Stafford, Johnson lead big rally as Lions stun Cowboys
DETROIT — It’s was simply a game of too much Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.
Stafford dove over from the 1-yard line with 12 seconds left in the game, set up by a clutch 22-yard catch by Johnson, and David Akers added the extra point that gave the Lions a dramatic 31-30 victory over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon at Ford Field.
Trailing 30-24 with 1:02 left to play, the Lions covered 80 yards in 50 seconds to get the win.
Stafford had a 40-yard completion to Kris Durham and 22 yards to Johnson before his1-yard touchdown run.
“It was a great sequence by them,” Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. “We didn’t do what we needed to do to win the game. We had opportunities on offense, defense and the kicking game to close it. We didn’t do it.”
Stafford passed for 488 yards with one touchdown passing and one rushing.
Johnson had a careerbest 329 yards on 14 receptions with one touchdown.
The Cowboys defense got four turnovers but broke down in the final minute, particularly in the secondary.
It also gave up 623 yards and 24 fourth- quarter points.
Still, victory was within reach.
“We were in great position to win that game,” Garrett said.
“We didn’t do it. We have to live with that. We have to learn from it.”
Tony Romo passed for 206 yards and three touchdowns for Dallas. Dez Bryant had three catches and two touchdowns.
The game began with four punts. Then Johnson began his career day.
“Fantastic football player,” Garrett said.
“He’s a very difficult matchup. We tried to cover hima lot of different ways.”
Stafford hit Johnson on a slant route that turned into an 87-yard catch-andrun play.
Johnson was pushed out of bounds by Jeff Heath, making his first NFL start, at the Cowboys’ 3.
Johnson shook off tackle attempts by Brandon Carr and Barry Church early in the run before being caught at the 3.
The Cowboys held on three downs.
On fourth down, the Lions went for it and got the touchdown.
Stafford hit Johnson on another slant route, from the 2, for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
On the second play of the second quarter, Sean Lee intercepted Stafford at the Cowboys’ 38.
The interception came after the pass bounced off Johnson’s hands and Lee returned it 15 yards.
However, the Cowboys punted away the possession four plays later.
After forcing a punt, the Cowboys got on the scoreboard.
Dallas drove 45 yards in nine plays where Dan Bailey made a 53-yard field goal, tying his career-long, to make it 7-3 at the 5:39 mark.
Detroit was driving for another score late in the first half, but Lee intercepted a slant route pass intended for Jeremy Ross and returned the ball 74 yards to the Lions 4 where he was run down by former Cowboy Kevin Ogletree.
On first down, rookie Joseph Randle was stuffed for a 1-yard loss at the 5.
On second down, Romo threw incomplete to Dez Bryant.
On third down, Romo threw a quick fade route to Bryant, who out-jumped two defenders, hooked the ball with one hand then grabbed it on the way to the ground for the touchdown and a 10-7 Cowboys lead with 46 seconds left in the first half.