The Lions defense was backed up into its own territory to start the second half. On the second play of the drive, McCarron connected with Corey Core for a gain of 13 yards. Two plays later, Lions defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson snuffed out a Cedric Peerman run, stopping him for a loss of three yards. On 2nd-and-long, McCarron scrambled for a gain of 11, but was short of the first down. The Bengals were set to punt on 4th-and-1, but the Lions had 12 players on the field — the 5-yard penalty gave the Bengals a first down.
The Lions stopped the Bengals on the first two plays after the flag, and had appeared to make the stop on third down — but a defensive pass interference flag on Johnson Bademosi again extended the drive, and took the Bengals into Lions territory.