NFL Old School Game of the Week: Stafford Leads Lions Past Browns in Stunning QB Duel

Matthew Stafford is greeted by teammates as he nurses a separated shoulder following his heroics against the Browns in 2009.

When the Cleveland Browns traveled to Detroit to take on the Lions in Week 11 of the 2009 NFL season, almost everybody thought this game was going to be a snoozer as both teams entered the game with identical 1-8 records.

However, the Browns and Lions would participate in perhaps the best game of the 2009 regular season in a wild game with a combined 75 points and 912 yards of total offense with a remarkable finish that showed the grit and toughness of rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Stafford had been selected by the Lions with the #1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft after the Lions became the first team in NFL history lose all 16 games in a 16-game season and the first team to suffer a winless season since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Lions hoped the pick of Stafford to go along with wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who had been Detroit's best player for the 2008 season as he caught 78 passes for 1,331 yards and scored 12 touchdowns, as well as new head coach Jim Schwartz would spark a revival in Detroit as the Lions had not had a winning season since 2000 and had been absent from the postseason since 1999.

Stafford would lead the Lions to a win in their third game of the season, a 19-14 win over the Washington Redskins, before Detroit went on a six-game losing streak before their game with the Lions as Stafford threw five straight touchdown passes compared to 12 interceptions.

On the other side of the field were the Browns who were having a difficult first season under head coach Eric Mangini as the Browns had won only one game up to this point, a dismal 6-3 win over the Buffalo Bills.

The biggest reason for the Browns' poor play was inconsistency at quarterback as the job as Brady Quinn started out the season as the Browns starting quarterback before being benched in the third game of the season in favor of Derek Anderson, who would lose the job four games later back to Quinn.

Quinn had struggled since being picked by the Browns in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft as he had thrown just three touchdown passes since his arrival in Cleveland.

With the ineptitude that both starting quarterbacks had playing up to this point, the only thing that seemed interesting about this game was that Stafford would be wear a wireless microphone for NFL Films to help in the production of the highlights of this game.

When it was all said and done, NFL Films producer Steve Sabol would call Stafford's performance the most dramatic he had ever seen in 30 years.

The Browns took the ball to start the game as Quinn would complete four of five passes for 49 yards on a nine-play, 48-yard drive that ended with Phil Dawson kicking a 44-yard field goal to Cleveland a 3-0 lead.

The Lions would begin their first possession of the game at their 20-yard-line where it took them just one play to get into Cleveland territory as Stafford completed a short screen pass to running back Kevin Smith who turned into a 63-yard reception to put Detroit at the Browns' 17-yard-line.

However, the Lions would have to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Jason Hansen that would tie the game at three as the Browns would get start their ensuing possession at their 41-yard-line.

That is when Quinn went deep and hit Mohammad Massaquoi for a 59-yard touchdown to give the Browns a 10-3 lead with 8:56 left in the first quarter.

The Lions would go three-and-out on their next possession to give the ball back to the Browns who took over at their 28-yard-line as it took them six plays to drive to the Detroit 40-yard-line when Quinn threw deep again, this time connecting with Chansi Stuckey for the 40-yard touchdown to increase Cleveland's lead to 17-3.

Things would not improve for the Lions on their next offensive play from scrimmage as Stafford would be picked off by Cleveland cornerback Eric Wright, whose 47-yard return would give the Browns a 1st & goal at the Detroit six-yard-line.

After a two-yard run by Jamal Lewis on 1st down, Quinn would find Cribbs in the end zone for the four-yard touchdown to give the Browns a shocking 24-3 lead with 2:52 to go in the first quarter.

Brady Quinn had the best game of his NFL career as he threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns on 21-of-33 passes.

With the game seemingly getting out of hand early, the Lions needed to stop the bleeding as they would begin their ensuing possession at their 22-yard-line.

The drive would begin with a 30-yard pass from Stafford to tight end Brandon Pettigrew to put the Lions in Cleveland territory which was followed by a 11-yard run by Smith and then a 11-yard catch by Pettigrew to put the Lions at the Browns' 26-yard-line.

Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Stafford would complete a short pass to running back Aaron Brown, who was able to turn it into a 26-yard touchdown that would cut the Browns' lead to 24-10 with 30 seconds to go in the first quarter.

The Lions' defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 39-yard line as Stafford would complete four of six passes for 58 yards on the seven-play, 61-yard drive that culminated with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Smith to make it an one-score game at 24-17 early in the second quarter.

The Browns would drive into Detroit territory again but ended up punting it back to the Lions who would take over at their six-yard-line as two offsides penalties helped Detroit move to their 25-yard-line when Stafford fired a bomb for Johnson who caught the ball around the Cleveland 25-yard-line and ran in untouched for the 75-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 24 with 5:01 left in the second quarter.

Having seen their 21-point lead evaporate, the Browns would drive from their 20-yard-line to the Lions' 29-yard-line when instead of kicking a field goal on 4th & 4, Cleveland went for the 1st down which they got when Quinn completed a seven-yard pass to Stuckey to give the Browns a fresh set of downs at the Detroit 22-yard-line.

Two plays later, the Browns would face a 3rd & 9 when Quinn lofted a pass for Jennings in the end zone who let a sure touchdown slip through his fingers to seemingly bring up a field goal attempt on 4th & 9.

But the Browns would run a fake field goal as the ball was snapped directly to the kicker, Dawson, who then completed a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Mike Furrey to give the Browns a 1st down at the Lions' 11-yard-line.

However with just six seconds left, the Browns would end up settling for the field goal as Dawson would make a 29-yarder to give Cleveland a 27-24 after a wild and crazy 30 minutes of play.

Following an exchange of punts to start the third quarter, the Lions would get the ball at their 16-yard-line as they would drive the field on the right arm of Stafford as he would complete six of seven passes for 67 yards on the 10-play, 84-yard drive which ended with an one-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to tight end Will Heller to give the Lions their first lead of the game at 31-27 with 2:47 left in the third quarter.

The Browns would go three-and-out on their next possession but would pin the Lions back at their two-yard-line as Cleveland would cut the Detroit lead to two points as Stafford was called for intentional grounding in the end zone which resulted in a safety for the Browns as they trim the Lions' lead to 31-29 with 41 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Both teams would go three-and-out on their ensuing possessions as the Browns would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line as they would hold the ball for nearly seven minutes as they drove 75 yards in 14 plays, culminating with a two-yard touchdown pass from Quinn to tight end Michael Gains to give the lead back to Cleveland.

The Browns would go for two after the touchdown which they got as Lewis would punch it in to give Cleveland a 37-31 lead with 5:44 to play in the game.

The Lions would begin their next possession at their 40-yard-line as Stafford would complete three passes for 20 yards to move Detroit into Cleveland territory until the rookie tried to hit Johnson in the end zone only for Browns strong safety Brodney Pool intercept the pass to give the Browns a chance to pick up some 1st downs to end the game as they took over at their 20-yard-line with 3:40 to play.

Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson caught seven passes for 161 yards and scored one touchdown.

Two runs by Lewis would pick up four yards to set up 3rd & 6 when Quinn found Stuckey for 13 yards and a 1st down at the Cleveland 37-yard-line as one more 1st down would probably end the game.

Another two runs by Lewis gained five yards would set up 3rd & 5 when Quinn could not connect with Massaquoi  as his pass fell incomplete which would force the Browns to punt the ball back to the Lions who would take over at their 12-yard-line with 1:46 to go in the game and no timeouts for Detroit, who needed a touchdown to win.

The drive would begin with Stafford completing his first three passes, two of them to Johnson for 30 yards to move the Lions to their 46-yard-line when Stafford spiked the ball to stop the clock with 43 seconds to go.

Following the spike, Stafford would find Pettigrew for 11 yards to put the Lions in Cleveland territory at the Browns' 43-yard-line as another spike would stop the clock with 27 seconds left.

After an incomplete pass on 2nd down, Stafford would hit Hiller for 11 yards for a 1st down at the Browns' 32-yard-line as another spike stopped the clock with eight seconds to go.

With a possible two chances at hitting a Hail Mary, Stafford would take the snap and then scramble the pocket to avoid the Cleveland pass rush as the clock counted down to zero until Stafford was able to get a pass away before taking a vicious hit from Browns defensive tackle CJ Mosley.

Stafford's pass would be picked off in the end zone by Pool to seemingly end the game and give the win for the Browns but in typical Cleveland fashion the rug would be pulled out from under them as defensive back Hank Poteat would be called for pass interference, giving the Lions one untimed play from the Browns' one-yard-line.

The Lions medical staff would run onto to the field to Stafford, who ended up separating his non-throwing shoulder, as backup Dante Culpepper came onto the field to assumingly be the quarterback for the Lions' untimed play.

But the Browns would call timeout to set up their defense, which allowed Stafford to reenter the game who told Schwartz that he could throw the ball if they needed him to.

Amazingly, Stafford would come back onto the field to take the snap from center and fire a pass to the back of the end zone for Pettegrew, who caught the ball and got both feet inbounds for the shocking touchdown to tie the game at 37 as Stafford went back to the sidelines as the shoulder had officially separated.

But the drama was not over as Hanson would come on to attempt an extra point if he somehow missed would send the game to overtime.

But Hanson would easily make the kick to give the Lions a remarkable 38-37 win thanks to Stafford's performance in which he completed 26 of 43 passes for 422 yards and threw five touchdowns.

While the loss dropped them to a 1-9 record, the Browns would end the season with a four-game winning streak to finish the season with a 5-11 record as Quinn would be traded in the offseason to the Denver Broncos while Mangini would be fired after another 5-11 season in 2010.

As for the Lions, their comeback win over the Browns would be the highlight of the season as they would not win another game to finish the season with a 2-14 record.

However, brighter days were ahead for the Lions as two years later they would make the playoffs with a 10-6 record, the first of three playoff appearances with Stafford as quarterback as he would become the Lions' all time passing leader with 45,109 yards in 12 seasons in Detroit.

Stafford would be traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 where in his first season he threw for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns to help led the Rams to their first Super Bowl in 22 years.