Saints vs. Lions final score: Detroit Roars Back To Win 24-23
By Phil Watson
The New Orleans Saints snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as the Detroit Lions converted a late Drew Brees interception for a 24-23 win.
To all of the football aficionados who claim a short passing game is the same as a running game, we present exhibit A for the dissenters: Lions 24, Saints 23.
The Detroit Lions scored two touchdowns in the final 3:38 to roar back from a 23-10 deficit to steal a 24-23 win from the New Orleans Saints Sunday at Ford Field.
The Saints gave the Lions plenty of help.
After Drew Stafford hit Golden Tate with a short pass that the receiver toted 73 yards for a score to cut New Orleans’ lead to 23-17, the Saints took over at their own 20 with 3:38 to go.
On first down, Brees threw an incomplete pass, stopping the clock and allowing Detroit to preserve its three timeouts.
On second down, the Lions committed a defensive penalty to give the Saints another first down. Since it was outside of two minutes, the clock stopped again.
Mark Ingram ran for a 1-yard gain and the Lions used their first timeout. Brees followed with an incompletion and then committed the cardinal sin when protecting a late lead.
Brees looked for Marques Colston over the middle, but Glover Quin intercepted the pass and returned it to the Saints’ 14.
Detroit didn’t squander the gift, as Stafford found Corey Fuller for a 5-yard score—Fuller’s first NFL touchdown—with 1:48 to go. Matt Prater’s extra point gave Detroit its first lead, 24-23.
Now trailing, Brees moved the Saints out to their own 40, but his pass to Robert Meacham on fourth-and-3 fell incomplete, defended by Darius Slay, and a kneel-down ended an improbable win for the Lions (5-2). New Orleans, meanwhile, fell to 2-4 despite leading for most of the final three quarters. The Saints led 10-3 at the half, with the touchdown scored by converted linebacker Austin Johnson—his first NFL touchdown—on a 13-yard pass from Brees with 13:56 to go in the first half to put New Orleans up 7-0.
The Saints went up 17-3 early in the second half, with Kenny Stills catching a 46-yard touchdown from Brees just 1:18 into the third quarter.
Detroit didn’t find the end zone until there was 6:19 left in the third quarter, with Joique Bell capping a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard run.
Two Shayne Graham field goals, the second with 5:24 to go, put the Saints up 23-10, but Stafford and Tate hooked up for their long scoring play after the Lions were backed up at their own 10 to start the drive after a holding call on the kickoff.
Tate, not known for his blinding speed, showed some giddy-up on the touchdown.
Stafford finished 27-for-40 for 299 yards and two touchdowns and was also picked twice. Brees was 28-for-45 for 342 yards and two scores, plus the crucial pick. The Lions played without Calvin Johnson, out with an ankle injury, while Saints tight end Jimmy Graham played, but did not have a catch on two targets.
The short passing game can serve as a sort of a ball-control attack, certainly, but that is predicated on completing the passes, particularly in late-game, protect-the-lead situations. Throwing incompletions is giving a gift to the defense.
At least a run into the middle of the line for no gain forces the defense to choose whether or not to burn a timeout.
The Saints return home next week for a Sunday night matchup with the surging Green Bay Packers, while the Lions go to London to play the Atlanta Falcons next Sunday.