Miami27
Detroit10
Miami
Detroit
| Miami 27 | Detroit 10 |
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| November 23, 2006 | Ford Field-Attendance: 61,562 (65,000) | Time: 3:12 |
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| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER | MIA | DET |
| DET | TD | 11:11 | Jon Kitna pass completion to the middle to Dan Campbell for 2 yards for a touchdown. | 0 | 6 |
| DET | PAT | 11:11 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 0 | 7 |
| DET | FG | 6:23 | Jason Hanson 52 yard field goal attempt is good. | 0 | 10 |
| MIA | TD | 2:37 | Joey Harrington pass completion to the middle to Marty Booker for 8 yards for a touchdown. | 6 | 10 |
| MIA | PAT | 2:37 | Olindo Mare extra point attempt is good. | 7 | 10 |
| SECOND QUARTER | MIA | DET |
| MIA | TD | 1:55 | Joey Harrington pass completion to the left to Randy McMichael for 5 yards for a touchdown. | 13 | 10 |
| MIA | PAT | 1:55 | Olindo Mare extra point attempt is good. | 14 | 10 |
| THIRD QUARTER | MIA | DET |
| MIA | FG | 11:49 | Olindo Mare 42 yard field goal attempt is good. | 17 | 10 |
| MIA | TD | 4:17 | Joey Harrington pass completion to the middle to Marty Booker for 19 yards for a touchdown. | 23 | 10 |
| MIA | PAT | 4:17 | Olindo Mare extra point attempt is good. | 24 | 10 |
| FOURTH QUARTER | MIA | DET |
| MIA | FG | 11:44 | Olindo Mare 28 yard field goal attempt is good. | 27 | 10 |
| Statistics |
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| Team Stat Comparison |
| MIA | DET | |
| 1st Downs | 18 | 13 |
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| 3rd down efficiency | 7-14 | 2-12 |
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| 4th down efficiency | 0-0 | 0-2 |
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| Total Yards | 395 | 220 |
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| Passing | 209 | 199 |
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| Comp-Att | 19-29 | 22-40 |
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| Yards per pass | 7.0 | 4.1 |
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| Rushing | 186 | 21 |
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| Rushing Attempts | 35 | 10 |
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| Yards per rush | 5.3 | 2.1 |
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| Penalties | 11-100 | 7-55 |
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| Sacks against | 1-4 | 8-53 |
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| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
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| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
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| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 1 |
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| Possession | 34:04 | 25:56 |
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Harrington threw three touchdown passes to help the Miami Dolphins erase a 10-point deficit and roll to a 27-10 victory over Detroit.
''It's nice to have that feeling in this building,'' he said. ''As much as I tried to downplay it and needed to downplay it for the sake of this team, there was still a lot of emotion coming here.''
The quarterback was drafted third overall in 2002 by the Lions, who traded him in May for a conditional draft pick that could be a fifth-rounder.
Harrington entered the game 1-3 on Thanksgiving with no TDs, five interceptions and an average of 153 yards passing. In the first half alone against his former team, he threw for two scores, an interception and 154 yards. Harrington finished 19 of 29 for a Thanksgiving-high 213 yards, three TDs and an interception.
Miami (5-6) has won four straight - doubling Harrington's longest winning streak in any of his four seasons in Detroit. The Lions (2-9) dropped their third straight in a game that ended much differently from the way it began.
Detroit went ahead 10-0 on its first two drives and held the Dolphins to 6 yards on their first possession.
Harrington's second TD pass put Miami ahead with 1:55 left in the first half and his third made it 24-10 late in the third.
Detroit's Roy Williams had five catches - all for first downs - for 110 yards in the first quarter, then didn't have another reception until early in the fourth. He finished with 126 yards receiving.
Lions coach Rod Marinelli and offensive coordinator Mike Martz decided they wanted to replace Harrington in the offseason, apparently believing free agents Jon Kitna and Josh McCown were upgrades.
Kitna has had a lackluster season and his shaky offensive line, which couldn't even slow Miami's three-man rushes, prevented that from changing against the Dolphins. He was 22 of 40 for 252 yards with a TD, an interception and a fumble.
The Lions, without running back Kevin Jones (ankle), had just 21 yards rushing.
Harrington directed a balanced attack, led by Marty Booker's seven receptions for 115 yards and two TDs. Ronnie Brown ran for 68 yards before leaving with a hand injury early in the third quarter, and Sammy Morris filled in well with 91 yards rushing - including a 55-yard run.
The fans at Ford Field, where Harrington was booed last year at a practice, jeered him when he was introduced before the game and shown on the video boards while Billy Joel's ''Piano Man'' played - a jab at the quarterback's piano playing.
They booed Harrington when he ran on the field for his first drive and every time he was shown early in the game on the video boards, which displayed numerous close-up shots of his face.
''It's a shame people can't appreciate what he tried to do for this organization,'' Miami coach Nick Saban said. ''To be honest for you, I don't have a lot of respect for what they did.''
By the third quarter, the fans stopped booing Harrington and directed their frustration at team president Matt Millen with the loudest ''Fire Mil-len!'' chants of the season.
Detroit is an NFL-worst 23-68 since Millen took control of the franchise in 2001.
''Matt's not down here playing football, we are,'' Lions linebacker Boss Bailey said. ''If they want to chant 'Fire Millen,' they should be chanting to fire the whole damn team. All Matt does is bring in players, and every year we talk about how much talent we have. So it should be on us. This isn't about Matt.''
The aisles were packed with people heading home for dinner early in the fourth quarter, when the Dolphins were leading 27-10, and the stands were nearly empty when the game ended and Harrington was mobbed by the media and hugged by former teammate Dan Orlovsky.
Can it get any worse? The honolulu blue and silver for the third straight Thanksgiving failed to show up and the worst part of it - Joey Blue Skies Harrington beat them! Are you kidding me? Joey freaking Harrington gets three touchdowns and leads the Miami Dolphins to an easy 17 point victory? The only joy I got out of another wasted Thanksgiving afternoon was chanting Fire Millen while the Dolphins fans behind me just shook their heads. I never thought I could become so apathetic toward the Lions, but that has what happens when you have the absolute worst GM in all of professional sports running your team. Without Kevin Jones, the Offense was too predictable. The Lions did score their first touchdown on an opening drive this season but never came close to the redzone after that. The Defense has fallen apart at the seams and to let Joey Harrington beat them was as bad as it gets. I certainly did not hear Dre Bly running his mouth about Harrington being the root of all the problems like he did a year ago - maybe he should look in the mirror! After putting up with the disasterous finish to the season a year go, I never thought it could get any worse. But, does this come to a surprise to anyone? The Lions decent into the bottomless abyss continues with no end in sight!
Offense: --- F. With Kevin Jones out of the game, the Lions Offense took a major hit. They quickly scored 10 points but then Kitna fell apart along with the offensive line. 220 total yards, with the majority of that coming in the first quarter??? Giving up EIGHT sacks??? So much for Mike Martz being the savior of the offense. The Offense has regressed so much since the Atlanta game its sickening!
Defense: --- F. The Defense gave up three touchdowns to Harrington, who never had one touchdown on Thanksgiving Day in his Lions tenure! Giving up almost 400 yards to a mediocre Miami Offense is inexcusable! Face the facts - the Lions have one of the worst Defenses in the NFL!
Special Teams: --- B. Hanson nailed a 52 yarder and Cason did a decent job subbing for Drummond.
Coaching: --- F. The team quit! Just like they did last year against Atlanta and the year before that against Indy. What difference does it make when you lack the talent on the field?
Overall: --- F. I have had it with the Lions. It is just baffling how William Clay Ford cannot say a word how pathetic his team is and refuses to do anything about it! It will be next to a miracle if they win one more game the rest of the season. What difference does it make if they get the number one pick in the draft? Ford never fires people until they beg to be fired! I'm sure he'll let Mr. 23-68 draft another Mike Williams who has two catches so far this season. Still, I can only imagine what was going through Millen's head when Joey Harrington got the better of the Lions on Thanksgiving. At this point, I no longer care. All of the losing has taken its toll on me and if the Lions continue to lose, so be it. Life goes on without them. I'm just sick and tired of wasting my afternoons watching the worst franchise in the NFL! At least we have three other professional sports teams here that will flourish for years to come!
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