The Detroit Lions’ playoff chances were on life support. The Lions, needing at least two more points to even up with the Cincinnati Bengals with under four minutes left in the game, faced an impossible third-and-23 deep in their own zone.
Matthew Stafford scrambled to his right to buy a little more time then heaved the ball to Golden Tate 50-some yards down the field. Tate, boxing out of his defender, had the ball come straight into his arms, but as Bengals defenders swarmed him, the ball disappeared from view and eventually reappeared on the ground for an incomplete pass.