2019 Detroit Lions Awards: Play of the Year

Today, we kick off the start of the 2019 Detroit Lions Pride of Detroit Awards. It certainly doesn’t feel like we should be celebrating—or even remembering—the 2019 season, but believe it or not, there were a few pleasant moments during the year.

And that how we’ll kick off the award season; commemorating some of the best individual moments from the Detroit Lions 2019 season. Here are your nominees for 2019 Play of the Year.

Matthew Stafford threads the needle vs. Chiefs

In order to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, you’re going to need a quarterback who can go toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes. And on this late September afternoon, Matthew Stafford was up to the challenge. At first glance, this pass doesn’t seem all that extraordinary. But from the sky cam, its glory is revealed:

Amazing.

MANDATORY WEEK 17 TRICK PLAY

The members of the Lions local beat knew the team had a trick play designed for Danny Amendola from the first few weeks of training camp. For months, the play laid dormant, creating a bit of anxiety amongst media members that the play would never come to light.

The Lions ended up waiting until Week 17—like they normally do—to pull it out, and it worked to perfection.

Flea Flicker(ish) touchdown to Golladay vs. Giants

As we learned in 2019, the Lions with a lead in the fourth quarter is quite possibly the worst position this team could be in. So offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell reached into his bag of tricks, and dialed up this beautiful play to push their lead to two scores against the Giants. Some would call this a flea flicker, but because my #Brand is staunchly against that play, I’d call it a sweep toss, throwback bomb. Much neater.

Darius Slay game-winning INT vs. Chargers

It feels like years ago the Lions won a football game, but back when the season still had hope, “Big Play” Slay lived up to his name. With the Chargers already in field goal position to tie the game up late, Philip Rivers took a big risk going for the end zone, and Slay made him pay for Detroit’s first win of the season.

Jamal Agnew punt return vs. Broncos

2019 was a crucial year for Jamal Agnew. After a fantastic rookie season, his special teams abilities seemed to have sunk after struggling with injury. But Agnew rebounded in a big way this year, taking both a kickoff return and a punt return to the house—the only player in the NFL to do so.