The Detroit Lions’ season was more exciting than it has been in many, many years. Perhaps even never before. And it almost started with a home defeat.

There was plenty of nerves in Michigan as the Los Angeles Rams took a late lead, but many championship teams are made stronger by close calls, and the Lions could look back on Sunday night’s game as a building block for better times.

The Lions are lucky to be 1-0. The Rams put on a fantastic performance, led by impressive performances from Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp, and were ahead in the final minutes of regulation. But the Lions tied the game with a field goal and then won in overtime. The Lions won the coin toss and marched right down the field, with the running game eating up a lot of yards. David Montgomery scored a 1-yard touchdown on the first drive of overtime and the Lions won 26-20. It was an eight-play drive in overtime and the Lions ran seven times.

While there may be concerns about the Lions’ defense not covering anyone or giving up a 17-3 lead, the mood in Michigan should still be pretty good on Monday. The way the Lions took control in overtime made a statement.

Rams fight for the late lead

The Rams’ performance on Sunday night was impressive given the challenges they faced.

They had a lot of lineup issues before the game and they got even worse after kickoff. The offensive line was without several players. Star receiver Puka Nacua, who battled a knee injury in August, injured the same knee in the first half. He tried to get back into the game but left shortly after and was ejected at halftime. Trailing 17-3, it seemed like it was going to be a long night for them. No one could have blamed them for losing in Detroit with a shorthanded lineup.

But the Rams were still in the game in the fourth quarter. The Rams scored a touchdown to cut Detroit’s lead to 17-10, and although an apparent touchdown to tie the game was nullified for holding, the Rams settled for a field goal and trailed 17-13. Jared Goff threw an interception in Rams territory, giving Los Angeles a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.

Stafford was fantastic on the Rams’ next drive, completing all eight of his passes, including a 9-yard touchdown to Kupp. The Rams took the lead with 4:30 left.

The Lions were certainly not happy to let the Rams come back into the game and take the lead, but they fought hard and forced overtime.

Lions have trouble covering Cooper Kupp

The Lions’ defense has improved a lot in the offseason, especially at cornerback, but they had problems on Sunday night. In particular, they were unable to cover Kupp. However, they still managed to get a crucial stop late in the fourth quarter.

The Rams had a chance to play out the rest of the time, but were forced to punt after Stafford threw an incomplete throw on third-and-10. The Lions had a chance to at least tie the game and had more than two minutes on the clock.

The Lions then got lucky. Sam LaPorta caught a pass over the middle and was given an extra 15 yards because he suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit during the tackle. This put the Lions within field goal range, with plenty of time and two timeouts left. The Lions had a chance to win the game in regulation time, but Goff missed a pass on third down and Detroit settled for a field goal to tie the game with 17 seconds left. The game went into overtime.

The Lions won the coin toss. Detroit got right into Rams territory with two big runs on the first two plays. They continued to run the ball all the way down the field and Montgomery threw it for the winning score. It wasn’t always pretty for the Lions, but they’ll accept the end result.