Ravens defeat Lions, 18-16, on 61-yard field goal

DETROIT — Justin Tucker’s powerful leg kicked the Super Bowl champions into playoff gear.

Tucker made six field goals, including a franchise-record 61-yarder with 38 seconds left that lifted the Baltimore Ravens to an 18-16 win over the Detroit Lions in a Monday night matchup with major postseason implications.

Ravens Coach John Harbaugh chose to let Tucker try the longest kick of his career — by five yards — instead of going for it on fourth and eight from the Detroit 43.

“If they send me out there, they have reason to,” Tucker said. “It’s because they think I can make the kick.”

Rookie safety Matt Elam secured the victory with an interception — Matthew Stafford’s third of the night — after raising eyebrows during the week by calling 28-year-old Calvin Johnson “pretty old” and saying the plan was to make the star receiver uncomfortable by getting physical with him.

Stafford threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Fauria with 2:21 left, putting Detroit up, 16-15.

But the Lions were unable to make a two-point conversion and couldn’t prevent Baltimore (8-6) from setting up its sensational kicker for his 33rd successful field goal in a row.

Tucker’s kick went just inside the right upright and barely had enough distance — eight days after Denver’s Matt Prater broke the NFL record with a 64-yard field goal.

“I definitely felt like I got a lot of leg into it, but it jumped up so high I thought I might have gotten under it,” said Tucker, who mentioned in a television interview right after the game that his six field goals also benefited his fantasy football team.

Tucker, who hasn’t missed a field-goal attempt since he was 0 for 2 in Week 2 at Cleveland, has the NFL’s longest streak since Matt Stover made 36 in a row for the Ravens from 2005-06, according to STATS.

Detroit (7-7) has hurt its playoff chances by losing four of its last five.