On Sunday December 10th, the Lions won against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-21. The Lions record is now 7-6. The Lions are not the Losing Lions anymore, they have started their winning streak once again.

Overall, I think the Lions did a decent job on Sunday. Their passes were crisp and they didn’t bobble the ball that much. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have things to improve on, because they have a lot of work that needs to be done.

Matthew Stafford did a good job this weekend. Stafford passed for 381 yards with an injured throwing hand, and set up Matt Prater for a 46-yard field goal in the closing seconds on Sunday, helping the Detroit Lions remain in playoff contention with a 24-21 victory over the Buccaneers.

As usual the refs did not help the Lions. Instead, they hurt them by calling terrible calls.

After Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard caught a 21-yard pass to the Lions 17-yard line pass, he was hit by Quandre Diggs, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Darius Slay. However, the officials ruled that the pass was incomplete, and that Diggs was penalized for an illegal hit on a defenseless receiver.

The pass was not incomplete. Howard clearly caught it and took four steps before he was hit by Diggs, and Diggs clearly hit the ball, not Howard’s helmet with his shoulder.

Referee Ed Hochuli initially announced that he would review the play but never fulfilled his promise.

Lions’ head coach Jim Caldwell then challenged the play, and it was determined that Howard had possession of the ball, and that because Howard had possession, he was no longer a defenseless receiver, and so the penalty should not have been called. It took a while, but eventually the right call was made.

Watching the Lions play on Sunday restored my faith and I am finally excited for the next game on Saturday December 16th against the Bears.