In Play Magazine
TO START WITH...
Lions T Jeff Backus made his 138th consecutive start in today's game. He has the longest streak of consecutive starts among offensive linemen in the NFL and he is fifth among active players.
LB Larry Foote started for the 90th straight time. He is fourth among linebacker in consecutive starts.
K Jason Hanson has appeared in his 280th career game, a Lions' franchise record.
With his start in today's game, CB Phillip Buchanon has now played in 100 career games.
LIONS OPENING DRIVE
The Lions opened the game on a 63-yard reception by RB Kevin Smith from QB Matthew Stafford. The reception was Smith's longest reception and longest play from scrimmage in his career. It was the Lions second longest pass play of the season and the second longest pass completion of Stafford's career.
The 63-yard reception set up a 31-yard field goal by K Jason Hanson, which tied the game at 3-3. That field goal gave Hanson 1,799 points in his career.
BROWN'S FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN
Rookie RB Aaron Brown capped off a 5-play 78-yard touchdown drive with a 26-yard touchdown reception. It was Brown's first career touchdown.
On the scoring drive, rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew led the Lions' charge with two reception for 41 yards, including a 30-yarder.It was Pettigrew's longest career reception.
Stafford was 3-of-4 for 67 yards and hit passes of 30 and 26 yards. Stafford's screen pass to Brown that resulted in a touchdown was Stafford's seventh touchdown toss of his rookie year.
SMITH'S FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN RECEPTION
RB Kevin Smith completed a 7-play, 61-yard drive with a 25-yard reception over the middle from Stafford. The touchdown reception was Smith's first career touchdown reception and his 12th career touchdown.
Following the drive, Smith had 3 catches for 100 yards (33.3 avg) and was on pace to end the game with his first career 100-yard receiving game.
With Stafford's second touchdown pass of the game (eighth of the season), it marked second game of the year with two touchdown passes.
Stafford has run for or thrown for a touchdown in all eight games he has started this season.
On the drive, Stafford was 4-of-6 for 58 yards, with the long pass of the drive to Smith.
WR Calvin Johnson contributed with two receptions for 21 yards on the drive.
STAFFORD-JOHNSON 75-YARD CONNECTION
Stafford hit Calvin Johnson on a 75-yard bomb with 2:45 to go in the second quarter to tie the game at 24-24. It marked the first time in his career he had thrown three touchdown passes.
Stafford's three touchdown passes marked the first time a Lions quarterback had thrown three touchdowns in a game since QB Jon Kitna had three at Oakland September 9, 2007.
The 75-yard touchdown was the longest in Stafford's career.
Johnson's 75-yard touchdown was his seventh career reception over 50 yards, his third career reception over 70 yards and his longest reception since he recorded a 96-yard touchdown at Houston October 19, 2008.
HANSON GOES OVER 1,800
K Jason Hanson, the Lions all-time leading scorer, scored his 1,800th career point when he connected on a PAT after the Lions first touchdown (Brown's 26-yard touchdown reception) of the game. It was his fourth point of the game.
Hanson became the seventh player in NFL history with 1,800 career points.
He ended the game with 8 points and now sits at 1,804. His biggest kick was the extra point with no time let to give the Lions the one-point win.
STAFFORD GOES FOR FOUR
Stafford recorded his fourth touchdown pass of the game when he completed 10-play, 84-yard drive in the third quarter by throwing a 1-yard pass to TE Will Heller.
His four touchdown passes set a single-game Lions' rookie passing record. Previously, the record was two touchdown passes accomplished 11 times by rookies. The most recent was done by Joey Harrington November 17, 2002 vs. the New York Jets.
The last Lions quarterback with four touchdown passes was Jon Kitna at Dallas December 31, 2006.
The 1-yard catch by Heller was his third of the season, tying a career single-season high. He previously had three receiving touchdowns in 2007 while with Seattle.
CALIVN JOHNSON'S CAREER HIGH YARDAGE
Calvin Johnson finished the game with 7 catches for 161 yards (23.0 avg) and one touchdown. His tally of 161 receiving yards is a career single-game high.
DOUBLE-DIP
Calvin Johnson (161) and Kevin Smith (104) both recorded 100-yard receiving games. It marked the first time that two players recorded 100-yard receiving outings by the Lions since Roy Williams (106) and Shaun McDonald (113) did so vs. the New York Giants.
STAFFORD'S CAREER DAY
Stafford led the Lions to one of the most incredible finishes in team history as he connected on a 1-yard touchdown pass to TE Brandon Pettigrew on a play that occurred with no time on the clock due to a defensive penalty. It was Stafford's fifth touchdown pass of the day, which tied the Lions all-time single game record previously set by Gary Danielson vs. Minnesota December 9, 1978.
His five touchdown passes to five different receivers sets a franchise record for the most receivers to record a touchdown reception in a single game.
He threw for 442 yards, which set a new Lions rookie single-game passing record and is the third most yards in team history. It is the most since Jon Kitna had 446 passing yards at Philadelphia September 23, 2007.
Stafford's 442 passing yards are the most by a Lions quarterback in a game that the team won.
According to Stats, Inc., Stafford's five touchdowns by a rookie marked the first time that a rookie in the NFL had five passing touchdowns since the Bears QB Ray Buivid did so on December 5, 1937 against the Chicago Cardinals.
ESPN: YOUNGEST TO THROW 5 TOUCHDOWNS
According to ESPN research, Stafford is the youngest quarterback in NFL history to throw at least five touchdowns in a single game. Stafford at 21 years, 288 days improved upon the previous two highs by Dan Marino in 1984 (22 yrs, 353 days) and Joe Namath (23 yrs, 110 days).
COMEBACK KIDS
The Lions climbed out of a 21-3 deficit in the first half that started with an Aaron Brown touchdown with 0:30 left in the first quarter. Stafford then connected on touchdown passes of 25 (Kevin Smith) and 75 yards (Calvin Johnson) to tie the game, then the Browns went into the half with a 27-24 lead.
The Lions then re-captured the lead on a 1-yard Will Heller grab with 2:47 left in the third quarter.
After a Browns safety and a Browns 2-yard touchdown with 5:44 to play, the Lions trailed 37-31. On the next Lions drive, Stafford threw an interception into the endzone with 3:40 to play.
However, the Lions defense gave the ball back to the offense with 1:46 to play and they needed 88 yards to score a game-tying touchdown. With 0:08 to play, Stafford scrambled right, then left and heaved a ball into the endzone. A pass interference penalty (Browns S Hank Poteat) gave the Lions the ball with 0:00 on the clock and one untimed play.
Stafford took the snap and hit rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew on a 1-yard score to tie the game at 37-37, and then Hanson nailed the extra point for a 38-37 win with no time left.
The Lions came from behind to take the lead three different times in the game.
The fourth quarter comeback is the first of Stafford's career.
This was the first game the Lions came from behind and won with no time left on the clock since their 13-12 win against New Orleans (at San Antonio) December 24, 2005.
ROOKIE TIGHT END
Rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew recorded a career-high with 72 receiving yards on 6 receptions. His biggest catch was the 1-yard grab from Stafford on an untimed down at the end of regulation that led to the Lions win.
K. SMITH FROM SCRIMMAGE
RB Kevin Smith recorded 149 yards from scrimmage (45 rushing, 104 receiving), which is a single-game career high.
Smith is the first Lions running back to reach 100 receiving yards in a game since RB Barry Sanders had 102 receiving yards vs. Tampa Bay September 7, 1997.
CLICK ON COVER!
