GO LIONS!


BEAT THE RAMS ON SUNDAY!

Go , beat anybody, please. Or else this is your new logo...

Posted: 4:14 p.m. Nov. 1, 2009 | Updated: 4:49 p.m. today
St. Louis 17, Detroit 10
Blech! Lions upset by lowly Rams' late TD

By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer

As expected of two teams that combined for one win entering today, the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions played an awful football game at Ford Field.

St. Louis, though, loved the outcome — for the first time all season.

Steven Jackson’s 25-yard touchdown run with 1:38 left lifted the Rams to a 17-10 win over Detroit, snapping their 17-game losing streak.

The Rams (1-7) avoided matching their worst start in franchise history. They also ended talk about joining Detroit (1-6) as the only teams in NFL history to have an 0-16 season.

St. Louis’ key score came on a trick play. It lined up to kick a field goal and had kicker Josh Brown throw a short pass to a wide-open Daniel Fells, whose 36-yard reception gave the Rams a 10-2 lead in the final minute of the first half.

Detroit scored its only points on offense early in the fourth quarter when Matthew Stafford had a four-yard run and two-point conversion pass to tie the game. The Lions were credited with a safety when James Butler intercepted a pass in the end zone, returned it past the goal line then went back in the end zone and was tackled.

Detroit got the ball back with a chance to force overtime with 1:32 to go but turned the ball over on downs from its 10 to seal the victory for the Rams.

St. Louis hadn’t won since beating Dallas on Oct. 19, 2008.

Detroit had the league’s first 0-16 season last season, and St. Louis won just two games in 2008.

The Lions have won just two of their past 31 games, dating to the midway point of 2007. The last team to have two victories in a 32-game stretch was the Houston Oilers during the 1982-84 seasons, according to STATS.

As expected, the lowly teams showed how bad they are with an assortment of mental and physical mistakes.

Jackson, though, had another solid performance. He ran for a season-high 149 yards on 22 carries, and his go-ahead TD was St. Louis’ first rushing score of the season.

Marc Bulger was 17-of-35 — getting numerous passes batted down by defensive ends — for 176 yards and an interception into the arms of defensive end Dewayne White.

Stafford played after missing two games with an injured right knee and getting an extra week to rest during Detroit’s bye. The No. 1 pick in the draft didn’t have much to work with, missing standout receiver Calvin Johnson (right knee) and having teammates drop several passes. It took three-plus quarters for a wide receiver to catch a pass, and Bryant Johnson’s drought-ending reception set up Stafford’s game-tying run.

Stafford was 14-of-33 for 168 yards with an interception.

Maurice Morris ran for 63 yards, and Kevin Smith, slowed by a shoulder injury, had 45 yards rushing.

Wow, they really suck!

Last Updated: November 08. 2009 8:02PM
Seahawks 32, Lions 20: Lions let big lead get away
John Niyo / The Detroit News

Seattle -- The youth movement is under way, for better and for worse.

Sparked by big plays from members of their 2009 draft class, the Lions did something they've rarely done Sunday. Then they did what they always seem to do lately, coughing up a big early lead and extending their road losing streak to 16 with a 32-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks before a crowd of 67,003 at Qwest Field.

Untimely penalties and more maddening special teams breakdowns were partly to blame. So was a defense that missed too many tackles and got slowly picked apart by Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselback, who was 39-of-51 for 329 yards and a touchdown.

But so, too, were the costly interceptions by Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford, early and late. The last came on a third-down pass intended for Bryant Johnson that was picked off by Seahawks cornerback Josh Wilson and returned 61 yards down the sideline for a clinching touchdown. That put an end to a would-be winning drive that began at the Lions' own 5-yard line with 2:03 to play and no timeouts remaining.

Stafford finished the afternoon 22-of-42 for 203 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.

Along the way, it was the kind of roller coaster ride you'd expect on a dreary, 46-degree day where the early spark was provided by the Lions' young cubs. All three of the Lions' top draft picks -- Stafford and fellow rookies Brandon Pettigrew and Louis Delmas -- had a hand in staking the team to a 17-0 first-quarter lead.

It was Delmas' first career interception that set up the game's first score, shortly after Jason Hanson clanged a 34-yard field goal attempt off the upright on the Lions' opening drive.

Delmas stepped in front of Seahawks receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the Seahawks' first play from scrimmage, returning the interception 37 yards to the Seahawks 2. A false-start penalty on Pettigrew on the ensuing play benefitted the Lions, negating a fumble by running back Kevin Smith.

And on the next snap, Stafford, making his second straight start after missing nearly a month with a knee injury, rifled a pass that Pettigrew went up high to grab in the end zone for his first career touchdown.

Seattle (3-6) then dug a deeper hole on its second offensive play. Julian Peterson -- traded from Seattle to Detroit in March -- forced a fumble by fullback Justin Griffith that safety Ko Simpson recovered at the Seattle 29. Three plays later, Stafford lofted a pass that Bryant Johnson hauled in with a one-handed grab over cornerback Ken Lucas in the back of the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

A big fourth-down stop by the Lions defense on the next possession -- running back Julius Jones was stopped on fourth-and-inches at the Seattle 38 -- gave Stafford & Co. another short-field opportunity.

This time, they settled for a 41-yard field goal by Hanson and a 17-0 lead with 43 seconds left in the first quarter. The last time the Lions had a 17-0 lead on the road after the first quarter was Dec. 12, 1982, at the Packers.

Of course, the Lions also led the Buccaneers 17-0 last season at home, and went on to lose that game 38-20.

And sure enough, the Seahawks responded Sunday at home, where they've won both their games by shutout in front of their 12th Man fans this season.

After a spinning, 3-yard touchdown run by Jones capped a 10-play drive early in the second quarter, the Seahawks twice intercepted Stafford deep in their own territory. And both times, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselback, who completed 15 consecutive passes during one stretch, turned those turnovers into field goals. The last was a 37-yarder by Olindo Mare that pulled the Seahawks to 17-13 with 2 seconds left in the half.

Another Mare field goal -- set up by a 49-yard catch-and-run by Jones, who was tripped up by Delmas on a touchdown-saving tackle -- made it 17-16 early in the third quarter.

A costly -- pass interference penalty Will James kept alive the Seahawks' go-ahead drive late in the third quarter. James was flagged for bumping Nate Burleson on third-and-3 from the Lions 48. Three plays later, Hasselback hit Houshmandzadeh just inside the pylon at the goal line for the touchdown. A botched PAT made it 22-17 with less than 2 minutes to go in the third quarter.

A red-zone stop by the Lions forced the Seahawks to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Mare that made it 25-17. The Lions pulled to within a score, though, after Kevin Smith's 31-yard run set up Jason Hanson's 50-yard field goal with 8:06 left.

But that's as close as they'd get.

Wow, they Lions really suck

Posted: 3:24 p.m. Nov. 22, 2009 | Updated: 4:28 p.m. today
Detroit 38, Cleveland 37
Stafford's heroics with no time left leads Lions

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

Matthew Stafford tied a team record with five TD passes, the last one with no time left, as the Lions beat the Browns, 38-37, today at Ford Field.

The Lions began their final drive with no timeouts and 1:46 left on the clock down, 37-31. They got down to the 31-yard line with 8 seconds remaining when Stafford scrambled and threw to the end zone for Calvin Johnson. Brodney Pool was called for pass interference in the end zone with no time left on the clock, so the Lions got an untimed play from the 1.

Stafford was hit and hurt his left shoulder on the play and initially came out, which summoned Daunte Culpepper. But the Browns called time-out. Stafford came back in the game to throw a scoring pass to fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew to tie the game. Jason Hanson's extra point gave the Lions the win.

The rookie quarterback was 26-for-43 for 422 yards and two interceptions.

The Browns (1-9) jumped to a 24-3 lead in the first quarter. After both teams kicked field goals, Brady Quinn hit Mohammed Massaquoi for a 59-yard score. Quinn then found Chansi Stuckey (40 yards) and Josh Cribbs (4 yards) for touchdown passes.

Stafford's five touchdown passes ties a record set by Gary Danielson.

Lions win

I can't believe it