The Incredible Calvin Johnson

Yesterday, Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and the rest of the Detroit Lions put together a fina1 one-minute drive to best the Dallas Cowboys (4-4).  The Lions (5-3) won 31-30 in an unbelievable ending.

Most talk coming into this game was about the matchup of arguably the two best wide receivers in the league, Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant. Bryant played a great game for the Cowboys, with 3 receptions, and 72 yards. He had two touchdowns, the second of which was on an amazing play that was thought to have won the Cowboys the game. But, it cannot be disputed that Calvin Johnson was the winner in this matchup. Johnson ran for a whopping 329 yards, just 8 yards shy of the NFL receiving record. He definitely carried the Lions on his back this game.

His highlight was in the fourth quarter, where the Lions were a touchdown short of victory on the ___ yard line with 1:02 left on the clock. Scoring a TD seemed nearly impossible, especially with no timeouts left. Johnson was able to keep the drive alive, by first launching himself into the air to snag a pass for 17 yards. The Lions were able to continue moving up the field to the 23, where Stafford again threw to Johnson, who was in deep coverage. Johnson was still able to catch the pass and bring the Lions to the 1 yard line with 13 seconds left of gameplay. This allowed Stafford to get the game-winning touchdown and win the game. Earlier in the first quarter, Johnson also scored a touchdown

Matt Stafford is growing up as Quaterback

And speaking of Matt Stafford, he also shined today in a major way. He did throw two crucial interceptions, but overall he played a great game with the help of Calvin Johnson. Stafford went 33/48 with 400 plus yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown.

And despite all the amazing catches that took place this game, the best play still went to Stafford. After being set up on the 1 yard line by Johnson with the clock running out, it was expected that Stafford would spike the ball to stop the clock. Stafford ran up the field, to get to the line of scrimmage, yelling the entire time to ensure that the rest of the team was in place. “We’re gonna spike it!” he called out to his teammates. But, seeing how relaxed the Cowboys defense was due to the fact that they were anticipating the spike, Stafford decided to switch it up.

He started the play, but instead of throwing down the ball to the ground, he leaped forward into the air and successfully got the ball over the end zone line. The refs ruled it a touchdown. It was an innovative and smart decision on the part of Stafford, who was able to tie up the game with that play. David Ackers kicked the extra point, and the Lions were up 31-30 with 12 seconds left. The Cowboys simply couldn’t come back to win.

And on the Cowboys side, Tony Romo ended the game 14/30 with 206 yards and 3 touchdowns. He didn’t throw a single interception though, which was the first time since week 4.

The Cowboys are still first in their division, and still have playoff aspirations. They’ve had pretty decent season for the first time in a couple years, and with Romo and Bryant playing as good as ever,  they can still have a great rest of the season. Next week, the Cowboys play Minnesota, in which I’m they are hoping to make their record once again a winning one.