Jared Goff and the Lions stunned the LA Rams in the overtime and came out with a 26-20 win in the week 1 game. After a lot of struggles, Matthew Stafford and the offense had managed to gain the lead for the team in the 4th quarter, only to turn the possession over to the Lions after the coin toss. However, the extended game brought forth the updated rules for the overtime.

What are the overtime rules exactly and how did they help the Lions win? Well, for the regular season, the visiting team captain calls the toss, and the outcome decides which team will have the possession. It was the Lions who won the toss in this case. However, “Each team will have the opportunity to possess the ball unless the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown on the opening possession. Sudden death play — where the game ends on any score (safety, field goal, or touchdown) — continues until a winner is decided,” per NFL Operations.

The Chaos ensued when 4:30 remained in the fourth quarter. It was at that point when Matthew Stafford launched a 9-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp, who took it upon himself to spearhead the Rams offense after Puka Nacua was ruled out because of a knee injury. Kupp came out with 110 yards, 14 receptions, and a single touchdown.

After Nacua left, Kupp became Matt Stafford’s primary target as the Pro Bowl receiver had 21 receptions throughout the game, some of which were negated by Carlton Davis III. In the end, it probably might have come down to Matthew Stafford losing the toss because he’s just as capable of achieving the same feat as Jared Goff.

But coming back to the Rams, Stafford’s 9-yard pass gave the Lions a much-needed 20-17 lead, but then Jake Bates tied the game with a field goal with just 18 seconds remaining on the clock. Bates’ 32-yard field goal forced the game to go to overtime and the Lions’ skill position players did the rest of the job for the team.

How David Montgomery became Matthew Stafford’s worst nightmare!

The stage was set when the Lions received 10 precious minutes to put some points on the board. Goff, who missed two touchdown opportunities in the third quarter, didn’t waste time in OT. Instead, he relied on his RB and receiver to do the job. Kalif Raymond set the Lions up for success on a first and 10 play when the overtime began. Montgomery took care of the rest.

His one-yard touchdown helped the Lions win the game 26-20, but it wasn’t that easy. It took a couple of stellar runs from David Montgomery to seal the game. He rushed for 70 yards in 8 plays! Montgomery finally landed the Lions at the Rams’ 1-yard line and took it home with a game-winning touchdown. That ruled out the possibility of the Rams ever regaining possession again and it was “sudden death” for the LA team.

However, coach McVay isn’t as shaken up by the loss. In fact, he mentioned how “I’m really proud of this group,” and that “We had a lot of guys go down and a lot of people stepped up.” On the other hand, Coach Campbell looks at the situation with a different set of eyes. “Early in the season, a lot of games come down to who makes the fewest mistakes,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “We made one less than they did.”

Had it been a playoff game, circumstances would have been different. “If the score is still tied at the end of an overtime period — or if the second team’s initial possession has not ended — the teams will play another overtime period. Play will continue regardless of how many overtime periods are needed for a winner to be determined,” per NFL Operations.

That’s what happened in the Super Bowl LVIII when the game was forced to overtime. However, the Super Bowl is months away right now. Per the current scenario, both Rams and Lions look like a team that can make it to playoffs. For the Rams, though, not having Aaron Donald is already proving to be a challenge.