LIONS VS. SEAHAWKS HIGHLIGHTS

LEADING THE COMEBACK
QB Matthew Stafford connected with WR Titus Young on a 1-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-1 with 20 seconds left to play that resulted in the game-winning touchdown pass against Seattle. It gave the Lions a 28-24 victory over the Seahawks. The pass was Stafford’s fourth career game-winning touchdown pass, and second this season, in the game’s final minute.

He is the only quarterback in the NFL since the 1970 merger to throw four-game winning touchdown passes with less than one minute to play in his first 36 career starts (courtesy Elias Sports Bureau).

Stafford holds the franchise record with four game-winning touchdown passes in the final minute of the game. His game-winning TD pass vs. St. Louis (9/9) earlier this year broke Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne’s previous team record of two.

Overall, Stafford now has nine career fourth-quarter or overtime game-winning drives (36 career starts), including three this season. Since the beginning of 2011, he has led the team to comeback wins seven times in the fourth quarter or overtime.

THREE-AND-ONE
In yesterday's 28-24 win over the Seahawks, Stafford connected on three touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 20 seconds left to play, and also rushed for a fourth quarter 1-yard touchdown run. It was the seventh time since 1960 that a Lions quarterback threw at least three touchdown passes and rushed for at least one touchdown. The last to accomplish this feat was QB Scott Mitchell (3 passing TDs; 1 rushing TD) vs. Atlanta October 6, 1996.

Stafford joins Mitchell (twice), Eric Hipple, Bill Munson and Milt Plum (twice) as the only Lions players to register 3+ passing touchdowns and 1+ rushing touchdowns in a game since 1960.

300-YARD GAMES
Stafford threw for 352 yards in today’s win, his 13th career 300-yard game. He has thrown for 300 yards in 13 of his 36 career starts. The Lions are now 9-4 when he throws for 300 yards. Stafford now has four 300-yard games in 2012.

His 352-yard outing yesterday was his eighth career game passing for 350 yards.

THREE PASSING TOUCHDOWNS
With three touchdown passes yesterday, Stafford joined Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne as the only passers in Lions history to throw 3+ touchdowns in 10 career games. Stafford now has 10 career games with 3+ touchdown passes and Layne holds the franchise record with 12.

COMPLETING THE TASK
Stafford completed 34-of-49 pass attempts Sunday (69.4 pct). His 34 completions are the second-highest single-game tally of his career and the most in a win.

The game was the ninth time in his career that he has completed 30 passes in a game.

His 34 pass completions tie for the third-highest single-game tally in Lions history.

100-PASSER RATING
With a passer rating of 101.7 in today’s game, Stafford registered a 100+ passer rating for the 13th time in his career (36 starts). The Lions are now 11-2 when he records a passer rating of 100+ in a game.

MEGATRON MOVES UP
With 46 receiving yards today vs. Seattle, WR Calvin Johnson passed WR Johnnie Morton (6,499, 1994-2001) for the second-most receiving yards in Lions history. Johnson now has 6,510 career receiving yards in 83 career games. WR Herman Moore owns the all-time franchise record with 9,174 (1991-2001).

YOUNG’S BIG DAY
WR Titus Young caught a game-winning touchdown pass with 20 seconds left to help the Lions claim a 28-24 win over Seattle. The 1-yard touchdown reception was his second of the game (also has 46-yard TD catch). It was the second time in his two-year career he has caught two touchdown passes in a game.

Young caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to close the Lions deficit to 17-14 with 8:49 left in the second quarter. The 46-yard tied Young’s longest reception of the season and the third longest of his career.

Young finished with nine catches for 100 yards, both career single-game highs.

THIRD-DOWN EFFICIENCY
The Lions completed 12-of-16 third down attempts in Sunday's game for an efficiency rate of 75-percent. It was the Lions highest third-down completion rate in games with 10+ attempts since the Lions converted 10-of-12 third downs (83.3 pct) November 28, 1996 vs. Kansas City.

The 12 third-down conversions are the most by the Lions in a game since at least 1991.

BROYLES BRINGS IT IN
Rookie WR Ryan Broyles scored his second career touchdown with a 6-yard reception at the end of the first quarter. It capped off a Lions 9-play, 82-yard drive.

He has now caught touchdown passes in consecutive games.

Broyles finished the game with 3 catches for 37 yards.

HANSON’S CAREER PATs
K Jason Hanson connected on four PATs in yesterday's 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, and he moved up two spots on the NFL’s all-time career PAT list. With his four today, Hanson now has 642 career extra points. He passed both K Norm Johnson (638) and Hall of Fame T/K Lou Groza (641) and is now fifth all-time in NFL history.

SILVA’S FIRST PICK AND RECOVERY
With the Lions trailing 17-14 in the third quarter, S Ricardo Silva came up with a huge play as he stopped Seattle’s offensive drive when he recorded his first career interception off a Seahawks deep pass. He picked the pass off at the Lions 18-yard line and returned it 26 yards to the Lions 44-yard line.

The interception led to the Lions early fourth quarter touchdown that gave the Lions a 21-17 lead with 11:35 to play.

He also recovered the fumble on the game’s final play, giving him two total takeways in the game. It was Silva’s first career fumble recovery.

Silva finished the game with four tackles (three solo).

NEGATIVE PLAYS ON DEFENSE
The Detroit Lions continue to force negative plays on the opponent’s offense, despite registering zero sacks in the game. The Lions registered seven total tackles for loss that included six on rushing plays and one on a pass play. DT Ndamukong Suh and DT Corey Williams led the team with two tackles for loss each.

As a team, the Lions defense recorded six tackles for loss on rushing plays for a total loss of 13 yards.

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Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz Talks MNF Game

DETROIT LIONS DAILY UPDATE FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012


The Detroit Lions return home to Ford Field Sunday in Week 8 as they battle the Seattle Seahawks with kickoff set for 1 pm ET. Both teams will be looking to avenge narrow defeats in Week 7 as the Lions are coming off a 13-7 loss at Chicago on Monday Night Football, while the Seahawks fell to San Francisco 13-6 in aThursday night matchup.

LIONS HEAD COACH JIM SCHWARTZ:
On the offensive struggles: “I think the No. 1 thing that we failed to do on offense was fail to score and that was directly related to turnovers, particularly turnovers in the red zone. We had three non-scores in the red zone. If you face a tough opponent on the road, that’s not a very good recipe to score. That game could look a lot different if we capitalize on those plays. I mean, the interception late, that’s a fourth down play where it’s not a bad decision as much as it is almost to have to try to make a play there. You can’t throw an incompletion there, you’ve got to try to at least do something. But the two fumbles were critical breakdowns and you can’t afford to do that.”

On the change at receiver without WR Nate Burleson: “Well, Broyles plays in the slot, Tony Scheffler plays in the slot. Titus Young moves up and all those guys get more opportunities. I think one of the encouraging thing about our loss last night was to see guys like Titus Young and Ryan Broyles step up and make plays. Titus has been working hard to get there this year and I think that was a big step for him and Broyles has been doing the same. I think both of those guys stepped up and made some plays and I think those guys can help fill in the loss of Nate Burleson. We’ll be able to replace Nate as a player, but Nate brings more than just his physical abilities to the field. Nate’s a very good leader, a very good guy in the locker room. He’ll still be around but we need also to pick that up on the practice field and in the locker room.”

On where WR Ryan Broyles is physically: “I think after the bye week we never really even consider him an injured guy anymore. We haven’t limited his practice time. He very rarely even wears a sleeve out on his knee at practice. We just view him as one of the other guys. He had to work through training camp, just like all our ACL guys, when Pettigrew had his and the other guys have had there’s, we’ve had to sort of get them through training camp. But after we got to the season, particularly when we got that four, five days rest during the bye week, I think that was very beneficial for him.”

On the fumbles by RB Joique Bell and RB Mikel Leshoure: “You never want to tell a guy don’t fight for yardage, but yeah you have to be ball secure. Same thing with Joique. Joique was second and goal I think it was. It was second and goal from the 1 after the incompletion. That’s not fourth and goal. You know, I think that there is a fine line there and you certainly don’t want to slow guys down from being aggressive in a play, particularly in the red zone, ball security ball security is more important than that extra half-yard.”

On having success in an up-tempo offense and implementing that earlier in games going forward: “Well we went to no-huddle a lot earlier in the game. Again, failed to capitalize on the opportunities we had to move the ball. I certainly don’t want to make it seem like we were playing on air. Chicago Bears had a very good defense, played very well last night, so they made it very difficult on us. We could still move the ball. It’s a little bit harder to, but once we do we have to capitalize on the scoring opportunities. Up-tempo, huddle, whatever it was, those didn’t have a lot…we had more physical errors than we had tempo problems.”

On Stafford looking like he has regressed: “I wouldn’t say he’s regressed. I think as an offense we’re working through some things right now. We’re not clicking on all cylinders but we can. We have the firepower to do it and Matt’s certainly capable.”


On addressing different reasons for why the game was lost: “You know, I think you look at things and you say, “Ok, what are the reasons we didn’t come up with a victory and I think that the times we haven’t won this year you can point to very specific reasons. I think if you’re at a loss, if you can’t understand or can’t explain what’s happened and if you don’t have confidence in the guys’ abilities to be able to put stuff like that behind them, then maybe you feel a different way. But we have confidence in our players. We have confidence that, you know, over the course of 16 games that they’ll make those plays. Biggest thing is we have a home game this week against Seattle and we need to get that win. You know, I think we certainly have the capability of doing it as long as we learn from mistakes that we’ve made and we can put them behind us. You know, how many times you see Calvin Johnson drop a pass on the first series of the game? You know, I mean, that was a big one too. You know, he’s got a great chance there to make a play and get free. We’ve all seen him break a tackle and run past the safety. You know, it’s not just the other guys. I mean, there’s a lot of other places. We missed a couple sacks. We had a chance to get Cutler down and Cutler’s a very mobile quarterback. But all of us can play a little better and we can coach better and we can get out of it.”


On if the slow starts to games are of concern: “Well, it’s always a concern. You want to start fast. We certainly don’t plan on going three and out on the opening drive or giving up a touchdown on the opening drive. But we’ve also made some adjustments in the game, you know, put ourselves in scoring position. Also found a way to get some stops. I mean, we came out in the second half, had a real good three and out, forced them to punt. Big momentum change with the fumbled fair catch and they were able to get a field goal off of that. We were able to hold on defense, but they still got a field goal out of it.”

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WEEK 7 - LIONS BEARS INJURY REPORTS

The Detroit Lions return to prime time and NFC North action in Week 7 as they travel to Chicago to face the rival Bears on ESPN’s Monday Night Footballwith kickoff set for 8:30 p.m. ET. This will be the sixth all-time meeting on Monday Night Football between the two teams and the first time the game will be played in Chicago.

The Lions are coming off a resilient, come-from-behind overtime 26-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6, while the Bears will play in their first game following their Bye Week

INURY REPORT

The following players have been listed on the Detroit Lions’ Injury Report today: CB Jacob Lacey (concussion) and DT Corey Williams (knee) did not practice; DE Cliff Avril (back), CB Bill Bentley (shoulder), TE Brandon Pettigrew (knee), LB Stephen Tulloch (knee) and WR Titus Young (knee) were limited in practice; S Louis Delmas (knee) and DE Ronnell Lewis (eye) had full participation in practice. Williams was downgraded from limited to no practice and Delmas was upgraded from limited to full practice. Lacey is out; Bentley is doubtful; Williams is questionable; Avril, Delmas, Lewis, Pettigrew, Tulloch and Young are probable.

The following players have been listed on the Chicago Bears’ Injury Report today: WR Alshon Jeffery (hand) is out; CB Sherrick McManis (hip) was limited in practice; LB Blake Costanzo (thumb) and WR Devin Hester (quad) had full participation in practice. Bennett, Peppers and Urlacher were not listed and Costanzo and Hester were upgraded from limited to full practice. Jeffery is out; McManis is questionable; Costanzo and Hester are probable.

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STANDING ROOM TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR HOME GAME LIONS VS. GREEN BAY

1,500 tickets go on sale October 22 at Noon ET

Allen Park, Mich.— The Detroit Lions announced today that 1,500 Standing Room Only tickets for their game against the Green Bay Packers November 18 will go on sale Monday, October 22 at Noon ET.


Standing Room Only tickets will be sold on a cash-only basis and exclusively available at the Ford Field Box Office.

Tickets are $55 each with a limit of four per transaction and customer.

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Jason Hanson named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

The Detroit Lions return to prime time and NFC North action in Week 7 as they travel to Chicago to face the rival Bears on ESPN’s Monday Night Football with kickoff set for 8:30 p.m. ET. This will be the sixth all-time meeting on Monday Night Football between the two teams and the first time the game will be played in Chicago. The Lions are coming off a resilient, come-from-behind overtime 26-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6, while the Bears will play in their first game following their Bye Week.

NFC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
K Jason Hanson was nominated as this week’s NFL Special Teams Player of the Week after his brilliant performance in the Lions’ 26-23 overtime win over the Eagles in Week 6.

Hanson connected on a 45-yard field goal in overtime that gave the Lions a 26-23 win at Philadelphia. The win was the Lions first victory at Philadelphia since a 13-11 win against the Eagles at Veterans Stadium November 16, 1986.

The game-winner was Hanson’s 19th career game-winning kick in the fourth quarter or overtime. Hanson now has nine career game-winning kicks in overtime.

On the day, Hanson made four field goals, including kicks from 46, 34, 19 and 45 yards. Along with two extra points, Hanson scored 14 of the team’s 26 points. It was his 19th career game scoring 14+ points.

Hanson’s 46-yard field goal in the first quarter gave the Lions a 3-0 lead at Philadelphia. The successful kick moved Hanson past K John Carney (2,062) for third place on the NFL’s all-time scoring list. Hanson ended the game with 2,074 career points.

With four field goals today, Hanson now has 479 career field goals. He moved past K John Carney (478) for third on the NFL’s all-time career field goals list.

With Hanson’s game-winning 45-yard field goal, along with his first of 46 yards, he now has tallied 180 career field goals of 40+ yards. He joined K Morten Andersen (187) as the only kickers in NFL history with 180 field goals of 40+ yards. On the season, Hanson now has made 10 field goals from 40+ yards.

Sunday’s game marked the 26th time in his career that he has made four field goals in game, including three this season (three in the past four games). He trails K Matt Stover (27) and K John Carney (29) for the most games of 4+ field goals in NFL history.

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Lions Set for Monday Night Football in Chicago

The Detroit Lions return to prime time and NFC North action in Week 7 as they travel to Chicago to face the rival Bears on ESPN’s Monday Night Football with kickoff set for 8:30 p.m. ET.

This will be the sixth all-time meeting on Monday Night Football between the two teams and the first time the game will be played in Chicago. The Lions are coming off a resilient, come-from-behind overtime 26-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6, while the Bears will play in their first game following their Bye Week.

HANSON’S MILESTONES
K Jason Hanson scored 14 points and converted all four field-goal attempts, including the game-winner in overtime, in the Lions’ 26-23 win at Philadelphia. Hanson now has 2,074 career points and passed K John Carney (2,062) for the third-most points in NFL history. Hanson’s 2,074 points are the most ever by a player with one franchise.

Hanson has 479 career field goals and passed Carney (478) for the third-most in NFL history. Hanson’s 479 field goals are the most ever by a player with one franchise.

With Hanson’s game-winning 45-yard field goal, along with his first of 46 yards, he now has tallied 180 career field goals of 40+ yards. He joined K Morten Andersen (187) as the only kickers in NFL history with 180 field goals of 40+ yards. On the season, Hanson now has made 10 field goals from 40+ yards.

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STATEMENT FROM LIONS PRESIDENT TOM LEWAND ON THE PASSING OF ALEX KARRAS

“On behalf of the William Clay Ford Family and the entire Detroit Lions organization, we extend our deepest sympathies to Susan, the Karras Family and to all of Alex’s friends and fans across the country,” Lions President Tom Lewand said. “While his legacy reached far beyond the gridiron, we always will fondly remember Alex as one of our own and also as one of the best to ever wear the Honolulu Blue and Silver.”


Alex Karras died this morning in Los Angeles – October 10, 2012

After a heroic fight with kidney disease, heart disease, dementia and for the last two years, stomach cancer, Alex Karras, iconic football player, beloved sports commentator and popular film and TV actor, died at his home in Los Angeles early this morning, surrounded by family.

Born in Gary, Indiana, the fourth of six children, Karras began his football career at Emerson High school where he was an All-State football player for four years. In 1953, he was named to the high school All-American team. He continued on to the University of Iowa where he was All-American for four years and in 1958, was a first round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. He became known as the fiercest of the Lions famed “Fearsome Foursome.” With Detroit, Karras was All-Pro in 1960, ’61, ’63, ’64 and 1967, and named by the Hall of Fame committee to the All-Decade Team of the 1960s. Karras is a member of the Lions 75th Season All-Time Team. In 1970 he was named to the All-Time Big Ten Team as well. In 1991 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in front of 70,000 cheering Hawkeyes.

Karras had always dreamed of being an actor and began his acting career while he was with the Detroit Lions. He gave an indelible performance in PAPER LION, which starred Alan Alda and was based on the book of the same name by George Plimpton. Karras and Plimpton remained friends for life and one of Karras’ sons is named after Plimpton. This performance led to two dozen appearances on the TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson. His spontaneous wit led to working with the very verbal Howard Cossell as co-host of ABC’s popular MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL for three years – who can forget “the University of Mars”?

Lucille Ball took him under her wing and allowed him to train in small parts in many Desilu productions. Then he played an impressive range of roles, including Mongo, the horse-decking cowboy in BLAZING SADDLES, the intimidating football coach in AGAINST ALL ODDS, the “good’ol boy” sheriff in PORKY’S and the bodyguard with a secret in VICTOR/VICTORIA.

Karras earned national acclaim for his vulnerable portrayal of George Zaharias in the moving CBS telefilm, BABE, in which he starred with Susan Clark, who later became his wife. Together, Karras and Clark formed their own production company, Georgian Bay Productions, in 1979. They produced three telefilms for CBS: JIMMY B. AND ANDRE, WORD OF HONOR, and MAID IN AMERICA in which they starred together. This led to the long running television show, WEBSTER, in which they played George and Katherine Papadapolis. They co-produced 150 episodes with Paramount Studio – still seen in syndication worldwide.

He co-wrote a critically acclaimed autobiography, EVEN BIG GUYS CRY, followed by ALEX KARRAS BY ALEX KARRAS, and TUESDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL.

Alex was known to family and friends as a gentle, loving, generous man who loved gardening and preparing Greek and Italian feasts. He began a lifelong commitment to philanthropy starting with his work with the Better Boys Foundation. His love of nature and most especially of the ocean, where he spent many happy days on his fishing boat, led him to support numerous organizations committed to protecting our environment for future generations. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Susan Clark and their daughter, Katherine; by his children, Alex, Jr., Peter, Carolyn, George and Renald from his first marriage to Joan Powell (now deceased). He is also survived by his siblings, Louis, Nan, Paul and Ted as well as five grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to one of the organizations Alex Karras ardently supported: Natural Resources Defense Council, Bioneers, Greenpeace Foundation or the Pesticide Action Network.

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Lions Hold Final Practice Before Bye Week

DETROIT LIONS DAILY UPDATE FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012


The team began its on-field preparation for its Week 6 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles today with a practice in helmets and shorts on the indoor fields at the team’s headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park.

Today, the Lions took their annual team photo, including individual position group pictures.

This week is the team’s scheduled Bye Week and the Lions will return to practice Tuesday, October 9. The Lions will hit the road in Week 6 when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles.


LIONS HEAD COACH JIM SCHWARTZ

On interceptions coming in bunches: “A lot of interceptions come from pass rush. A lot of pass rush comes from game situation; make a team one-dimensional or have a big lead. All those contribute to turnovers, to sacks, to different things like that.”


On the pass combination of QB Matthew Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson not having a touchdown together this season and how surprising that fact is:
“I think everybody’s game plan is starting with, ‘let’s try to keep them from doing that.’ That’s definitely part of the situation. It’s not to say that we can’t be effective and we can’t score on offense. We don’t have any goals on how many touchdowns Calvin and Matthew are going to connect for. What we want to do is we want to score. Whether it’s Calvin or anybody else, our goal is the get in the end zone and score. We don’t play fantasy football. When we’re trying to score we don’t care who does it.”

On Stafford’s performance so far and him being ranked 21st is dropping his confidence:
“The only rating that means anything is that we’re 1-3 right now. If he was 158.3 and we were 1-3, we’d feel the same. Again, ratings and power rankings and stats and fantasy football – it is fun for other people. Our job is to win games. We won one out of first three. We need to do better.”

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