PRESEASON EditiON - Detroit Lions

season in review
Detroitlions.com
Media.Detroitlions.com
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SAINTS 45, LIONS 28
MERCEDES-BENZ SUPERDOME, JANUARY 7, 2011
ATTENDANCE: 73,038
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT Final
DETROIT LIONS 7 7 7 0 - 28
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 0 10 14 21 - 45
LIonS ..................Heller 10 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
SaInTS ...............Sproles 2 yd. run (Kasay kick)
LIonS ..................Johnson 12 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
SaInTS ...............Kasay 24 yd. Field Goal
SaInTS ...............Henderson 41 yd. pass from Brees (Kasay kick)
SaInTS ...............Graham 3 yd. pass from Brees (Kasay kick)
LIonS ..................Stafford 1 yd. run (Hanson kick)
SaInTS ...............Sproles 17 yd. run (Kasay kick)
SaInTS ...............Meachem 56 yd. pass from Brees (Kasay kick)
LIonS ..................Johnson 13 yd. pass from Stafford (Hanson kick)
SaInTS ...............Thomas 1 yd. run (Kasay kick)
LIONS
SAINTS
First Downs 22 34
Total net Yards 412 626
net Yards Rushing 32 167
net Yards Passing 380 459
(att/Comp/Int) 43-28-2 43-33-0
Punts-average 3-42.3 0-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Sacks-Yards 2-7 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-64 3-18
Time of Possession 22:24 37:36
RUSHING
LIONS: Smith 6-21; Young 1-8; Burleson 1-2; Stafford 2-1 1 TD.
SAINTS: Thomas 8-66 1 TD; Sproles 10-51 2 TD; Ivory 13-47; Henderson
1-4; Brees 4-(-1).
PASSING
SAINTS: Brees 33-43, 466 3 TD.
LIONS: Stafford 28-43, 380 3 TD 2 InT.
RECEIVING
LIONS: Johnson 12-211 2 TD; Burleson 4-50; Pettigrew 4-49; Young 4-33;
Smith 2-20; Heller 1-10 1 TD; Scheffler 1-7.
SAINTS: Colston 7-120; Graham 7-55 1 TD; Thomas 6-55; Meachem 4-111
1 TD; Sproles 4-34; Henderson 2-64 1 TD; Collins 2-20; arrington 1-7.
SUMMARY
In their first playoff appearance since 1999, the Detroit Lions’ high-powered offense
was first to score, but ultimately lost 45-28 to the new orleans Saints. In the
game’s opening drive, QB Matthew Stafford orchestrated an 8-play, 80-yard drive,
capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Te will Heller, putting the
Lions up 7-0. on the ensuing drive, LB Stephen Tulloch came up big on secondand-2
recovering a wR Marques Colston fumble at the Detroit 18-yard line. The
Lions offense attempted to capitalize on the turnover, driving to the new orleans
49-yard line, highlighted by a Stafford 22-yard pass to Te Brandon Pettigrew.
However, the Lions were unable to convert on third-and-11 after a short pass from
Stafford to wR Calvin Johnson and Detroit was force to punt the ball away with
4:29 on the clock. The Saints took over on their own 11-yard line on the following
drive and QB Drew Brees connected on 4-of-5 passes for 38 yards, while on the
ground RB Pierre Thomas added a 31 yard run and RB Darren Sproles carried the
ball three times for 16 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown, to tie the game 7-7
at the start of the second quarter. The Lions responded on the ensuing drive as
Stafford went 6-of-7 for 54 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Johnson
for the 14-7 lead. on the ensuing Saints possession Lions De willie Young came up
with a Brees sack-fumble on second-and-6 at the Lion’s 37-yard line and LB Justin
Durant came up with the recovery. Detroit’s offense was again unable to convert
the turnover into points, going three-and-out. on the following series new orleans
drove down to the Detroit 12 and Brees connected with Colston on a 12-yard
touchdown pass with 0:21 seconds left in the second quarter; however, the play
was challenged by the replay assistant, reversing the touchdown and ultimately
the Saints settled for a K John Kasay 24-yard field goal to close out the first half
down by 4, 14-10. Brees wasted no time getting into the endzone at the start of
the second half capping a 4-play, 78-yard drive with a 41-yardtouchdown pass to
wR Devery Henderson for the 17-14 lead. on the following drive, the Lions were
unable to make it into the redzone, punting the ball away. with 10:30 on the clock
the Saints drove from their own 8-yard line to the Detroit 3, ending the 13-play,
92-yard drive with a Brees 3-yard touchdown pass to Te Jimmy Graham. Stafford
responded on the next drive as he connected with Johnson on 3 passes for 78
yards, including a long of 42, getting all the way down to the new orleans 1-yard
line and finished out the the 8-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard run to the corner
of the endzone, narrowing the Saints lead to three points, 24-21. at the start of
the fourth quarter, new orleans scored again as Sproles ran in 17 yards for the
touchdown. on the ensuing drive, Stafford was picked off by CB Jabari Greer on
a pass intended for wR Titus Young. The Saints exploited the takeaway as Brees
threw a deep ball to wR Robert Meachem for the 56-yard touchdown and the 38-21
lead. on the ensuing drive, Stafford was 8-of-9 for 79 yards, including a 12-yard
touchdown pass to Johnson for his second score of the game, putting the Lions
within 10 points, 28-38. But with 3:38 remaining in the game the Saints found a
way to score again on a Thomas 1-yard run. on the ensuing drive Greer picked off
Stafford for the second time on a pass intended for wR nate Burleson allowing
the Saints to maintain possession and ensure the 45-28 win.