touchdown which could have been the difference in the game. But he came back and kicked a 43-yard field goal with four seconds left to win the game. Stafford said he wasn’t even sweating that one thinking Prater could have made it from 65 yards. “I was pretty upset about it,” Prater said. “I was fortunate the team gave me another chance to come through for them. I almost let the team down on my own, they’ve been working their butts off to put us in the position to win the game, I screwed up and lucky they gave me a chance to redeem myself.” That was just the fifth extra point he has missed in 10 seasons – three misses came last season.