TAMPA, Fla. -- Golden Tate has played 62 games for the Detroit Lions between the regular season and the playoffs. He’s scored 18 touchdowns.
But prior to Sunday, he had never scored a touchdown with the Lions in the United States while playing outdoors. That’s 20 games for one of the top offensive options on Detroit’s team. In the second quarter, though, Matthew Stafford found Tate for a 5-yard touchdown catch at Raymond James Stadium, which is being played, yes, outdoors.
It gave the Lions a 14-7 lead and Tate his first outdoor touchdown for Detroit in the United States.
Why the quantifier of in the United States? Tate scored a a touchdown in 2014 for Detroit in its win over Atlanta, but that came in Wembley Stadium in England.
Of course a lot of this has to do with where the Lions play. Detroit plays indoors at Ford Field, so at least half of its games each season are indoors. Plus, the Vikings play indoors, which eliminates another game most seasons, and the Lions have played in New Orleans the last three years, too.
So the options have been fewer, but still -- that's a pretty quirky stat for one of the Lions' top players. Tate had 11 outdoor touchdowns in his time in Seattle.
