INDIANAPOLIS -- Detroit Lions kicker Matt Prater just wanted a second chance Sunday.
Matthew Stafford ensured he got it -- and Prater delivered with a 43-yard field goal that gave the Lions a wild 39-35 victory at Indianapolis.
Just four minutes earlier, after Stafford had broken a 28-28 tie with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick, Prater pushed the extra point wide right. So it was 34-28, opening the door for Colts quarterback Andrew Luck to pull off another comeback.
Instead, Prater got a shot at redemption and the Lions never doubted him.
"To see him bounce back is huge," coach Jim Caldwell said. "When you miss like that, the second one can be difficult. But he has an unusual focusing ability."
Stafford played brilliantly, going 31 of 39 for 340 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Somehow, Luck nearly rallied the Colts from an 18-point deficit to another last-minute victory when he threw a 6-yard TD pass to Jack Doyle with 37 seconds to go. It rekindled memories of the winning TD pass he threw at Detroit four years ago.
Adam Vinatieri's extra point gave Indy a 35-34 lead.
But against Indy's depleted secondary, Stafford found receivers who turned short catches into big gains. Four plays later, Prater got his chance, and he hit it right.
"We made a lot of plays, and we just ran out of gas (on defense)," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. "We just couldn't make that one more play that we needed to make."
Indy was called for a safety on the final play of the game, for throwing an illegal forward pass in its end zone.
Copyright 2016 by The Associated Press
