Lions Pull off Last Second Miracle Touchdown To Beat Falcons [WATCH]

T.J. Hockenson

Getty T.J. Hockenson celebrates his score in Atlanta.

The Detroit Lions had arguably the craziest finish in the NFL the season against the Atlanta Falcons, and perhaps shockingly, they came out on the winning end of a close game.

With time running down and a 16-14 deficit, the Falcons made the critical error of scoring when they could have run out the clock and simply kicked a field goal to win. The play ended up costing them dearly, as the Lions moved down the field surgically, hitting a few big plays to Kenny Golladay. With 2 seconds left, Matthew Stafford scrambled and hit T.J. Hockenson for the last second tie score at the goal line.

Here’s the play:

That play wasn’t the end of the game, though. Detroit had merely tied the game and needed to hit a 48 yard extra point to guarantee victory. The Lions pulled it off, with Matt Prater redeeming himself after a missed field goal earlier in the game from nearly the same distance. A 23-22 win.

It was a huge play which saved Detroit’s season and prolonged their mid-season run toward potential playoff relevancy, something many folks think could be coming in the weeks ahead if the Lions manage to catch fire.

Close, amazing wins like this could help them do just that in the grand scheme of things.

Lions Pull Victory From Jaws of Defeat

Typically, this was the kind of game the Lions have made a habit of losing historically, but the fact the Lions managed to turn it around for a win has to be a huge shot of confidence for them moving forward. At 3-3, the Lions are back relevant in the NFC playoff hunt, and it’s the huge kind of game that can transform a season and catapult a team that was on the brink of collapse just a few weeks ago.

There’s teams every season that make a charge in the second half after some close wins, and the Lions could be shaping up to be one of those teams if this win can mean anything in the long term.

T.J. Hockenson Stats

There is simply no understating the importance of Hockenson to the Lions in the future. The team doesn’t get much of anything from any of the other tight ends on their roster, and while he hasn’t had the most dramatic statistical impact early in his career, Hockenson was easily been one of the team’s top rookies in 2019 and has carried that over to 2020 with some excellent play.

During the season, many fans chided Hockenson for not making a bigger impact on the game. He had only 367 yards and 2 touchdowns on the year which is not the statistical impact that many people expected from him as a top 10 selection for the team. That’s turned around in a big way so far now, as Hockenson has 197 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season.

Arguably, this was Hockenson’s biggest career play in Detroit and it was nice to see him turn it in at the key moment.

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