2011 Detroit Lions season The 2011 Detroit Lions season is the franchise ' s 82nd season in the National Football League , the 10th playing their home games at Ford Field and the third under head coach Jim Schwartz . Currently undefeated , the team is on track to improve on their 6 – 10 record from 2010 . Regular season results . Week 1 : at Tampa Bay Buccaneers . To start the season , the Lions traveled south to Tampa , Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . The Lions scored first in the first quarter with a 23 yard field goal by Jason Hanson . The Buccaneers tied it up with a 38 yard field goal by Connor Barth , then took the lead when Aqib Talib intercepted a pass from Matthew Stafford and ran it in 28 yards . The Lions responded with a 28 yard field goal . In the second quarter , Detroit took the lead with a 36 yard touchdown catch by Calvin Johnson , and later added more points when Tony Scheffler caught a 11 yard pass . Tampa Bay responded with a 31 yard field goal just before halftime . The second half was relatively quiet , with each team only scoring 1 touchdown . First Detroit ' s Calvin Johnson caught a 1 yard pass in the third quarter . The game ' s final points came when Mike Williams of Tampa Bay caught a 5 yard pass . With the win , the Lions went 1 – 0 for the first time since 2007 . Week 2 : vs . Kansas City Chiefs . For their home opener , the Lions hosted the Kansas City Chiefs . The Lions scored first when Calvin Johnson caught a 15 yard pass for a touchdown . Kansas City then scored their only points of the game with a 33 yard field goal by Ryan Succop . In the second quarter , the Lions ' Tony Scheffler caught a 36 yard pass for a touchdown . They added to their lead with two field goals from Jason Hanson , from 51 and 28 yards respectively . After halftime , the Lions scored 4 consecutive touchdowns : first a 1 yard catch by Calvin Johnson , then in the fourth quarter a 9 yard catch by Jahvid Best . Best then scored again on a 1 yard run . The Lions capped their victory with a 1 yard run by Keiland Williams . The blowout win set the franchise record for largest margin of victory . It was the first time the Lions went 2 – 0 since 2007 . Lions QB Matthew Stafford - who completed 23 of 39 passes , threw for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns - won the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week for his performance . Week 3 : at Minnesota Vikings . In week 3 , the Lions traveled west to Minneapolis , Minnesota to face their NFC North Division rivals the Minnesota Vikings . The first half was all Minnesota . In the first quarter , the Vikings ' Ryan Longwell made 2 consecutive field goals , from 33 and 41 yards out respectively . In the second quarter came 2 consecutive Minnesota touchdowns . First on a 6 yard run by Adrian Peterson , then an 8 yard catch by Visanthe Shiancoe . After halftime , the Lions mounted a comeback . In the third quarter , Detroit ' s Calvin Johnson caught a 32 yard pass for a touchdown . They added more points with a 28 yard field goal by Jason Hanson . In the fourth quarter , Calvin Johnson caught another touchdown pass , this one from 5 yards out . Detroit then tied it up with a 50 yard field goal , and took their first lead of the game with a 40 yard Jason Hanson 3 - pointer . Minnesota tied it up again with a 49 yard field goal late in the game , taking it to overtime . Detroit won the coin toss and got the ball first , then scored a 32 yard field goal to win the game . Detroit ' s 20 - point comeback was biggest on the road in team history . It was also the first time the Lions beat the Vikings at the Metrodome since 1997 . It is also the first time Lions went 3 - 0 since 1980 . Week 4 : at Dallas Cowboys . In week 4 , the Lions traveled south to Arlington , Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys . The Cowboys dominated for the first half . First came a 25 yard touchdown catch by Dez Bryant . In the second quarter , Bryant scored more points with a 6 yard touchdown catch . Dallas added more points with a 41 yard field goal by Dan Bailey . The Lions then got their only points of the first half with a 33 yard field goal by Jason Hanson . The Cowboys responded with a 35 yard field goal just before halftime . After the break , Dallas added more points with a 1 yard touchdown catch by Jason Witten . The Lions responded with 2 consecutive defensive touchdowns : first a 34 yard interception return by Bobby Carpenter , then a 56 yard pick 6 by Chris Houston . The Cowboys scored their final points of the game with a 23 yard field goal late in the third quarter . In the fourth quarter , the Lions continued their comeback with a 23 yard touchdown catch by Calvin Johnson . They made it a three point game with a 51 yard field goal by Jason Hanson , and took their first lead of the game late in the final quarter when Calvin Johnson caught his second touchdown of the game , from 2 yards out to become only the 2nd player in NFL history to record at least 2 touchdown catches in 4 straight games . The other to do so is former Vikings receiver Chris Carter . The Lions defense held off Dallas for the win . Like the previous week , the Lions came back and won it in the final moments of the game after being down by a large margin at halftime . This was also the largest comeback the Dallas Cowboys have ever allowed , and it is the largest comeback by a road team in NFL history as the Cowboys were up by 24 in the 3rd quarter with the score 27 – 3 . It is the first time Lions are 4 – 0 since 1980 . This also was its franchise - record fifth straight road win . Ironically , their last game at Dallas was the franchise record 26th straight road loss . Week 5 : vs . Chicago Bears . In week 5 , the Lions hosted a nationally televised primetime NFC North Division duel against the Chicago Bears . It was the first ever " Monday Night Football " game at Ford Field , the first " MNF " appearance for the Lions since 2001 , and the first Monday night game in the city of Detroit since 1974 . Neither team scored in the first quarter . In the second quarter , the Lions got an early lead with a 73 yard catch and run by Calvin Johnson and with this Calvin Johnson became the first receiver in NFL history to record 9 touchdown catches in 5 games . The Bears got on the board with a 44 yard field goal by Robbie Gould , and took the lead with a 9 yard catch by Kellen Davis . After halftime , the Lions regained the lead and never gave it back . First came an 18 yard TD catch by Brandon Pettigrew . A few minutes later , Detroit ' s Jahvid Best ran in a TD from 88 yards out , the second longest touchdown run in franchise history . Each team scored a field goal in the fourth quarter . First Chicago from 49 yards out . The Lions sealed their victory with a 31 yard 3 pointer . Counting the end of the 2010 season , the Lions have now won 9 consecutive games , which is the NFL ' s longest active regular season winning streak . With the win , the Lions started 5 – 0 for the first time since 1956 .