New Orleans
21
Detroit26
| FINAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| New Orleans | 0 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 21 |
| Detroit | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| Scoring | ||
| 1st Quarter | ||
| DET | FG | JASON HANSON 23 YD, 2:57 Drive: 6 plays, 17 yards in 2:57 DETROIT 3-0 |
| DET | TD | JAMES HALL 22 YD FUMBLE RETURN (JASON HANSON KICK), 4:29 Drive: - plays, - yards in - DETROIT 10-0 |
| DET | FG | JASON HANSON 34 YD, 9:19 Drive: 7 plays, 36 yards in 3:42 Key Plays: Hakim 21-yard punt return to Detroit 48 Harrington 7-yard pass to Schroeder to New Orleans 38 DETROIT 13-0 |
| 2nd Quarter | ||
| DET | TD | BILL SCHROEDER 38 YD PASS FROM JOEY HARRINGTON (JASON HANSON KICK), 10:07 Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards in 1:30 DETROIT 20-0 |
| NOR | TD | DONTE' STALLWORTH 4 YD PASS FROM AARON BROOKS (JOHN CARNEY KICK), 13:35 Drive: 12 plays, 91 yards in 3:28 Key Plays: Brooks 12-yard pass to Pathon on 3rd-and-7 to New Orleans 24 McAllister 22-yard run to Detroit 40 DETROIT 20-7 |
| 3rd Quarter | ||
| DET | FG | JASON HANSON 23 YD, 7:36 Drive: 7 plays, 36 yards in 2:27 Key Plays: Harris 49-yard interception return to New Orleans 41 DETROIT 23-7 |
| NOR | TD | DEUCE MCALLISTER 12 YD RUN (AARON BROOKS RUN FOR TWO-POINT CONVERSION), 11:19 Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards in 3:43 Key Plays: Brooks 15-yard pass to Pathon to Detroit 48 DETROIT 23-15 |
| 4th Quarter | ||
| DET | FG | JASON HANSON 38 YD, 3:13 Drive: 7 plays, 17 yards in 2:58 DETROIT 26-15 |
| NOR | TD | JEROME PATHON 6 YD PASS FROM AARON BROOKS (TWO-POINT CONVERSION FAILED), 11:19 Drive: 9 plays, 82 yards in 2:22 Key Plays: Brooks 21-yard run to Detroit 42 Brooks 24-yard pass to Reed to Detroit 23 DETROIT 26-21 |
| Statistics |
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| Receiving | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Officials |
| Referee- Ron Winter, Umpire- Brian Baillet, Head linesman- Mark Baltz, Line judge- Rom Marinucci, Field judge- Greg Gautreaux, Side judge- Bill Spyksma, Back judge- Perry Paganelli |
| Attendance - Time |
| 60,023 ; 3:17 |
| Team Statistics | New Orleans | Detroit |
| First downs | 24 | 16 |
| Rushing | 6 | 3 |
| Passing | 15 | 13 |
| Penalty | 3 | 0 |
| 3rd-Down Efficiency | 7 - 13 | 5 - 15 |
| 4th-Down Efficiency | 0 - 0 | 1 - 2 |
| Total Net Yards | 357 | 352 |
| Total Plays | 67 | 65 |
| Average Gains | 5.3 | 5.4 |
| Net Yards Rushing | 110 | 85 |
| Rushes | 16 | 30 |
| Average Per Rush | 6.9 | 2.8 |
| Net Yards Passing | 247 | 267 |
| Completed-Attempted | 27 - 48 | 20 - 35 |
| Yards Per Pass | 5.1 | 7.6 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 3 - 22 | 0 - 0 |
| Had Intercepted | 2 | 0 |
| Punts-Average | 5 - 40.4 | 4 - 45.3 |
| Return Yardage | 20 | 82 |
| Punts-Returns | 3 - 20 | 4 - 33 |
| Kickoffs-Returns | 7 - 158 | 4 - 135 |
| Interceptions-Returns | 0 - 0 | 2 - 49 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6 - 38 | 5 - 44 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1 - 1 | 1 - 0 |
| Time Of Possession | 26:23 | 33:37 |
News: 9/30/02
I must have missed the memo. Apparently the Lions' season began Sunday and those first three losses were part of the exhibition schedule. Ach! If only they had told us! Think of all the nasty adjectives we'd have saved!
Finally, Sunday, against the previously unbeaten Saints, we saw the Detroit team they wrote about in the brochures. The defensive front was supposed to be the strength? It was. The new receivers were supposed to be playmakers? They were. Joey Harrington was supposed to be all that? He was. All that.
The Lions were supposed to be better than last year -- not great, but good enough to pull a stunner now and then?
Consider us stunned. In their first victory of the season, and only their third victory in the last 21 games, the Lions showed something they had sorely lacked: an ability to make big plays.
There was such a smorgasbord of moments, I get heartburn trying to list them. It began on the opening kickoff, when Desmond Howard raced 70 yards. It continued with James Hall, the defensive lineman, scooping up a fumble and racing into the end zone. It rolled on with huge interceptions from the beleaguered defense. It peaked with a big gain by James (I Hurt, Therefore I Run) Stewart.
And it was cemented, over and over, by Harrington, the rookie, who dropped long bombs into receivers' hands as if throwing bread crumbs into a salad, a 52-yarder to Az-Zahir Hakim, a 38-yard touchdown to Bill Schroeder, one laser sharp pass after another to keep drives alive.
Young quarterbacks are supposed to ripen slowly, like fine wine. This kid is more like a 5-day-old banana.
"How did you feel when you heard the fans yelling, 'Joey! Joey!' " someone asked Harrington, who, in his second career start, threw for 267 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a baker's dozen worth of first downs, to lead the Lions to a 26-21 victory.
"It was . . . flattering," Harrington said, laughing, "but maybe a little premature."
You see? Kids aren't supposed to say things like that! Kids are supposed to say, "Yeah, baby! Where's my NINTENDO ENDORSEMENT!"
Anyhow, with Harrington playing the Dennis Quaid role, the Lions were able to confidently control the ball, and survive a late surge by the Saints, who, in a nice switch, played the kind of football we're used to seeing from the home team. They surrendered two interceptions, one fumble, six penalties and a couple of big kick returns. Y'all come up from the bayou anytime now, y'hear?
"It was just a matter of time before we got a win like this," said Schroeder, who easily had his best day in a Detroit uniform, seven catches for 78 yards. "Now that we have a taste of it, we just want to continue."
There is only one way they do that: continue making plays. Chris Claiborne's picking off a pass while pointed in the opposite direction? Need more of those. Claiborne's dragging down Deuce McAllister on a two-point conversion attempt? Need more of that. Corey Harris' intercepting Aaron Brooks and coming back 49 yards? Yes. We'll take a dozen. Larry Foster's catching several hard slant passes for first downs when the Lions were trying to eat the clock? Terrific. Order a crate.
The fact is, teams that win have guys who do those things, and all the rest just have guys who try. Football, after all, is mostly a game of head-knocking, pushing refrigerators a few inches this way, a few inches that way. The difference-making moments can be counted on one hand -- an acrobatic interception, a catch that shouldn't have been made, a timely kickoff return, a killer sack.
"We've had the effort around here for a while," Hall said, "but not those plays. Today we got them."
And tomorrow they'll need them.
Now, we must do something here that, as far as I know, has never been done in print before: Give Marty Mornhinweg credit.
If a team reflects its coach, then Mornhinweg must be made of bulletproof glass. Few men have been ripped as badly as this guy. A few weeks ago, in the rain of Carolina, Marty looked like a wet puppy missing its leash. And his team played like it. It got blown out.
Usually, that kind of slide into embarrassment can end only in a pink slip. But Sunday, instead of folding, Mornhinweg's Lions surged at the start, and surged at the end. They made few mistakes. And when New Orleans threatened a comeback, the Lions didn't duck. They held them off. And this is a Saints team, remember, that was 3-0.
If you're going to blame the coach when they fail, give him credit when they win. Obviously, he said something that they listened to -- even if he's not sharing it with us. He called a smart game for Harrington, giving him enough throws to feel important, protecting him enough to shield his confidence. And after the victory, again to his credit, Mornhinweg wasn't jumping up and down. He said a few times: "It's just one game."
That it is. Then again, last season, the first victory didn't come until December. Good lord. It isn't even snowing yet, and the Lions are on the board!
It's also the first pro victory for Harrington -- and his first real victory since last season's Fiesta Bowl.
"Did it feel like that long a time?" he was asked.
"No, because everything's gone really fast."
"But you've been losing."
"But I've been playing."
He grinned. "You don't not play because you're losing."
From the mouths of babes. The Lions lived by that credo Sunday, and the result was a smart, complete game. Which kind of makes you wish they didn't have next week off, right, Marty?
"Actually, the bye comes at a good time," the coach said. "We're running out of players."
Too bad. This was the first week they actually found some.
Rookie Joey Harrington completed 20-of-35 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown and Jason Hanson kicked four field goals to lead the previously winless Lions to a 26-21 victory.
Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks was sacked three times in the first quarter. The big one was by rookie end-linebacker Kalimba Edwards, who jarred the ball loose from Brooks and end James Hall recovered the fumble and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown, giving the Lions a 10-0 lead.
Detroit's Desmond Howard set the tempo, returning the the game's opening kickoff 70 yards to the New Orleans 22 and setting up Hanson for a 23-yard field goal.
"They played a great game from the first snap to the last snap," said Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg, who won for just the third time in 20 games. "This football team had to play almost perfect to beat that team. Our defense came up big to force those turnovers and the special teams were huge too."
Harrington connected with Bill Schroeder on a 38-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 20-0 with 4:53 left in the second quarter.
He did not turn the ball over in his second NFL start after throwing four interceptions in his debut last week.
"This speaks volumes to the character of this football team," Harrington said. "I told them all week that winning is not a goal. Winning is a result of being prepared, executing the game plan and then having the attitude and the confidence that no one is going to stop us from winning the football game. We built that up last week and capitalized on it this week."
"It's hard to rate his leadership after only two games, but he has handled virtually every situation, crucial situations, and handled them beautifully," Mornhinweg added.
The Saints trailed 20-0 for the second straight week but were unable to overcome the deficit the way they did at Chicago last week.
"I say last week we got lucky, to be down 20-0 in a football game in the NFL and come back," Brooks said. "Now this week we're down again and it goes to show you, you can't expect to be down by a lot of points, especially 20, almost 3 TDs and expect to win. It's a tough loss, but at the same time it's going to be a wakeup call for a lot of players and coaches here."
Brooks hooked up with Jerome Pathon for a six-yard touchdown with 3:45 remaining in the game to pull the Saints within 26-21, but were unable to get the ball back. Brooks was 27-for-48 for 269 yards and two scores, but was picked off twice.
"In this league, all the teams are good. You can win at any time," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "I'm not going to say it's a letdown, but we didn't play well for whatever reason. Their team played extremely well, they had a good game plan. It's hard to win games when you get behind in this league."
Hanson kicked a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to extend the Lions' lead to 26-15.
Deuce McAllister rushed 12 times for 61 yards and caught eight passes for 67 yards for New Orleans.
The Saints played the final quarter without receivers Joe Horn, who left with a knee injury, and rookie Donte' Stallworth, who left with a hamstring injury.
Stallworth caught a touchdown pass in his fourth straight game - a four-yard reception with 1:25 left in the first half. Charlie Brown holds the record with a TD catch in his first five games for the Washington Redskins in 1982.
For the first time since 2000, the Lions beat a team that had a record better than .500. Things could not of started off any better for the honolulu blue and silver as Desmond Howard, coming back from a string of injuries, returned the opening kickoff 70 yards that setup a Jason Hanson field goal. The Defense, which got failing grades the past three games, set the tone early that led to a 20-0 Lions lead. For not getting a single turnover or sack in the first two games, the defense got three sacks in the first quarter and also forced three turnovers. The offense, although they only scored one touchdown, played a solid game and did a great job running out the clock. Joey Harrington, who showed today why the Lions drafted him with the 3rd pick overall, made some great throws and more importantly, didn't get sacked one time. Hakim and Schroeder finally got on track after being non existant the first three games. Although the defense started to crack in the 2nd half, they held on just long enough to prevent the Saints from coming back. For the first time since the 2000 season, I actually enjoyed watching a Lions game from start to finish. Hopefully this was not a one game fluke.
Offense: --- B. The offense may of only produced one touchdown, but it was beautiful 38 yard pass from Harrington to Schroeder that gave the Lions a shocking 20-0 lead. Harrington, making his 2nd NFL start, played nearly a flawless game, especially for a rookie. He was very quick to get rid of the football and wasn't sacked one time (I can't remember the last time a Lions QB wasn't sacked once in a game) and most importantly had no interceptions. The Lions wide receivers, with the exception of a few drops, made some big catches that lead to four Jason Hanson field goals. Bill Schroeder, who has taken a lot of heat for his lackluster play, got his first Lions touchdown and led the Lions with seven catches. Larry Foster had two key third down catches in the 2nd half that helped keep two drives alive. Although the offense only scored six points in the 2nd half, their most important possession was the last one. With over three minutes left in the game and one time out, the Saints were hoping for a quick three and out. Twice, the offense converted on third down, including the game clinching first down on a trick play, which even caught me off guard, as James Stewart ran 36 yards to seal the victory. It was great watching the offense move the ball down field and they should have no problems in a few weeks against a pathetic Vikings defense.
Defense: --- B+. The defense played one of its best games in years, even with all the injuries. Rookie LB Kalimba Edwards stripped Aaron Brooks of the ball and James Hall was right there to give the Lions a 10-0 lead. Chris Cash and Todd Lyght had their best games in the backfield as Brooks stuggled most of the game. Corey Harris came up with a big interception that led to Jason Hanson field goal. The biggest interception came mid way through the 4th quarter when Chris Claiborne made dazzling play to stop the Saints comeback. The defense could not of played much better in the first half as they only surrendered one touchdown. The 2nd half the Saints potent offense woke up, but they were unable to recover from a 20 point deficit. I just don't understand why it took the defense four games to play up some decent football, but I hope it is a sign for things to come.
Special Teams: --- A-. Desmond Howard got the ball rolling with a great kickoff return, although he re-injured his neck celebrating his run. Hakim and Foster had some nice returns and coverage was very good. Jett had some great punts and Hanson nailed four field goals. The only blemish on a near perfect day was a botched field goal attempt when Jett couldn't get the ball down.
Coaching: --- B+. It was nice to see Mornhinweg give Harrington the green light and throw down the field. I thought they ran Stewart too much up the middle a little too much, but the trick play to seal the victory was a great call. Schottenheimer finally got his defense to play a solid game after three lackluster performances.
Overall: --- B+. Hardly anyone gave the Lions a chance to beat the 3-0 Saints, including myself. It just makes you wonder why this team did not show up for the first two games of the year! Still, the Lions needed to play a near perfect game to beat a team that has by far more talent than them, and they did just that. I cannot remember the last time the crowd was chanting a Lions QB name, but hopefully it is a sign of things to come. Harrington showed signs of becoming a great QB, but it is only one game. It may seem hard to believe but the Lions are not the worst team in the NFL. Who would have thought the Lions would have a better record than the St. Louis Rams four games into the season? The Bengals, Rams and Vikings have yet to win a game and its nice that the honolulu blue and silver will not be featured on the Jay Leno show! The bye week could not of came at a better time. The Lions are banged up on all sides of the field and should be ready in two weeks to take on the Vikings. If Mornhinweg ever had a better chance to get his first road victory as Lions head coach, the Vikings game will be it. A victory would give the Lions a 2-3 record and leave Minnesota at 0-5. That would certainly silence a lot of the people that would say the Lions were just lucky to beat the Saints. After watching the Lions and Vikings the past two weeks, I really do believe the honolulu blue and silver can win at the Metrodome.
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