Now it's time for the first 2011 NFC Wild Card Game from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Game time temperature is 38 degrees, with fair skies and a west wind at 8 MPH.
The Lions scored first after taking the opening kickoff. The key plays were a twelve-yard screen pass to running back Kevin Smith and a nineteen-yard pass to wide receiver Nate Burleson. The drive bogged down at the Eagles' thirty, but kicker Jason Hanson booted a forty-seven yard field goal that put the Lions up 3-0 with 9:39 left in the opening quarter.
The Eagles answered with a field goal off their own. The key play of this drive was the first one, when Shady McCoy barged through a hole off left tackle for forty-three yards and a first down at the Lions' twenty-eight. The Eagles gained only eight more yards over the next three plays, which left a thirty-seven yard field goal attempt for kicker Alex Henery. The kick was good, and we were tied at three with exactly seven minutes to play in the opening period.
The Lions scored again on the ensuing possession. Matthew Stafford found Calvin "Megatron" Johnson for seventeen yards and a first down, Smith caught another screen pass for twelve yards, and fellow running back Maurice Morris added a thirteen-yard catch-and-run. An eleven-yard gain on an end around from Burleson gave the Lions a first and goal at the Philly seven, and from there Stafford found wide receiver Brandon Pettigrew for the touchdown. Hanson added the extra point, and the Lions took a 10-3 lead after one quarter.
The Eagles spent the final four and a half minutes of the opening quarter on what turned out to be a field goal drive. Michael Vick found Corey Maclin for fifteen yards and a first down, then later in the drive found DeSean Jackson for fifteen more. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles had reached the Detroit thirty-one, and on the first play of the second quarter Henery boomed a forty-eight yard field goal to cut the Detroit led to 10-6.
The Lions came right back with a field goal of their own. Stefan Logan's kickoff return set up the Detroit offense at the Eagles' forty, and running back Jahvid Best gained twelve yards on a sweep to the left, which put the Lions in field goal range. Hanson eventually converted a thirty-seven yard attempt to increase the Lions' lead to 13-6 with 12:13 left in the first half.
Now it was the Eagles' turn. Vick connected with Maclin over the middle for twenty-four yards, then found tight end Brent Celek for fifteen. The drive reached the Lions' twenty-three, and Henery was good from forty yards out to get the Eagles back within 13-9 with 7:22 left in the first half.
The Lions were next. Logan's kickoff return gave the Lions the ball at the Philly forty-five, and Stafford's fifteen-yard pass to Johnson gave the visitors a first down at the twelve. The Lions gained just two yards on the next three plays, but Hanson was good from twenty-seven yards out to reestablish the Lions' seven-point lead at 16-9 with exactly five minutes left in the half.
The scoring barrage continued, as the Eagles took the ball right back down the field. McCoy took a sweep around left end for eleven yards, then ran the same play for ten more. Fellow running back Dion Lewis barged off right tackle for fourteen yards, and a third back, Ronnie Brown, zipped up the middle for twenty--two more. a pair of twelve-yard passes to Maclin put the ball at the Detroit twelve, and Vick proceeded to find Jackson in the end zone on the next play. Coach Andy Reid decided to go for two, and Vick plowed through the middle and into the end zone for the conversion. The Eagles thus led 17-16 with 2:55 left in the first half, and the Lions' possession at the end of the half was the first one in the game that didn't result in points. The Eagles still led by one at the half.
The Eagles added to their lead after receiving the second half kickoff. McCoy was the catalyst; he took a sweep around left end for twenty-two yards, popped a draw play up the middle for sixteen, and caught a ten-yard swing pass from Vick. The latter play gave the Eagles a first and goal at the Lions' four, and on second and goal from the five Vick found Jackson in the end zone for the touchdown. Henery's extra point put the Eagles up 24-16 with 9:58 left in the third quarter.
The game of your turn-my turn continued, as the Lions came back with a touchdown of their own. Logan returned the ensuing kickoff to his own thirty-seven, and on the first play from scrimmage Smith raced through a chasm off left tackle for forty-one yards and a first down at the Philly twenty-two. Best eventually scored from a yard out off the left side, and Hanson kicked the extra point to cut the Eagles' lead to 24-23 with 7:12 left in the third period.
Next it was the Eagles' turn. The key play of the drive came from McCoy again, as he took a pitch to the right, broke several tackles, and ended up gaining sixty-eight yards and a first down at the Detroit fourteen. Two plays later from the eight, fullback Owen Schmitt plowed up the middle and into the end zone for the touchdown. Henery added the extra point, and the Eagles led 31-23 with 4:26 left in the third.
The pattern was broken on the next Lions' possession, as Stafford was picked off by Asante Samuel, who returned the ball to the Detroit thirty-five. Brown gained eleven yards up the middle, and Vick's ten-yard pass to Jackson gave the Eagles a first and goal at the Detroit five. McCoy scored from three yards out on second and goal, and Henery added the extra point to put the Eagles up 38-23 after three quarters.
The Lions were already driving toward an answer was the third quarter ended. Best took a sweep around left end for thirty-two yards, then gained twenty-five more on a draw play. A facemask penalty put the ball at the Philly eleven, and Burleson ran the end around into the end zone for the score. Hanson added the extra point, and with 13:46 left in one of the wildest games in postseason history, it was Philadelphia 38, Detroit 30.
The Lions recorded the game's first defensive stop, and Logan's punt return gave the Lions the ball at the Eagles' forty-two. Here's Al Michaels:
"We're down under ten minutes left, and that was our first punt. Wow. From the forty-two on first down, the handoff is to Smith, AND LOOK AT THE HOLE UP THE MIDDLE! HE'S IN THE SECONDARY, AND NO ONE'S GONNA CATCH HIM! TOUCHDOWN DETROIT, AND THE WILDNESS CONTINUES!...……..This one's just unbelievable. There's nothing else to say."
Cris Collinsworth: "How many possessions have we had, and only one defensive stop? That stop may end up being the only one tonight, as Kevin Smith certainly isn't stopped on this run. The Eagles sold out to stop him at the line of scrimmage, and they paid for it, as no one gets near Smith the rest of the way."
Lions coach Jim Schwartz, confident that his team would score again, decided to kick the extra point, and Hanson converted to cut the Eagles' lead to 38-37 with less than seven minutes left in regulation.
The Lions scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to play. Logan's punt return set up the offense at its own thirty-nine, and Stafford completed a pair of eleven yard passes; one went to Johnson, the other to Pettigrew. Stafford's ten-yard scramble to the sideline gave the Lions a first down at the Philly twenty-nine, and that's where we rejoin Al:
"First and ten from the twenty-nine, less than a minute left, down to fifty-five seconds. They'll try the run with Best to get a little cloch ser for Hanson, AND THEY'RE GONNA GET A LOT CLOSER! BREAKS A TACKLE AT THE TEN, THE FIVE, AND THAT'S A TOUCHDOWN! The Lions take the lead with forty-three seconds left, and now it's up to Vick for one last miracle."
Collinsworth: "Shady McCoy's gonna get all the press because he's gone for over two hundred yards tonight, but Jahvid Best has meant as much to his team. He busts right through that big hole on the right side, and watch him shrug off Asante Samuel like he weighs nothing. If the Lions hang on, he'll be something to deal with for as long as the Lions are in the playoffs."
Hanson added the extra point, and Vic's pair of Hail Marys from midfield fell incomplete. Final score: Lions 44, Eagles 38.
McCoy was put on the Horse Trailer in a losing cause as he rushed for 225 yards on just twenty carries with a touchdown. The Eagles gained 343 yards rushing as a team on forty-four attempts with three touchdowns. Vick finished eighteen of twenty-five for 233 yards and two touchdowns, which meant that the Eagles had 576 yards of total offense and still lost. Jackson caught both of Vick's touchdown passes and pulled in six passes on the night for ninety-two yards, while Maclin added seventy-seven yards on six catches. Vick also carried five times for thirty-six yards.
For the Lions, Stafford was thirteen of eighteen for 151 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The victors had a pair of hundred-yard rushers, as Best totaled 121 yards on twelve carries with two touchdowns and Smith added 104 yards on just ten carries with another touchdown. The Lions finished with 264 yards rushing as a team on twenty-nine attempts with four touchdowns, and their offense racked up 412 yards total. Megatron led the receiving corps with sixty-four yards on five receptions.
The Lions are now headed for Candlestick Park in San Francisco, where they'll take on the top-seed 49ers in the first NFC Divisional Playoff next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 PM Eastern on Fox, with Kenny Albert, Daryl "Moose" Johnston, and Tony "Goose" Siragusa calling the action. As usual, Kenny and Moose will be in the booth, while Goose roams the field.
Note: For those of you who are unfamiliar with how Fox used Tony Siragusa, he was unlike a regular sideline reporter in that he could go anywhere on the field to observe the action instead of being stuck next to the benches waiting to be fed information by a team PR person. It's rumored that he got this role because he was too big to fit into a regulation broadcast booth, especially one that already held two other announcers and a bunch of technical people.
Next: The Niners host the Lions.
Thoughts?