Lions End Losing Streak, While Vikings Keep Winning
Quarterback Matthew Stafford kept his head down on the bench and center Dominic Raiola also could not watch, but when they looked up the Detroit Lions had finally won a game.
The Lions stopped the Washington Redskins on their final play, posting a 19-14 victory and ending a losing streak that stretched back two seasons.
Detroit (1-2) had not won since Dec. 23, 2007; its 19-game skid matched the second longest in league history.
Raiola blew kisses to the crowd of 40,896 — the smallest to watch a Lions home game in 20 years.
“We went a whole season without feeling like this, so you have to take it in and enjoy,” Raiola said.
The one benefit of losing every game last season was it gave Detroit the No. 1 pick in the draft. It chose Stafford, who threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson in the first quarter and did not turn the ball over. He said his nerves got the better of him in the final minute.
“I figured I’d just let the crowd noise tell me what happened,” Stafford said. “When it got really quiet, I couldn’t take it, so I looked up, and saw them running, and then the tackle, and then I saw the clock was at zero.”
After a brief meeting in the locker room, the first-year coach Jim Schwartz sent his players back to the field to celebrate.
Late Passes, Big Wins
Greg Lewis leaped for a 32-yard touchdown catch with two seconds left while a flattened Brett Favre watched from his stomach, and the Vikings stunned the visiting 49ers, 27-24, to stay unbeaten. The last play began with 12 seconds left, and Favre stepped forward in the pocket and slid to the right by design to buy time. He said he wanted to get close enough to the line of scrimmage to fire a line drive, which would be tough to defend. Lewis watched Favre’s eyes and broke the other way to find room near the right corner. “I didn’t know who it was that was streaking, so I just threw it as hard as I could," Favre said.
¶Carson Palmer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell with 14 seconds left, completing a nearly perfect 16-play drive and giving the Bengals a 23-20 victory over the Steelers. Cincinnati (2-1) beat the Steelers (1-2) at Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since 2001.
¶Devin Hester cut through host Seattle’s injury-depleted secondary and caught a 36-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute 52 seconds remaining, rallying the Bears to a 25-19 over the Seahawks. “Any time you can get Devin Hester one-on-one, it works,” Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said. Hester ran a slant route inside Travis Fisher, who was playing because Seattle was without the starting cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Josh Wilson. Safety Deon Grant tried to level Hester but nailed Fisher instead. Chicago is 2-1; Seattle is 1-2.
Patriots Rebound
The Patriots beat the visiting Falcons, 26-10, with a balanced offensive performance but struggled in the red zone again. One week after the Patriots failed to score a touchdown in a loss to the Jets, Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns and Fred Taylor ran for 105 yards and a score. But Brady completed only 3 of 10 passes inside the Atlanta 20; Stephen Gostkowski bailed him out by kicking four short field goals.
¶Maurice Jones-Drew had his first 100-yard game of the season and scored three touchdowns to lead the Jaguars to a 31-24 victory over the Texans in Houston. Jacksonville became the third straight team to expose Houston’s N.F.L.-worst run defense. The Texans allowed 190 yards to the Jets, 240 to the Titans and 184 on Sunday. A week after Chris Johnson blew by Houston for three touchdowns of more than 50 yards, Jones-Drew scored his first on a 61-yard run.
New Stars for Saints
Drew Brees took a back seat to his teammates for a day as Will Smith had an interception and a sack to help the Saints shut down the Bills, 27-7, in Buffalo. Pierre Thomas rushed for 126 yards and sealed the win with two touchdown runs in the final 10 minutes. The Bills’ offense sputtered, and Terrell Owens was held without a catch, ending a 185-game streak that had been second longest among active players.
¶Playing behind a patchwork offensive line that had allowed 10 sacks in two games, Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Packers beat the Rams, 36-17, in St. Louis. Rodgers was sacked only twice — both in the first quarter — and finished 13 for 23. With Detroit’s win over Washington ending its 19-game skid, St. Louis’s 13-game losing streak is the longest in the league.
Around the League
Philip Rivers scored on a 5-yard scramble late in the third quarter to give the Chargers a 23-13 victory over the visiting Dolphins, who fell to 0-3 and lost quarterback Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury early in the second half. The Chargers (2-1) are above .500 in the regular season for the first time since the end of 2007.
¶Baltimore (3-0) stopped Cleveland’s first drive with an interception, then converted the turnover into a touchdown less than five minutes into the game, and the Ravens cruised to a 34-3 victory over the visiting Browns. After Baltimore held the Browns (0-3) to 78 yards while building a 20-0 halftime lead, Cleveland Coach Eric Mangini pulled quarterback Brady Quinn, who was 6 for 8 for 34 yards. Derek Anderson replaced him but threw three interceptions. “I was a little rusty,” Anderson said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been out there.”
¶Denver (3-0) committed its first turnover of the season but it hardly mattered as the Broncos’ defense led the way in a 23-3 victory over the visiting Raiders. The Broncos have allowed only 16 points this season. The Raiders (1-2) were held to 137 yards, their second straight week with less than 200 yards of offense.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford kept his head down on the bench and center Dominic Raiola also could not watch, but when they looked up the Detroit Lions had finally won a game.
The Lions stopped the Washington Redskins on their final play, posting a 19-14 victory and ending a losing streak that stretched back two seasons.
Detroit (1-2) had not won since Dec. 23, 2007; its 19-game skid matched the second longest in league history.
Raiola blew kisses to the crowd of 40,896 — the smallest to watch a Lions home game in 20 years.
“We went a whole season without feeling like this, so you have to take it in and enjoy,” Raiola said.
The one benefit of losing every game last season was it gave Detroit the No. 1 pick in the draft. It chose Stafford, who threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson in the first quarter and did not turn the ball over. He said his nerves got the better of him in the final minute.
“I figured I’d just let the crowd noise tell me what happened,” Stafford said. “When it got really quiet, I couldn’t take it, so I looked up, and saw them running, and then the tackle, and then I saw the clock was at zero.”
After a brief meeting in the locker room, the first-year coach Jim Schwartz sent his players back to the field to celebrate.
Late Passes, Big Wins
Greg Lewis leaped for a 32-yard touchdown catch with two seconds left while a flattened Brett Favre watched from his stomach, and the Vikings stunned the visiting 49ers, 27-24, to stay unbeaten. The last play began with 12 seconds left, and Favre stepped forward in the pocket and slid to the right by design to buy time. He said he wanted to get close enough to the line of scrimmage to fire a line drive, which would be tough to defend. Lewis watched Favre’s eyes and broke the other way to find room near the right corner. “I didn’t know who it was that was streaking, so I just threw it as hard as I could," Favre said.
¶Carson Palmer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell with 14 seconds left, completing a nearly perfect 16-play drive and giving the Bengals a 23-20 victory over the Steelers. Cincinnati (2-1) beat the Steelers (1-2) at Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since 2001.
¶Devin Hester cut through host Seattle’s injury-depleted secondary and caught a 36-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute 52 seconds remaining, rallying the Bears to a 25-19 over the Seahawks. “Any time you can get Devin Hester one-on-one, it works,” Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said. Hester ran a slant route inside Travis Fisher, who was playing because Seattle was without the starting cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Josh Wilson. Safety Deon Grant tried to level Hester but nailed Fisher instead. Chicago is 2-1; Seattle is 1-2.
Patriots Rebound
The Patriots beat the visiting Falcons, 26-10, with a balanced offensive performance but struggled in the red zone again. One week after the Patriots failed to score a touchdown in a loss to the Jets, Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns and Fred Taylor ran for 105 yards and a score. But Brady completed only 3 of 10 passes inside the Atlanta 20; Stephen Gostkowski bailed him out by kicking four short field goals.
¶Maurice Jones-Drew had his first 100-yard game of the season and scored three touchdowns to lead the Jaguars to a 31-24 victory over the Texans in Houston. Jacksonville became the third straight team to expose Houston’s N.F.L.-worst run defense. The Texans allowed 190 yards to the Jets, 240 to the Titans and 184 on Sunday. A week after Chris Johnson blew by Houston for three touchdowns of more than 50 yards, Jones-Drew scored his first on a 61-yard run.
New Stars for Saints
Drew Brees took a back seat to his teammates for a day as Will Smith had an interception and a sack to help the Saints shut down the Bills, 27-7, in Buffalo. Pierre Thomas rushed for 126 yards and sealed the win with two touchdown runs in the final 10 minutes. The Bills’ offense sputtered, and Terrell Owens was held without a catch, ending a 185-game streak that had been second longest among active players.
¶Playing behind a patchwork offensive line that had allowed 10 sacks in two games, Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Packers beat the Rams, 36-17, in St. Louis. Rodgers was sacked only twice — both in the first quarter — and finished 13 for 23. With Detroit’s win over Washington ending its 19-game skid, St. Louis’s 13-game losing streak is the longest in the league.
Around the League
Philip Rivers scored on a 5-yard scramble late in the third quarter to give the Chargers a 23-13 victory over the visiting Dolphins, who fell to 0-3 and lost quarterback Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury early in the second half. The Chargers (2-1) are above .500 in the regular season for the first time since the end of 2007.
¶Baltimore (3-0) stopped Cleveland’s first drive with an interception, then converted the turnover into a touchdown less than five minutes into the game, and the Ravens cruised to a 34-3 victory over the visiting Browns. After Baltimore held the Browns (0-3) to 78 yards while building a 20-0 halftime lead, Cleveland Coach Eric Mangini pulled quarterback Brady Quinn, who was 6 for 8 for 34 yards. Derek Anderson replaced him but threw three interceptions. “I was a little rusty,” Anderson said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been out there.”
¶Denver (3-0) committed its first turnover of the season but it hardly mattered as the Broncos’ defense led the way in a 23-3 victory over the visiting Raiders. The Broncos have allowed only 16 points this season. The Raiders (1-2) were held to 137 yards, their second straight week with less than 200 yards of offense.
Source: New York Times
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