Challenge in this case: Be faster than the flag

DETROIT - The Vikings scored one offensive touchdown in Sunday's 20-17 overtime loss to Detroit, and they used a dose of chicanery to get that one.

The Lions were leading 7-0 with 10 minutes left in the second quarter. On third-and-8 from the Lions 41, Robert Ferguson did a turn 10 yards downfield, and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson threw a low ball.

The official ruled a catch and marked it as a first down. Several Lions signaled to the officials and to their bench that the throw had skipped off the turf. The Lions waited to see a replay to decide if they should challenge the call. Vikings coach Brad Childress ordered Jackson to rush to the line and spike the ball.

A replay showed the throw clearly hit the turf, and Detroit coach Rod Marinelli threw a challenge flag. Too late, Coach. The Vikings already had run the next play, meaning there could not be a challenge.

The Vikings -- rather than being forced to punt from midfield -- continued to drive for a touchdown.

"We work on it," Childress said. "It's a call that we talk about. I'm not going to tell you what it is."

The reception was Ferguson's first as a Viking. Asked if it was really a catch, he said: "No, no, no -- without a doubt [the ball hit the ground]. We had a similar play in the preseason against Seattle. Bobby Wade had one that it looked like he caught but he didn't. We learned from that. Tarvaris now calls out, 'Mayday, mayday,' and we get to the line. We snapped the ball before they threw the red flag."

Taylor sits

Running back Chester Taylor was inactive because of a hip injury suffered in the season opener. Adrian Peterson started in his place, carried the ball 20 times for 66 yards and was on the field for more than 45 snaps. Taylor attempted to do some work on the field before the game, but the decision did not come as a surprise. He had practiced sparingly during the week.

It marks the second consecutive year he missed a game in his hometown. Last December, he sat out at Ford Field because of bruised ribs. Taylor said he had about 30 family members and friends at the game.

The decision also enabled running back Mewelde Moore to make his debut. He was a surprise inactive last week but carried the ball six times Sunday for 60 yards and caught four passes for 36 yards.

Also inactive for the Vikings were fullback Tony Richardson (bruised forearm), safety Mike Doss (calf), tight end Garrett Mills, tackle Chase Johnson, defensive tackle Fred Evans and defensive end Erasmus James. Ferguson made his regular-season debut as a Viking after sitting out the opener because of an ankle injury.

Injury report

Receiver Troy Williamson suffered a hamstring spasm returning the opening kickoff of the second half and did not return. Childress said it was a precautionary move.

Jackson tweaked a groin injury in overtime and came out. The injury is not believed to be serious, but he will be evaluated today.

Safeties Darren Sharper and Dwight Smith also missed time in the second half because of cramping. Sharper had to go to the locker room to get an IV. Veteran Tank Williams served as the replacement for both players. Right guard Artis Hicks left briefly in the fourth quarter because of a leg injury but was able to return.

Early in the game, Peterson went to the bench to get his ankle taped, but Childress said it wasn't an issue. "I just saw a little hitch in his gait, but whatever he did he battled through," Childress said. "I saw it early. I didn't see it late."

Griffin wants rematch

Cornerback Cedric Griffin and several Vikings screamed mightily at the closest official when Detroit rookie Calvin Johnson caught a 7-yard touchdown pass early in the second half. This gave the Lions a 17-7 lead and was the first TD of his career for backup quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan.

Griffin and the nearby Vikings obviously were convinced the 6-5, 239-pound Johnson, the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, had pushed him away to get in position to catch O'Sullivan's jump ball.

Griffin would not confirm his unhappiness with the official's no-call in the postgame locker room. "It was a great play by Calvin," he said. "The ball was up for grabs, and he came down with it. We'll see him again at home [Dec. 2 in the Metrodome] and maybe we'll have the home-field advantage."

Check that videotape

Detroit threw 56 passes for 393 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Williams caught seven passes for 111 yards, but he also lost a fumble when the Lions appeared to be driving for a lead touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Sharper was credited with causing the fumble, and cornerback Antoine Winfield was given credit for recovering it. "I didn't have a ball," Winfield said. "It was a pile in there ... everyone was fighting for the ball. Somebody got it for us. I don't have a clue who it was, though. I'll take it, but it wasn't me."

Just missed

Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell had a chance to win the game with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter but hit the left upright on his 52-yard attempt.

"Obviously, it's a kick I feel I should make," said Longwell, who made four game-winning field goals in the final minute of games in 2004. "I have hit bad kicks before, and that wasn't exactly one of them. It started where I was aiming and just kept turning. For whatever reason, it just didn't go through."

Childress expressed anger with the officials after the miss, feeling there should have been a penalty. "I thought [the Lions] were way in the neutral zone," Childress said.

Happy returns

The Vikings' special teams had one of their best games in Childress' two seasons as head coach. Williamson had a career-high 56-yard kickoff return, punter Chris Kluwe averaged 57.5 yards on four punts, and the kickoff coverage unit held Troy Walters to a 13-yard average on three returns.

"If there is one plus, I would tell you it would be the special teams," Childress said. "I thought the coverage units were outstanding. I thought where we kicked the football was outstanding. If there is something to hang your hat on, and there is one positive, it was that. That we could bring the ball past the 50-yard line a couple of times with two different guys and basically pin them down where we wanted to make them drive the football."

Quick hits

• Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards had the hit that knocked Lions quarterback Jon Kitna out of the game from early in the second quarter until midway through the fourth quarter. Edwards rushed hard off the right side and hit Kitna in the back of the helmet. Kitna was able to complete an 8-yard pass to running back Brian Calhoun. Kitna stayed in the game for the rest of that series but left at the start of the next series. "I guess it was a little aftershock," Edwards said.

• Lions 16-year veteran kicker Jason Hanson missed a 48-yard field goal with 50 seconds left in regulation but redeemed himself with the game-winner from 37 yards in overtime. "The [miss], after 16 years you wish you just stepped out there and be money," Hanson said. "I pride myself working hard to do that, but it's hard to make your body slow down in a big moment, and I just overkicked the ball. The second time, I had a chance to tell myself, 'Don't do this, this and this.'"

• Vikings rookie cornerback Marcus McCauley saw extensive action in the Vikings' nickel package as the Lions used multiple receiver sets for much of the afternoon.

JUDD ZULGAD, PATRICK REUSSE

AND MARK CRAIG