SCORING:

Scoring  |  Statistics  |   FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Arizona 3 9 0 0 12 Detroit 7 7 6 6 26   Scoring 1st Quarter ARI FG NEIL RACKERS 42 YD, 3:51 Drive: 6 plays, 20 yards in 2:38 Key Plays:   Williams 12-yard punt return to Detroit 44   Croom 8-yard run to Detroit 36 ARIZONA 3-0 DET TD TAI STREETS 17 YD PASS FROM JOEY HARRINGTON (JASON HANSON KICK), 11:55 Drive: 9 plays, 76 yards in 5:14 Key Plays:   Harrington 20-yard pass to Streets to Detroit 44   Harrington 17-yard pass to Streets on 3rd-and-4 to Arizona 33   Harrington 8-yard run to Arizona 25 DETROIT 7-3 2nd Quarter ARI FG NEIL RACKERS 33 YD, 0:47 Drive: 7 plays, 23 yards in 3:52 Key Plays:   Johnson 47-yard kickoff return to Detroit 38   Navarre 11-yard pass to Johnson on 3rd-and-5 to Detroit 22 DETROIT 7-6 DET TD KEVIN JONES 2 YD RUN (JASON HANSON KICK), 6:47 Drive: 5 plays, 61 yards in 2:28 Key Plays:   Jones 7-yard run to Arizona 49   Harrington 45-yard pass to Williams to Arizona 4 DETROIT 14-6 ARI TD FREDDIE JONES 33 YD PASS FROM JOHN NAVARRE (TWO-POINT PASS CONVERSION FAILED), 11:20 Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards in 4:33 Key Plays:   5-yard illegal use of hands penalty on Lions' Bryant on 3rd-and-10 sets up first down at Arizona 25   Croom 20-yard run to Detroit 49   Scobey 10-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to Detroit 31 DETROIT 14-12 3rd Quarter DET FG JASON HANSON 45 YD, 7:28 Drive: 8 plays, 38 yards in 3:35 Key Plays:   Harrington 30-yard pass to Bryson on 3rd-and-11 to Arizona 36   Jones 12-yard run to Arizona 24   Harrington 8-yard pass to Bryson on 3rd-and-21 to Arizona 27 DETROIT 17-12 DET FG JASON HANSON 22 YD, 11:43 Drive: 4 plays, 7 yards in 1:26 Key Plays:   Bly 22-yard interception return to Arizona 11 DETROIT 20-12 4th Quarter DET FG JASON HANSON 31 YD, 5:00 Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards in 4:51 Key Plays:   Jones 12-yard run to Detroit 32   Jones 23-yard run to Arizona 45   Harrington 20-yard pass to Williams on 3rd-and-6 to Arizona 21 DETROIT 23-12 DET FG JASON HANSON 36 YD, 9:47 Drive: 7 plays, 12 yards in 2:47 Key Plays:   Hall 30-yard interception return to Arizona 30   Harrington 4-yard pass to Jones on 3rd-and-3 to Arizona 19 DETROIT 26-12   Statistics Passing Cardinals Att Cmp Yds Td Int Lg Navarre, John 40 18 168 1 4 33 Lions Att Cmp Yds Td Int Lg Harrington, Joey 27 15 196 1 1 45 Rushing Cardinals Att Yds Avg Lg Td Croom, Larry 18 49 2.7 20 0 Scobey, Josh 5 23 4.6 10 0 Ayanbadejo, Obafemi 3 22 7.3 15 0 Lions Att Yds Avg Lg Td Jones, Kevin 26 196 7.5 74 1 Harrington, Joey 6 19 3.2 8 0 Receiving Cardinals Rec Yds Avg Lg Td Boldin, Anquan 5 48 9.6 15 0 Johnson, Bryant 4 34 8.5 11 0 Jones, Freddie 3 46 15.3 33 1 Scobey, Josh 3 23 7.7 10 0 Fitzgerald, Larry 2 12 6.0 8 0 Newhouse, Reggie 1 5 5.0 5 0 Lions Rec Yds Avg Lg Td Williams, Roy 4 76 19.0 45 0 Jones, Kevin 4 22 5.5 7 0 Streets, Tai 3 54 18.0 20 1 Bryson, Shawn 2 38 19.0 30 0 Alexander, Stephen 1 5 5.0 5 0 Schlesinger, Cory 1 1 1.0 1 0 Tackles-Solo-Assists Sacks-Yds (unofficial) Cardinals T S A Sk-Yd Wilson, Adrian 10 5 5 0-0 Ohalete, Ifeanyi 7 5 2 0-0 Dansby, Karlos 6 6 0 0-0 Darling, James 6 5 1 1-6 Hill, Renaldo 5 5 0 0-0 Macklin, David 5 3 2 0-0 Zellner, Peppi 4 2 2 0-0 McKinnon, Ronald 4 1 3 0-0 Berry, Bertrand 2 2 0 1-7 Stone, Michael 2 1 1 0-0 Dockett, Darnell 2 1 1 0-0 Starks, Duane 1 1 0 0-0 Thompson, Ray 1 1 0 0-0 Lions T S A Sk-Yd Marion, Brock 9 4 5 0-0 Lewis, Alex 6 5 1 0-0 Hall, James 4 3 1 1-8 Bly, Dre 4 3 1 0-0 Davis, James 4 2 2 0-0 Rogers, Shaun 3 3 0 0-0 Goodman, Andre 3 3 0 0-0 Bryant, Fernando 3 2 1 0-0 Bell, Marcus 3 2 1 0-0 Walker, Bracy 3 1 2 0-0 Smith, Keith 3 1 2 0-0 Lehman, Teddy 2 2 0 0-0 Holmes, Earl 2 1 1 0-0 Pritchett, Kelvin 1 1 0 0-0 DeVries, Jared 1 1 0 0-0 Edwards, Kalimba 1 1 0 0-0 Redding, Cory 1 1 0 0-0 Interceptions Cardinals INT Yds Avg Lg Td Macklin, David 1 16 16.0 16 0 Lions INT Yds Avg Lg Td Bly, Dre 2 22 11.0 22 0 Hall, James 1 30 30.0 30 0 Lehman, Teddy 1 1 1.0 1 0 Punting Cardinals No. Yds Avg TB In20 Lg Player, Scott 5 239 47.8 1 0 55 Lions No. Yds Avg TB In20 Lg Harris, Nick 5 193 38.6 0 2 48 Punt Returns Cardinals No. Yds Avg Lg Td Williams, Karl 4 15 3.8 12 0 Lions No. Yds Avg Lg Td Swinton, Reggie 3 13 4.3 7 0 Kickoff Returns Cardinals No. Yds Avg Lg Td Johnson, Bryant 3 77 25.7 47 0 Scobey, Josh 2 31 15.5 16 0 Lions No. Yds Avg Lg Td Swinton, Reggie 4 67 16.8 24 0 Kicking Cardinals XP/XPA FG/FGA Dist(Made/Fail) Rackers, Neil 0/0 2/2 42 33  Lions XP/XPA FG/FGA Dist(Made/Fail) Hanson, Jason 2/2 4/4 45 22 31 36  Officials Referee- Jeff Triplette, Umpire- Scott Dawson, Head linesman- Ron Marinucci, Line judge- Jeff Seeman, Field judge- Duke Carroll, Side judge- Greg Meyer, Back judge- Richard Reels Attendance - Time 62,262 ; 3:10 Team Statistics Cardinals Lions First downs 15 16 Rushing 7 8 Passing 6 7 Penalty 2 1 3rd-Down Efficiency 6 - 16 4 - 13 4th-Down Efficiency 0 - 1 0 - 0 Total Net Yards 254 398 Total Plays 67 61 Average Gains 3.8 6.5 Net Yards Rushing 94 215 Rushes 26 32 Average Per Rush 3.6 6.7 Net Yards Passing 160 183 Completed-Attempted 18 - 40 15 - 27 Yards Per Pass 3.9 6.3 Sacked-Yards Lost 1 - 8 2 - 13 Had Intercepted 4 1 Punts-Average 5 - 47.8 5 - 38.6 Return Yardage 31 113 Punts-Returns 4 - 15 3 - 13 Kickoffs-Returns 5 - 108 4 - 67 Interceptions-Returns 1 - 16 4 - 100 Penalties-Yards 7 - 70 10 - 69 Fumbles-Lost 0 - 0 0 - 0 Time Of Possession 29:41 30:19 RECAP: Kevin Jones was the cream of the crop in a matchup headlined by rookies. While the battle between Larry Fitzgerald and Roy Williams - the top two wide receivers selected in this year's draft - never really materialized, Jones, Detroit's second first-round pick this year, rushed 26 times for 196 yards and a touchdown to lead the Lions to a 26-12 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Lions (5-7). "Breaking the losing streak was big," said Detroit kicker Jason Hanson, who had four field goals in a game for the 17th time in his career. "I think this was a huge game against Arizona, where I think if we lost, it might have been the end for us this year." Jones, who rushed for a two-yard TD to give Detroit a 14-6 lead with 8:13 left in the second quarter, fell one yard shy of matching Mel Farr's franchise record for most rushing yards in a game by a rookie. Farr set the record in 1967, 15 years before Jones was born. "It's good when you're able to control the line of scrimmage," Lions guard Damien Woody said. "I'm proud of Kevin, to be able to have a performance like that. He's really been working hard, trying to do everything the coaches ask of him. It was just an all-around effort by everybody today." With Williams, who had four catches for 76 yards, blocking in front of him, Jones set a franchise rookie mark with a 74-yard run in the second quarter, breaking the record set by Garry James on December 7, 1986. "Roy Williams did a great job of blocking for me, but I just ran into him at the end," Jones said. "Roy and I talked about (turning the organization around) when we first got here. If all of the young guys do their jobs individually, we'll win games." Joey Harrington completed 15-of-27 passes for 196 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown strike to Tai Streets to give Detroit a 7-3 lead with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Afterwards, Harrington credited Jones. "It takes a lot of pressure off everybody when he (Jones) runs like that," Harrington said. The Lions intercepted Cardinals rookie John Navarre, a former Michigan quarterback, four times. "He (Navarre) tried to make too many big plays," Arizona coach Dennis Green said. "One was tough luck that ricocheted off a guy's helmet, one he made a bad decision trying to throw back across his body and one he tried to throw away and couldn't get enough on it." Navarre, who on Monday was named the third quarterback to start for the Cardinals in the last four weeks, completed 19-of-40 passes for 173 yards. The 12th quarterback selected and 202nd overall pick in the draft, Navarre had a potential fifth interception nullified by an offsides penalty. He suffered a slight fracture in the ring finger of his right hand but did not blame that on his struggles. "There was some pain, but it didn't affect my throwing and it didn't affect my decision making," Navarre said. "There's going to be a lot of learning. Protecting the ball and forcing. I've been in games like that and I've learned from it. I'm not going to make any excuses. I told coach I was ready." Fitzgerald, who was chosen third overall, was held to two catches for 12 yards for Arizona (4-8), which has not won since Green benched quarterback Josh McCown in favor of Shaun King on November 21. Starting in place of the injured Emmitt Smith, rookie Larry Croom rushed 18 times for 49 yards for Arizona. Scott's Game Commentary: Aloha from Kauai (the most beautiful place on earth)! For anyone that has never been to Hawaii- make it your next trip! You won't be sorry. All I needed was for Michigan State to play Hawaii, which they of course lost by blowing a 21-0 lead and having the zebras rob them of three touchdowns. I wasn't planning on watching the Lions game, but I got lucky when I was in Waikiki and found a sports bar (Round Table Pizza for those you planning on visiting during football Season) that had every football game. When I was watching the Lions / Falcons game at 10:00am in Vegas it felt awkward, but 8:00am in the morning? It worked out great since I had the entire afternoon to spend at Waikiki Beach! Onto the game. Fortunately for the Lions, Arizona was starting their 3rd string QB John Navarre, who I'm still shocked to see in the NFL after watching him play at Michigan. The Defense did their job by intercepting Navarre four times which was one of reasons the Lions won the game. The other two stars were Jason Hason and Kevin Jones. Hanson kicked four field goals for the 17th time in his career and Kevin Jones rushed for 195 yards and came ever so close for surpassing the most yards by a rookie held by Mel Farr. In the last few games, Jones has finally started to show why the Lions moved up in the draft to take him. If the Offensive Line can continue to open holes, Jones will the first real running back the Lions have had since Barry. Arizona was missing key starters and pratically mailed in the game before it even began. The Lions needed a win and got it. Too bad it could be the last one they get the rest of the year. Grades: Offense: --- B. Kevin Jones bumps this grade from a "D" to a "B". It was so good to see a Lions running back that may have a future of being a starter for years to come. Jones has put on quite a show the last few games and I hope he can keep it up. Harrington, on the otherhand, needs to disappear (like Batch did)! I can now label him the next Andre Ware (1st round FLOP)! Once again, he struggled with his passes and has been in a funk for over five games now. I can only hope the Lions brass will draft a QB or get a quality backup in the offseason because Joey will never be the leader in Detroit. Roy Williams ankle continues to make him a shell of what he looked like at the beginning of the year. He had a 45 yard pass that setup a Kevin Jones touchdown, but replays clearly showed he fumbled the ball and the Lions caught a big break. If the Offense had a decent QB, they would have easily scored more than two touchdowns with all the chances they had. Defense: --- B+. The Defense did their job and exposed John Navarre as a 3rd string backup by intercepting him four times. In the first half, the Defense did not play all that great, but pitched a shut out in the 2nd half. I'm sure they enjoyed playing one of the worst offenses in the NFL after being multilated by Manning and company on Thanksgiving. Brock Marion looks so slow in the secondary. Hopefully, the Lions will part ways with him after the season. All in all, it was a good performance, but any team in the NFL can compete with an offense that has John Navarre as its leader. Special Teams: --- B. Hason came up big again by nailing four field goals with ease! Reggie Swinton is no Eddie Drummond. I'll leave it at that. Coverage was mediocre at best. Coaching: --- C-. Maricucci's offensive play calling is still way too conservate at times. Fortunately, he was smart enough to keep feeding Jones the ball in the second half, unlike the prior two games and the results speak for themselves. Overall: --- B. The Lions got super lucky to have a injury riddled Cardinals team come into town. They took advantage of their opportunities and snapped their five game losing streak. At 5-7, they are still in last place with Chicago, but unbelievably still alive for a playoff spot. Too bad they threw away all those games they blew late in the game. Up next are the Green Bay Packers, who got mutulated by the Philadelphia Eagles. They will be ready, like last time, waiting to make amends. The Lions have not won in Green Bay in 13 years and there is no way they are going to this year! After the Packers the Lions face the Vikings and Bears at home. Just like the Lions, you never know what your going to get from the Vikings and Bears. The Lions might take one of those games and then finish the season with another close loss in Tennessee to finish 6-10. Another losing season is just around the corner. Click HERE to go back to my LIONS page!!