Lions Sink Vikings

Jim Caldwell asked the question at a team meeting Saturday night — Who’s going to be the guy that says “Watch me” when the game calls for someone to deliver big plays in the clutch? — and he said it again Sunday before his Lions took the field against the Minnesota Vikings.

Golden Tate perked up when he heard Caldwell deliver both speeches, and he answered in the most emphatic of ways.

Tate joined Matthew Stafford, Matt Prater and a host of other Lions who delivered big plays down the stretch Sunday as the Lions rallied for another improbable win — their fifth late-game, come-from-behind victory this year — to beat the Vikings in overtime, 22-16.

Prater made a game-tying 58-yard field goal as time expired in regulation, and Stafford hit Tate for the game-winning 28-yard touchdown on the first possession of overtime as the Lions seized control of the NFC North.

The Lions (5-4) still sit in second place in the division, a half-game behind the reeling Vikings, but they have a favorable schedule after next week’s play and play all three of their remaining division games at home.

“At the beginning of the game, (Caldwell) said, ‘Hey, who do I need to watch me.’ Who’s going to say, ‘Watch me,’ ” Tate said. “I didn’t say anything at that point. I’m just thinking in my head, ‘I have an opportunity to be that guy.’ And I just waited for the opportunity.”

Tate caught a team-high 11 passes for 79 yards, but none was bigger than the tightrope walk of a touchdown he punctuated with a flip into the end zone with 8:21 left.

On third-and-8 from the Minnesota 28, with the Lions trying to move the chains, Tate beat top Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes on an out route to the Lions sideline and stopped on a dime when he caught the ball.

Rhodes went flying past Tate as he tapped his feet inbounds, and when trail defender Harrison Smith couldn’t haul Tate to the ground, Tate barrel-rolled into the end zone as he was hit by safety Andrew Sendejo.

“I loved it,” tight end Eric Ebron said of Tate’s celebration. “Capitalized it. You know how you put a cherry on top? That’s what he did.”

That the Lions even made it to overtime defied logic as the Vikings missed an extra point and had a field goal blocked in the second half, and Stafford led a dramatic last-second drive to set up Prater’s kick.

After the Vikings took a 16-13 lead on a 1-yard run by tight end Rhett Ellison with 23 seconds left, the Lions started their final possession at the 25-yard line with no time-outs left.

Stafford threw short to Tate on first down after being flushed out of the pocket, then found Andre Roberts on a 27-yard pass across the middle on a play he said offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter put in late last week.

The Lions ran to the line of scrimmage and spiked the ball with 2 seconds on the clock, and Prater trotted out for the game-tying field goal.

“Our kicker doesn’t make an unbelievable kick, we’re feeling a whole lot different than we are right now,” Stafford said. “We’ve got a lot of trust in him, and (he) made a big one for us, and then just super savvy move winning the coin toss in overtime and getting the ball and never giving it back.”

Prater, who made game-winning kicks against the Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams earlier this year, is 23-for-23 on game-tying or game-winning attempts in the fourth quarter or overtime, according to ESPN.

“It felt good when I hit it, and as long as it went straight, which it did, I was confident it was going to go in,” Prater said.

Stafford completed 23 of 36 passes for 219 yards, and the Lions converted three third downs on their game-winning touchdown drive.

The Vikings (5-3) had a chance to pull away early, but failed to capitalize on a Stafford interception deep in Lions territory. Minnesota returned the turnover to the 18-yard line, but went backward in a series of penalties and lost-yardage runs and ended up punting on fourth-and-32 from the Lions’ 40.

The Lions followed with a 17-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that ran nearly 10 minutes off the clock, and went into the locker room leading, 10-3.

Blair Walsh missed an extra point with a chance to tie the game at 10 late in the third quarter, Tyrunn Walker blocked a 46-yard Walsh field-goal try on Minnesota’s next offensive possession, and the Lions also got a fourth-down stop inside their 5-yard line midway through the fourth quarter.

“I think this is probably the definition of (a team win) because of the fact that we had so many contributions in every phase,” Caldwell said. “They did it with poise and did it with a little bit of flair.”