Matthew Stafford is denied at Ford Field yet again.
The Detroit Lions held off a comeback from the Los Angeles Rams and defeated its former quarterback at home for a second straight season in a 26-20 overtime victory.
It looked like Detroit would run away with it in the first half, but the Rams stormed back and even took a fourth quarter lead on the back of Cooper Kupp. The Detroit “grit” didn’t fold and got a field goal to send the game to overtime, and in the extra period, marched right down the field on its opening possession to take the season-opening victory.
For Stafford, who threw for 317 yards on Sunday night for one touchdown and one interception, it's his second straight loss at his former home after the Lions eliminated the Rams in the wild-card round last season.
The star of the day was Lions receiver Jameson Williams. The speedster had the start of his career held back by injuries, but he had five catches for 121 yards, including a big 52-yard touchdown catch that showed off his ridiculous speed. — Jordan Mendoza
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The Lions defeated the Rams, 26-20, in overtime on David Montgomery's game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Matthew Stafford threw for 317 yards and a touchdown, with Rams receiver Cooper Kupp having a huge game (14 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown). For the Lions, Jared Goff threw for 217 yards and a touchdown, with receiver Jameson Williams having five receptions for 121 yards and a score.
First quarter
Rams field goal (4:50) — Joshua Karty, 41 yards
Second quarter
Lions field goal (12:17) — Jake Bates, 25 yards
Lions touchdown (1:57) — Jahmyr Gibbs, 1-yard run (Jake Bates extra point)
Third quarter
Lions touchdown (10:29) — Jameson Williams, 52-yard pass from Jared Goff (Jake Bates extra point)
Rams touchdown (3:33) — Kyren Williams, 2-yard run (Joshua Karty extra point)
Fourth quarter
Rams field goal (12:32) — Joshua Karty, 26 yards
Rams touchdown (4:30) — Cooper Kupp, 9-yard pass from Matthew Stafford (Joshua Karty extra point)
Lions field goal (0:17) — Jake Bates, 32 yards
Overtime
Lions touchdown (5:19) — David Montgomery, 1-yard run
Detroit made it look too easy.
The Lions wasted zero time going right down the field on it’s opening drive of overtime, denying Los Angeles a chance to win by taking the victory with a game-ending touchdown.
It took eight plays in a little under five minutes for Detroit to punish the Los Angeles defense, as the Rams had no answer for the brutal punishment from the Lions offensive line. Detroit got right down near the goal line, and David Montgomery punched it in on a 1-yard touchdown run to secure the victory. — Jordan Mendoza
Poetically, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff went out for the overtime coin toss, and as the visitor, Rams got the call. Stafford called heads, and it was tails. Goff and company will get the ball first and if they score a touchdown, it’ll be a Detroit win. — Jordan Mendoza
No pressure from the rookie Lions kicker.
Jake Bates signed with the Lions after playing in the UFL, and he drilled a 32-yard field goal to make it a 20-20 game with 17 seconds left, likely sending the game to overtime. — Jordan Mendoza
Detroit will get a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minutes after forcing Los Angeles to punt.
The Rams were unable to continue their drive, and even more importantly, force Detroit to use all of their timeouts ahead of the two-minute warning. Now Detroit will get the ball with two timeouts and two minutes left at its 28-yard line. — Jordan Mendoza
Call it the drive of Cooper Kupp.
The Rams took the lead over the Lions in the fourth quarter after Matthew Stafford connected with Kupp for a 9-yard touchdown to cap a 80-yard drive.
Earlier in the drive, Stafford found Kupp earlier in the drive for a 20-yard reception along the sideline. At first glance it appeared that Kupp might not have gotten two feet down, but he did in fact drag his feet for the incredible reception. Stafford completed 8-of-8 passes on the go-ahead drive. — Cydney Henderson
Los Angeles has a chance to take a fourth quarter lead after intercepting Jared Goff with nine minutes left to go.
The Lions were driving into Rams territory when Goff tried to get the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown, only for John Johnson to jump in front of the pass and intercept it. On the replay, it looked like the ball may have been juggled and hit the ground before Johnson secured full possession of it, but the turnover was confirmed to give Los Angeles the ball back and prevent the Lions from extending the lead. — Jordan Mendoza
Another red zone drive for the Rams, another missed opportunity.
The Rams were on the Lions’ 1-yard line with a fresh set of downs, but they were unable to punch the ball into the end zone. Back-to-back offensive holding penalties called on offensive tackle A.J. Arcuri backed the Rams all the way up to the Lions’ 11-yard line. The drive looked promising following Matthew Stafford’s 62-yard pass play to Tyler Johnson, who made a man miss to pick up massive yardage. The Rams ended up settling for a field goal to come within four points of the Lions, 17-13. — Cydney Henderson
Down by two touchdowns, Los Angeles needed to get in the end zone, and it got exactly what the doctor ordered.
The Rams went on a 11-play, 70-yard drive to make it a 17-10 game when the Lions were on the brink of putting it out of reach. Cooper Kupp carried much of the load on the drive, and he drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone to set his squad up at the 1-yard line. From there, Kyren Williams punched it in to get the first touchdown of the season for Los Angeles. — Jordan Mendoza
The Lions opened the second half with a three-and-out, but Detroit only needed three plays to find the end zone their next possession. Jared Goff connected with receiver Jameson Williams for a 52-yard bomb down the field to extend their lead to 17-3 over the Rams. An illegal contact penalty was called on Rams cornerback Tre’Davious White on the play, but it was declined. Williams is up to three receptions for 89 yards on the night. — Cydney Henderson
If the Rams want to mount a comeback in Detroit, they’ll have to do it without Puka Nacua.
The receiver is out for the remainder of the game against the Lions due to a knee injury he suffered in the second quarter. He briefly came back into the field after he hurt himself, but returned to the sideline for the remainder of the first half. He was carted to the locker room at halftime.
Nacua dealt with a knee injury during training camp, but had no injury designation heading into the season opener. — Jordan Mendoza
The Rams had the opportunity to head into the locker room all tied up at halftime, but disaster struck. Matthew Stafford threw an interception to Lions safety Kerby Joseph with 17 seconds remaining in the half. Stafford's interception, his first of the season, was intended for receiver Tyler Johnson.
The Lions have a 10-3 lead over the Rams at halftime in a NFC wild-card playoff game rematch. Stafford completed 16 of 26 passes for 119 yards in the first half, while Lions QB Jared Goff has completed 7 of 10 passes for 75 yards. — Cydney Henderson
Jahmyr Gibbs did just enough to get in the end zone.
Detroit marched down the field and down at the Rams one-yard line, the Lions running back looked like he was stuffed short as he tried to reach the ball past the goal line. However, the officials believed the play needed to be reviewed, and after looking at it, determined Gibbs broke the goal line before his arm hit the ground, giving Detroit its first touchdown of the season and a 10-7 lead. — Jordan Mendoza
The Rams had stated that breakout receiver Puka Nacua was questionable to return to Sunday night’s game with a knee injury. However, for a brief moment Nacua was back on the field following the Lions' touchdown after the two-minute warning.
On the Rams' previous drive, Nacua hauled in a sliding catch on a third down play. He got up slowly and limped to the sideline before he was looked at by the training staff. The broadcast showed him trying to run while the Lions were on offense. — Jordan Mendoza
Detroit is known to go for it on fourth down, and it worked earlier, but it didn’t for Los Angeles.
The Rams had a solid drive building and got into Lions territory, but a third down pass from Matthew Stafford to Puka Nacua fell short of the first down line. Los Angeles opted to keep the offense on the field for a fourth and four. Stafford found Cooper Kupp near the sideline, but the ball was juggled and hit the ground, ending the promising scoring opportunity. — Jordan Mendoza
The Lions are on the board. Lions running back David Montgomery converted a key fourth down to keep Detroit’s drive alive, but things stalled in the red zone after Jared Goff overthrew tight end Sam LaPorta in the end zone. The Lions settled for a 25-yard field goal by Jake Bates to tie it up at 3-3 in the second quarter.
Nearly all of the Lions’ yards so far have come on the ground. Goff has only attempted six passes in the game for 23-yards, while Montgomery has nine carries for 35 yards. — Cydney Henderson
Rookie kicker Joshua Karty got his first points of his career, knocking down a 41-yard field goal to give Los Angeles a 3-0 lead.
After a poor first drive, the Rams were moving down the field at ease, mostly thanks to Matthew Stafford finding Cooper Kupp four times on the drive. Los Angeles got into the Lions territory and threatened to get deep in the red zone, but a sack and false start put the Rams way behind the chains on third down. Sean McVay opted to play it safe and run the ball to set up the field goal from the former Stanford kicker. — Jordan Mendoza
Last season wasn’t Cooper Kupp’s best, but he’s showing early he’s ready to be another top receiver in the league.
Just 10 minutes into the game and he already has five catches for 26 yards, with Matthew Stafford finding the Super Bowl 56 MVP often on the second drive of the day. In 2023, Kupp had only 59 catches for 737 yards, his lowest since 2018. — Jordan Mendoza
Matthew Stafford predicted the boo birds would rain down on him in Detroit. He was right.
Lions fans at Ford Field booed Stafford as he ran out of the tunnel ahead of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams and a chorus of boos kept coming during their opening drive. It was déjà vu of the NFC wild-card playoff game last season, where the Lions routinely booed Stafford as Detroit narrowly edged out the Rams, 24-23.
Stafford spent the first 12-years of his career before he was traded to the Rams in March 2021 in a package that brought Jared Goff to Detroit. — Cydney Henderson
No more Aaron Donald for Los Angeles, but no problem to start.
After its offense was quickly off the field, the Rams defense responded by forcing Detroit into a three-and-out. The Lions got some small gains on its first two plays for a manageable third down. However the Rams defensive line broke right through the line and Byron Young sacked Jared Goff for a loss of 9 yards and get the high octane offense off the field.
Both defenses are showing up early. Through six plays, both teams have a combined minus-6 yards. — Jordan Mendoza
Matthew Stafford made his return to Ford Field and he wasn’t on the field long to start.
On the first play of the game, a pass to Kyren Williams was met with a tough hit from Alex Anzalone for a 1-yard loss. After an incompletion, a screen pass to Cooper Kupp was quickly swallowed up by the Detroit defense for a loss of two to force a quick three-and-out for Los Angeles. — Jordan Mendoza
Rams at Lions will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET from Ford Field in Detroit.
Per usual, NBC will broadcast the "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the Rams and Lions. Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst) will be on the call, with Melissa Stark adding reports from the field.
For cord cutters looking for a live stream for the matchup, you can turn to Fubo TV. Fubo TV carries NBC, as well as CBS, FOX, NFL Network and the ESPN family of networks, meaning you can catch NFL action through the remainder of the season.
The Lions are favorites to defeat the Rams, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Looking to wager? Check out the best mobile sports betting apps offering NFL betting promos in 2024.
Here are the USA TODAY Sports' expert picks for the game:
Offensive lineman Rob Havenstein, who has started 130 career games during his nine seasons with the Rams, is inactive for the team's season opener against the Lions. Havenstein has been dealing with an ankle injury.
For the Lions, newcomer DJ Reader will be unavailable.
Rams' inactive players:
Lions' inactive players:
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft — is entering his 16th NFL season and has an opportunity to climb into the top 10 of both the all-time passing yardage and passing touchdowns lists.
His target: Eli Manning.
Stafford enters the 2024 season in 11th place with 56,047 career passing yards — 976 yards from Eli Manning's total (57,023) — and 357 career passing touchdowns — nine short of Manning's total (366).
Career passing yardage list:
Career passing TDs list:
Stafford is the Detroit Lions' all-time passing yardage leader. Current Lions quarterback Jared Goff currently ranks fifth in team history, but should move into second place by the end of the season. — Jim Reineking
The Rams and Lions are squaring off for the 89th time in a series that dates back to 1948.
The Rams hold the all-time series edge, 45-42-1 (45-40-1 in regular-season games).
Last season's wild-card playoff matchup was just the second time that the two teams had met in the postseason. The first came in 1952, when the Lions defeated the Rams in a playoff en route to winning the NFL championship game. — Jim Reineking
Aaron Donald, the three-time defensive player of the year and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, has left a void in the interior of the Rams defense that the team has come to terms with ahead of the season opener against the Lions. – Tyler Dragon
The NFL's top 18 players in average annual salary are all quarterbacks, according to OverTheCap.com. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott became the league's highest-paid player on Sunday morning, agreeing to a four-year, $240 million deal. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the first non-quarterback on the highest-paid list after striking a four-year, $140 million contract extension this offseason.
We have a complete list at every position:
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