As the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons took their American Football across the sea to play an NFL game on International soil, no one could have possibly scripted the outcome. The game, which was played at Wembley Stadium in London, England, was possibly one of the most dramatic finishes in professional sports. After leading 21-0 at halftime, Detroit mounted a surprising comeback win in the final seconds of the game. Ironically, the game-winning kick was made possible after a Lions' penalty allowed for a retry after kicker Matt Prater missed the first one.
Detroit, who, at 6-2, have flirted with disaster on more than one occasion, fell behind 21-0 to Atlanta by halftime. But they fought and scraped and clawed their way back to within two as time wound down.
Matt Prater missed, wide right. But a delay of game penalty afforded him another try, which hit the mark (via ESPN):
"'I knew Prater was going to make it. I played two years with him before,' Lions cornerback Cassius Vaughn said. 'When he missed the first one I was like, "That was just the practice swing." The second one was cake.'"
For Atlanta, beating Detroit would have been a huge boost for a talented team that has struggled on defense and only have two wins this season.
The Falcons are now 2-6 after blowing a three touchdown lead, the largest lead they have lost to date. Quarterback Matt Ryan spoke for his team when he expressed his heartache (via NFL.com):
"This is as tough a loss to take as any that I've ever been a part of. We had a lot of chances to win that ballgame. It's just that we didn't make plays when we needed to."
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