Detroit 
15
Atlanta 
36
15
Atlanta 36
15
Atlanta 36
| FINAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 15 |
| Atlanta | 3 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 36 |
| Statistics |
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| Tackles-Assists-Sacks (unofficial) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Officials |
| Referee- Walt Coleman, Umpire- Jim Duke, Head linesman- Tom Johnson, Line judge- Don Phares, Field judge- Greg Meyer, Side judge- Dave Wyant, Back judge- Ron Spitler |
| Attendance - Time |
| 69,307; 3:21 |
| Team Statistics | Detroit | Atlanta |
| First downs | 12 | 27 |
| Rushing | 3 | 8 |
| Passing | 9 | 15 |
| Penalty | 0 | 4 |
| 3rd-Down Efficiency | 4-14 | 6-16 |
| 4th-Down Efficiency | 1-2 | 1-1 |
| Total Net Yards | 208 | 533 |
| Total Plays | 57 | 80 |
| Average Gains | 3.6 | 6.7 |
| Net Yards Rushing | 87 | 197 |
| Rushes | 21 | 41 |
| Average Per Rush | 4.1 | 4.8 |
| Net Yards Passing | 121 | 336 |
| Completed-Attempted | 11-33 | 20-38 |
| Yards Per Pass | 3.7 | 8.8 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 3-28 | 1-1 |
| Had Intercepted | 3 | 1 |
| Punts-Average | 5-39 | 2-38.5 |
| Return Yardage | 3 | 23 |
| Punts-Returns | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Kickoffs-Returns | 7-193 | 2-35 |
| Interceptions-Returns | 1-3 | 3-23 |
| Penalties-Yards | 9-86 | 7-55 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Time Of Possession | 21:42 | 38:18 |
News: 12/23/02
With their 36-15 loss to the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on Sunday afternoon, the Lions are a perfect 0-16 on the road.
For two years, the Lions have packed suitcases, flown to other cities, checked into hotels and eaten those little mints left on their pillows, only to return home the same way -- as losers.
Neither Millen, the team president, nor Mornhinweg, the head coach, can spin it any differently. This sad-sack distinction is one for the ages -- even in Lions lore, which is filled with disappointments.
"It's truly embarrassing," defensive end Robert Porcher said, "and we don't have an answer for why we have come up short like we have for the last two years."
The NFL landscape is filled with bad teams. That's why the idea that a team couldn't win away from home seems nearly impossible.
How sad. How embarrassing.
Both words describe the Lions (3-12) perfectly. And nobody wants to hear excuses about injuries and inexperienced players. That would be a crutch.
The bottom line is that the Lions haven't had what it takes to win on the road. That's not Xs and Os as much as it is heart and mental toughness. Good teams not only secure their home field, they also can win on the road.
"The last two years, this program hasn't stepped up and done what we've needed to do," cornerback Todd Lyght said. "Obviously, we've dealt with a lot of injuries, dealt with a lot of turnover, a lot of personnel being switched around.
"But at the same time, we need to be more competitive. Just losing close games is not enough."
For sure, the Lions have had chances to pull one out this season -- in Arizona and Chicago, particularly.
"It's real disappointing when you work as hard as we've worked," linebacker Barrett Green said. "Our work has not been able to compensate for our weaknesses."
Of all the things that have gone wrong since M&M came to town, the Lions' inability to win a road game has to rank as the biggest.
Winning on the road is a building block for a football program. Maybe, by chance, it could happen one season. But two? Nope. Not unless there is something terribly wrong.
When William Clay Ford Sr. sits down after the season to decide the fate of M&M, the number he will not be able to ignore is 0-16. It's too big, too gaudy, not to take notice.
And ultimately, it will come back to Mornhinweg, the coach on the field. Pull out one or a couple on the road and there would be little doubt that Mornhinweg -- and Millen, for that matter -- would be coming back for their third season.
"Maybe it's the personnel," linebacker Chris Claiborne said. "I don't know. I can't even honestly tell you. I don't even know. It's both frustrating and embarrassing because you want to win."
The only thing the Lions did well on the road the past two seasons was collect Marriott points.
Michael Vick got help from an unexpected source and recorded his first career 300-yard passing day as the Atlanta Falcons closed in on a playoff berth with a 36-15 victory over the lowly Detroit Lions.
Vick completed 20-of-38 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns, with little-known Quentin McCord nearly doubling his career total with six receptions for 182 yards and a score.
"It's something I've been waiting to do since my career started," Vick said. "Everybody did their jobs. Quentin McCord stepped up big. He played like we knew he was capable of playing."
The Falcons (9-5-1) also got 132 yards on 30 carries and a TD from Warrick Dunn and can nail down a playoff spot with a win in next week's regular-season finale at Cleveland.
Atlanta was coasting with a 22-0 lead when the Lions (3-12) scored twice in a 22-second span of the fourth quarter. But the Falcons took advantage of a 38-yard pass interference penalty on safety Brian Walker and re-established a 14-point cushion on a three-yard run by Dunn.
Vick capped the scoring with a 34-yard TD pass to Brian Finneran with 1:51 to play.
"We had an awful lot of distractions," Atlanta coach Dan Reeves said. "We were losing players. Coming into today, we had more starters than ever out of the lineup. Guys stepped up and met the challenge. The Lions got within seven points, so we really got through some tough times and matured a little bit."
With starter Joey Harrington sidelined with an irregular heartbeat, Mike McMahon struggled for Detroit, going 11-of-33 for 149 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
"It was real sporadic," Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg said. "It would be an understatement to say we were out of sync. We missed some easy ones today, I thought, both by the quarterback as well as the receivers."
The Lions completed their second straight winless season on the road and have lost 16 in a row away from home.
"That's tough," Mornhinweg said. "We've played a lot of close games on the road. It's a simple case of where we are a play or two short."
Vick has had a history of sluggish starts but guided the Falcons to a field goal on their opening possession. A personal foul on defensive tackle Kelvin Pritchett kept alive the 85-yard drive, which was capped by the first of Jay Feely's five field goals.
Last week, Feely missed a 36-yard field goal in overtime in a 30-24 loss to Seattle.
"We had a rough week last week, but Jay Feely probably had the roughest because of the missed field goal," Reeves said. "He came in and kicked five field goals and kicked off extremely well."
Feely added a 23-yarder midway through the second quarter and the Falcons padded their lead in the final minute of the half. Two plays after scrambling 20 yards on 3rd-and-4, Vick hit McCord for a 20-yard touchdown and a 13-0 cushion.
"It's all about opportunity," said McCord, who had just four catches for 59 yards over 14 games in his first two NFL seasons. "I don't look to break records, just make plays and keep going. When the quarterback's scrambling, you go deep. That's what I did, and Michael threw it."
"I expected him to step up," Vick said. "Quentin has played a little bit all year but hasn't really had an opportunity to show what he can do. He did a little bit last year and I just knew today was going to be his breakout game because of the plays we ran for him and his talent and speed."
Atlanta extended its 13-0 halftime lead as Feely kicked third-quarter field goals of 36 and 20 yards. He connected again from 39 yards on the fourth play of the final period to make it 22-0.
Eddie Drummond returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards, but the Lions needed four tries from the 1-yard line before getting on the board. On fourth down, McMahon was wrapped up by linebacker Keith Brooking and safety Kevin MacCadam but managed to make an underhand toss to running back James Stewart for a touchdown.
McMahon also found Bill Schroeder for the two-point conversion.
On Atlanta's next play from scrimmage, fullback Bob Christian caught a pass from Vick and ran 14 yards before taking a blow to the head from linebacker Barrett Green. Cornerback Andre Goodman returned the fumble 20 yards to set up a 15-yard TD toss from McMahon to running back Aveion Cason.
Christian suffered a concussion and was carted off the field.
But the Falcons answered with an 88-yard drive to regain the momentum.
"Right before the half and when we cut it to seven, where they go out and score again, those are the most concerning drives," Mornhinweg said. "It has been concerning all year. ... We legitimately had a chance to win the game at that point, I thought. We had a little bit of momentum and then the thing blew up on us."
Only one game to go till the encore of the 2001 season comes to an end. The Lions finished with their 2nd consecutive winless record on the road with a 21 point blowout to the Atlanta Falcons. Mike McMahon, taking over for Joey Harrington who is out the rest of the year, threw three interceptions that led to 17 points for the Falcons. The "D" held Atlanta four times inside the red zone to a field goal, but that wasn't enough since the offense had no answer to the Falcons "D". The only two touchdowns, coming when the Lions were down 22 in the 4th quarter, were 15 yard drives setup by a kickoff return and a fumble recovery. Amazingly, that pulled the Lions to within a touchdown and after the "D"appeared to have Atlanta stopped, Safety Brian Walker came up with a tyical bonehead Lion penalty as he was flagged for a 38 yard pass interference on 3rd down. A few plays later Atlanta scored a touchdown and it was all down hill from there. One stat that is glaring is time of posession. The Lions are dead last in the league in time of possession in all four quarters and didn't help their cause today by only having the ball for less than 22 minutes. With Cincinnati winning on Sunday, a Bengals win against Buffalo and a Lions loss to Minnesota would give the honolulu blue and silver the 1st pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.
Offense: --- D-. It took the Offense over three quarters to put any points on the board and the only reason they did was Eddie Drummond had a 88 yard kickoff return and Andre Goodman's fumble recovery that setup both touchdown drives at the 15 yard line. Mike McMahon struggled most of the day. Anytime he had a good run or pass, he would follow it up with a miscue. The running game came to a screeching halt. James Stewart had only 34 yards for the game and will most likely not be back next year. The Offense could produce only 208 yard the entire game compared to 533 for Atlanta, which shows the diparity between one of the best Offenses in the NFL and one of the worst! Bill Schroeder had two nice catches and has played much better since that debacle in Green Bay. One reciver who remains no where to be seen is Germane Crowell. What was Matt Millen thinking bring the injury riddled receiver back? Crowell, drafted in the 2nd round a few years ago, has turned out to be another bust. The offense line had one of their worst games of the season as they were flagged for several false starts and also gave up three sacks. All in all, another pitiful performance.
Defense: --- D. Giving up 533 yards is darn right embarrassing! Atlanta QB Michael Vick had a career high 337 yards passing as the Falcons scored 36 points, but it easily could have been more if the "D" had not held them to four field goals in the red zone. Andre Goodman's fumble recovery helped pull the Lions within a touchdown, but Brian Walker's pass interference call on the ensuing Atlanta drive was a back breaker. The Defense played good at times, but when your offense doesn't know how to move the football, the end result is playing twice as long as them.
Special Teams: --- B-. Eddie Drummond had a 88 yard kickoff return that setup the Lions first touchdown in the 4th quarter. Drummond has been nothing short of impressive while taking over for the injured Desmond Howard. Given Drummond's success, i'd be shocked to see Howard back next year. Hanson missed a 44 yard field goal early in the game. Coverage was strong as usual. Royals had another good day punting.
Coaching: --- D. Marty has yet to win a road game and had a chance to sneak one out if it wasn't for all the boneheaded mistakes his team committed. With another loss next week to the Vikings, I don't see for the life of me how Mornhinweg can save his job.
Overall: --- D. Coming into this year, everyone thought, including myself, that the 2002 season could not be any worse than last year. Wrong! With a loss to the Vikings next Sunday, which is seems inevitable since the Vikings are on a roll, the Lions will finish with a 3-13 record and will be 5-27 under the M&M regime. If I were Mr. Ford, I would clean house and get rid of the M&M boys once and for all. I cannot remember back to back seasons when the Lions were this pitiful. When an expansion team (Houston) has a better record than you do, that speaks volumes. Only the worst team in the past decade, the Cincinnati Bengals, have a worse record. Can anyone give me some good reasons to keep Marty and Matt around for a third stint? I give William Clay Ford credit for taking a chance with Millen, but it has blown up in his face. Hopefully, Millen will resign and go back to where he belongs: announcing games for FOX.
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