BALTIMORE -- Matthew Stafford set a Detroit Lions record with 20 straight completions against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Stafford’s completion streak began after an incomplete pass deep to Marvin Jones with 13:42 left in the second quarter. Then he went on fire, completing passes to receivers, tight ends, running backs and even a linebacker, Nick Bellore, for completion No. 20 and a touchdown to cut Baltimore's lead to 27-20.
"I had no idea," Stafford said. "That's a really, really good defense we just played. We knew it was going to be a tough game. There were going to be times where we were going to struggle on offense and we just had to keep plugging away and we made some big plays and guys stepped up and made some great catches and obviously just didn’t do enough of it to get it done."
It obliterated the previous Lions record for consecutive completions, set last season by Stafford against New Orleans, when he completed 13 straight passes on Dec. 4, 2016 -- a game the Lions won. He completed 30 of 42 passes for 341 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 28-13 win that day, a year after completing a career-high 88 percent of his passes against the Saints on Dec. 21, 2015.
The streak was snapped on attempt No. 21, when he threw a pass on the run that was intended for Jones but was intercepted by Marlon Humphrey. It was a turnover that came at a critical time, too, because the Lions trailed 30-20 with 6:16 left in the game. Stafford finished the day 24-of-29 for 292 yards with one touchdown and one interception before leaving with an injured right hand.
He missed the NFL record of 25 straight completions, set by Ryan Tannehill in 2015.