MINNEAPOLIS, MN (WKZO) -- It's been over 30 years since the Detroit Lions opened a football season 3-0.  1980 to be exact.  It appeared, at least in the 1st half that the 1980 Lions team was going to remain the last to win 3 to begin a season.

That changed in the second half as the Lions fought back and Matthew Stafford went 32-for-46, throwing for 378 yards, 2 touchdowns and perfectly placing a deep pass in overtime that dropped Calvin Johnson onto the Minnesota Vikings 15-yard-line.

This is not your parents Detroit Lions.  Even after allowing the Vikings to tie the game in regulation, overcoming 2 false start penalties on Jeff Backus and a 3rd and long in overtime the Lions were able to secure the 26-23 victory.  

In years past the Lions have always found a way to lose.  Today the Lions found a way to win.  Stafford spread the ball around Sunday hitting Brandon Pettigrew 11 times for 112 yards, Johnson 7 times for 108 yards and Jahvid Best 5 times for 74 yards in the win.

Up next the now 3-0 Lions head to Dallas for a showdown with the Cowboys.  WKZO will LIVE blog the Cowboys game right here online at wkzo.com and via text.  For score alerts 24-hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year send a text message with the word SCORES to the phone number 80373.  (Msg and Data Rates Apply)