It only took me 29 years to make it to a Lions' game, but what a first game to go to! On a grey, windy, extremely cold day, Mike [my brother] and I saw the Lions at the [Silverdome]. We sat in the 22nd row of the bleachers--lower deck in the south end zone.
Detroit sacked Indianapolis' quarterback in "our" end zone for a safety. Before the play, Mike was chanting, "Safety! Safety!" and, lo and behold, the Lions did it. I believe the Colts' quarterback was Justin #11. [The quarterback was, indeed, Paul Justin].
We saw it all, two Jason Hanson field goals for over fifty yards each. He kicked a 55-yarder on the final play of the first half to give Detroit an 18-10 lead.
Without a doubt, the highlight of the game was Barry Sanders. He rushed for about 216 yards [216 yards exactly] and, on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, ran for an 80-yard touchdown. In the first half, he had a run which also came our way, for about 40 or 50 yards. His 80-yard touchdown was amazing, and I feel so lucky to have witnessed it in person and in the flesh. All I could see was a mob of white and blue-clad players 80 yards away after the ball was snapped, but around the right side of that mob (which was on my left side, from my vantage point in the south end zone) emerged #20, he broke several tackles between about the [Lions'] 20 and 50 yard lines and then was gone--and I mean gone. He had about two men to beat after he sped past the 50, and those guys didn't have a prayer. Barry flew down the sideline and scored, to give the Lions a 24-10 lead (soon to be 25-10 after Hanson's extra point). I don't think I'll ever forget the grace and power and sheer determination in Sanders as he rocketed down that right sideline. Even though a couple Colts players attempted to bring him down after he had crossed the Indy 30 yard line (or so), there seemed to be no doubt in my mind or anybody else's that nothing was going to prevent Barry Sanders from crossing that goal line.
It was a perfect game. Scott Mitchell played well and made few, if any, mistakes. The Lions' passing game was conservative, but with Barry running as well as he was, passing wasn't that necessary. Defensively, the Lions were superb. They held tough throughout the game and prevented the Colts from getting a first down on 4th and 1 in Lions's territory (3rd quarter, I think it was).
We had some funny guys sitting behind us. One of them had Marshall Faulk on his fantasy league team and was flipping out because Faulk wasn't doing much in the game. All of them seemed to second guess every single passing decision (no quarterbacking decision) which Scott Mitchell made.
We froze when we left the dome, the weather had become more grey and windier, but both of us were glowing. It had been a great game. Mike and I ate the two remaining donuts I had brought with us dow to Pontiac.
It was a great game and I hope to make Lions' games a permanent fixture. [Well, it took me 25 years to return].
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