Jared Goff completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the last play of the game and the Detroit Lions entered the win column with a 29-27 victory over the visiting Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
Goff passed for 296 yards and three touchdowns for the Lions (1-10-1), who drove 75 yards in 14 plays after squandering a 14-point lead. St. Brown had a career-high 10 receptions for 86 yards. Jamaal Williams rushed for 71 yards on 17 carries.
Kirk Cousins threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, including a go-ahead score to Justin Jefferson with 1:50 remaining, for Minnesota.
Jefferson caught 11 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings (5-7). Alexander Mattison rushed for 90 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown.
Both teams played without their top running backs. Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook and Detroit’s D’Andre Swift were sidelined by shoulder injuries. The Vikings lost one of their starting wide receivers, Adam Thielen, to a left ankle injury during the first quarter.
The Lions led 20-6 at halftime.
Minnesota scored first on Greg Joseph’s 41-yard field goal. Joseph also made a 31-yarder late in the quarter.
The Lions scored early in the second with Goff connecting with T.J. Hockenson on a 9-yard score. Hockenson also had a 25-yard reception during the drive.
Following a Cousins fumble, Goff hooked up with Brock Wright on a 23-yard touchdown. Riley Patterson’s field goals of 31 and 41 yards completed the first-half scoring.
Joseph kicked a 31-yard field goal and Mattison scored on an 8-yard run to pull Minnesota within five points at 20-15. Patterson drilled a 49-yard field goal late in the third to give Detroit an eight-point advantage.
The Vikings pulled within two with 11:57 remaining on Cousins’ 5-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Osborn. The two-point conversion run failed.
Detroit gambled on 4th-and-1 from its own 28 with four minutes remaining and it backfired. Goff fumbled and the Vikings recovered at the 19-yard line. Cousins hit Jefferson from three yards out on a third-down pass with 1:50 left to put Minnesota ahead.
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–Field Level Media