PRESEASON EditiON - Detroit Lions

season in review
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Game #15
LIONS 38, CHARGERS 10
FORD FIELD, DECEMBER 24, 2011
ATTENDANCE: 62,469
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT Final
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 0 0 10 0 - 10
DETROIT LIONS 10 14 7 7 - 38
LIonS ..................Pettigrew 7 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
LIonS ..................Hanson 50 yd. Field Goal
LIonS ..................Smith 3 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
LIonS ..................Johnson 14 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
CHaRGeRS .........Floyd 11 yd. pass from Rivers (novak kick)
CHaRGeRS .........novak 22 yd. Field Goal
LIonS ..................Smith 6 yd. run (Hanson kick)
LIonS ..................avril 4 yd. interception return (Hanson kick)
CHARGERS
LIONS
First Downs 20 24
Total net Yards 367 440
net Yards Rushing 70 87
net Yards Passing 297 353
(att/Comp/Int) 53-28-2 36-29-0
Punts-average 4-41.5 3-41.3
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Sacks-Yards 3-20 1-2
Penalties-Yards 1-10 3-8
Time of Possession 27:39 32:21
RUSHING
CHARGERS: Matthews 11-58; Tolbert 4-9; Hester 1-3.
LIONS: Smith 15-49, 1 TD; Morris 5-22l Burleson 1-11; Stafford 2-5.
PASSING
CHARGERS: Rivers 28-53 299, 1 TD, 2 InT; Tolbert 0-0 0.
LIONS: Stafford 29-36 373, 3 TD.
RECEIVING
CHARGERS: Floyd 6-95 1 TD; Tolbert 6-32; Gates 4-40; Matthews 3-16;
Jackson 2-41; Brown 2-34; Crayton 2-20; McMichael 2-18; Hester 1-3.
LIONS: Pettigrew 9-80 1 TD; Burleson 6-83; Johnson 4-102 1 TD; Young
4-39; Scheffler 3-47; Smith 2-12 1 TD; Morris 1-10.
SUMMARY
with a chance to clinch their first playoff berth since 1999, the Detroit Lions gave
the home crowd an early Christmas present by routing the San Diego Chargers,
38-10. The Lions jumped on the Chargers on the game’s opening possession. on
the first play from scrimmage, QB Matthew Stafford hit wR Calvin Johnson down
the right side for a 48-yard gain to move the ball into Chargers territory. after
consecutive 10-yard completions to wR nate Burleson and Te Brandon Pettigrew
moved the ball inside the 10-yard line, Stafford connected with Pettigrew again
for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Lions an early lead. Detroit pushed its lead to
10 points later in the first quarter on a 50-yard field goal from K Jason Hanson.
with the kick, Hanson became the first player in nFL history with 50 50+-yard
field goals in his career. after the Lions defense forced another San Diego punt,
Stafford led another masterful drive to expand the Lions lead further. He drove
the team 87 yards on 11 plays, including a 30-yard pass to Burleson, that was
capped off by a 3-yard touchdown pass to RB Kevin Smith. To complete one of
their best halves of the entire season, the Lions added to their advantage just
prior to halftime. Starting at their own 26-yard line, the Lions offense methodically
moved the ball down the field. Stafford used Pettigrew as his security blanket as
the third-year tight end had four receptions on the drive. after moving the ball into
the red zone, Stafford hit Johnson inside the left pylon for a 14-yard touchdown
strike to give Detroit a 24-0 lead heading to the break. San Diego, fighting for their
own playoff lives, responded back in the third quarter. on its second possession of
the quarter, QB Philip Rivers was finally able to find his offensive weapons down
the field. He hit Te antonio Gates for 24 yards and then wR vincent Brown for 27
more to move the ball inside the Lions’ 20-yard line. a couple plays later, Rivers
found wR Malcom Floyd on a fade route in the back corner of the end zone to get
the Chargers on the scoreboard. on the subsequent kickoff, K nick novak and the
Chargers surprised the Lions with an onside kick that was recovered by Chargers S
eric weddle. a 30-yard pass to Floyd put the ball at the Lions 3-yard line, but the
Detroit defense held the Chargers to just a field goal to keep it a two touchdown
deficit. on the following drive, Stafford completed passes to Burleson, Johnson,
Pettigrew as well as Te Tony Scheffler culminating in a 6-yard touchdown run by
Smith to push the lead back to 21. entering the fourth quarter, San Diego tried to
answer the Detroit touchdown. They moved the ball all the way down the field
and had 1st-and-goal from the Lions’ 2. However, four incompletions from Rivers
turned the ball over on downs and essentially secured the victory for the Lions.
after the Detroit offense ran some clock, they punted it back to the Chargers with
just 7:18 to play. They moved the ball past midfield and, on the first play in Lions’
territory, Rivers tried a deep ball for wR vincent Jackson, but it was picked off by
CB Chris Houston and returned 43 yards. Three Smith runs later, P Ben Graham
pinned the Chargers inside their own 5-yard line. on second-down, Rivers attempted
a swing pass to RB Ryan Matthews, but it was snagged by Lions De Cliff avril and
returned 4 yards for the game’s final touchdown.
Game #16
PACKERS 45, LIONS 41
LAMBEAU FIELD, JANUARY 1, 2012
ATTENDANCE: 70,294
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT Final
DETROIT LIONS 9 10 15 7 - 41
GREEN BAY PACKERS 10 14 7 14 - 45
LIonS ..................Young 8 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
LIonS ..................P. Lee tackled in end zone for a safety
PaCKeRS ............Crosby 22 yd. Field Goal
PaCKeRS ............nelson 7 yd. pass from Flynn (Crosby kick)
LIonS ..................Johnson 13 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
PaCKeRS ............Grant 80 yd. pass from Flynn (Crosby kick)
LIonS ..................Hanson 30 yd. Field Goal
PaCKeRS ............nelson 36 yd. pass from Flynn (Crosby kick)
LIonS ..................Young 2 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
PaCKeRS ............nelson 58 yd. pass from Flynn (Crosby kick)
LIonS ..................Smith 5 yd. pass from Stafford (Stafford-Scheffler pass)
PaCKeRS ............Driver 35 yd. pass from Flynn (Crosby kick)
LIonS ..................Scheffler 12 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
PaCKeRS ............Finley 4 yd. pass from Flynn (Crosby kick)
LIONS
PACKERS
First Downs 32 27
Total net Yards 575 550
net Yards Rushing 73 81
net Yards Passing 502 469
(att/Comp/Int) 59-36-2 44-31-1
Punts-average 3-47.0 4-44.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Sacks-Yards 3-11 2-18
Penalties-Yards 11-101 6-78
Time of Possession 28:20 31:40
RUSHING
LIONS: Smith 9-35; Logan 1-16; Morris 4-13; Burleson 1-9.
PACKERS: Grant 12-48; Saine 8-28; Kuhn 2-5; Flynn 2-0.
PASSING
LIONS: Stafford 36-59, 520 5 TD, 2 InT.
PACKERS: Flynn 31-44, 480 6 TD, 1 InT.
RECEIVING
LIONS: Johnson 11-244 1 TD; Pettigrew 7-116; Burleson 6-45; Scheffler
4-65 1 TD; Smith 4-26 1 TD; Young 4-24 2 TD.
PACKERS: nelson 9-162 3 TD; Finley 7-64 1 TD; Jones 6-89; Saine 3-17;
Driver 2-52 1 TD; Kuhn 2-10; Grant 1-80 1 TD; williams 1-6.
SUMMARY
with a chance to earn the nFC’s 5th playoff seed, the Detroit Lions fell in Green Bay in
a shootout. The Packers, who were resting Pro Bowl QB aaron Rodgers, received the
opening kickoff, but a motivated Lions defense got after backup QB Matt Flynn. on the
fourth play from scrimmage, Lions DT Sammie Hill sacked Flynn, caused a fumble, and
it was recovered by LB Stephen Tulloch at the Green Bay 35-yard line. Three plays later,
QB Matthew Stafford hit rookie wR Titus Young for an 8-yard touchdown to give the
Lions an early lead. on the subsequent kickoff, return man Pat Lee bobbled the ball and
rolled into the field of play. Lee brought the ball back into the end zone and downed it
there, giving the Lions a safety. Green Bay answered with a Mason Crosby field goal to
cut the lead to 9-3. on the next Detroit possession, Stafford hit Te Brandon Pettigrew
for 21 yards and wR Calvin Johnson for 17 more to move the ball into Packers territory,
however, on a 2nd down play, Stafford dumped a pass off to RB Kevin Smith who was hit
by Green Bay LB Desmond Bishop, caused a fumble, and recovered by S Morgan Burnett.
Flynn methodically led the offense back down the field and resulted in a 7-yard touchdown
pass to wR Jordy nelson that gave the Packers the lead. Moving into the second quarter,
both offenses continued to put points on the board. at the 8:34 mark, Stafford connected
with Johnson from 16 yards out for his 16th touchdown reception of the season, a new
Lions single-season record. Two plays later, Flynn caught the Lions in a blitz, threw a
screen over it and RB Ryan Grant galloped 80 yards for a score. after both teams turned
the ball over in the span of three plays, Detroit found themselves as the Packers 11-yard
line. on 2nd-and-6, Stafford threw a pass to Young, which he caught and clearly dragged
both feet for a touchdown. Since they ruled it incomplete and the Lions were already out
of challenges, it wasn’t reviewable and Detroit settled for a 30-yard field goal by K Jason
Hanson. The Packers responded on their next possession with a 36-yard touchdown pass
to nelson with just over 2 minutes remaining in the first half. Missed field goals by both
teams, primarily due to the swirling winds at Lambeau Field, ended the half with Green
Bay holding a 24-19 lead. To open the second half, the Lions marched down the field inside
the red zone, but Stafford was picked off by Packers DB Jarrett Bush. Detroit’s defense
held the Packers to a 3-and-out and allowed the Lions offense to get back on the field.
Stafford passed the offense inside the 5-yard line and found Young for a 2-yard touchdown.
on the next drive, Flynn hit nelson on consecutive plays for 19 total yards. after a run by
Grant, Flynn playaction passed deep down the middle to nelson for a 58-yard touchdown.
Trailing 31-26, Stafford and Johnson once again provided a big play for the Lions offense
with a 41 yard gain down the right sideline. on the next play, the two connected again on
a 27 yard play to bring the ball to the Green Bay 13-yard line. Three plays later, Stafford
hit Smith on an angle route for a 5-yard score. a 2-point conversion to Te Tony Scheffler
gave the Lions a 3-point advantage heading into the 4th quarter. after the Lions defense
forced a punt, the offense marched back down into Green Bay territory. Facing a 4th-and-3
from the 31, instead of trying another field goal into the wind, the Lions decided to go for
it and just missed a pass from Stafford to Pettigrew turning the ball over on downs. on
the subsequent possession, Green Bay regained the lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass
from Flynn to wR Donald Driver. Down by four with 5 minutes remaining, Stafford and the
Lions offense started a drive at their own 7. Passes to Pettigrew, wR nate Burleson, a
one-handed grab by Scheffler and a defensive pass interference call put the ball all the way
down to the Packers’ 2. Following a holding penalty, Stafford threw a strike to Scheffler
for a 12-yard go-ahead touchdown. with just 2:39 to go, Flynn and the Green Bay offense
began a drive looking to tie the game with a field goal. He slowly moved the ball close to
midfield and on a 3rd-and-4, he went over the top to wR James Jones for 40 yards inside
the Lions’ 10-yard line. Two plays later, Te Jermichael Finley caught the go-ahead 4-yard
touchdown from Flynn. Stafford got the ball back with 1:10 to go and moved the ball into
Green Bay territory, but an interception by CB Sam Shields ended the game.