Kansas City20
Detroit25
Kansas City
Detroit
| Kansas City 20 | Detroit 25 |
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| December 23, 2007 | Ford Field-Attendance: 59,938 (65,000) | Time: 2:59 |
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| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER | KC | DET |
| DET | TD | 2:03 | T.J. Duckett rush to the right for 11 yards for a touchdown. | 0 | 6 |
| DET | PAT | 2:03 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 0 | 7 |
| DET | SY | 0:38 | Punt blocked. Tackled in end zone for a Safety. | 0 | 9 |
| SECOND QUARTER | KC | DET |
| DET | FG | 10:20 | Jason Hanson 46 yard field goal attempt is good. | 0 | 12 |
| DET | TD | 9:00 | Brodie Croyle pass to the middle intercepted by Paris Lenon and returned 61 yards for a touchdown. | 0 | 18 |
| DET | PAT | 9:00 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 0 | 19 |
| KC | TD | 3:33 | Jackie Battle rush to the left for 3 yards for a touchdown. | 6 | 19 |
| KC | PAT | 3:33 | John Carney extra point attempt is good. | 7 | 19 |
| KC | TD | 0:23 | Damon Huard pass completion to the middle to Jared Allen for 1 yard for a touchdown. | 13 | 19 |
| KC | PAT | 0:23 | John Carney extra point attempt is good. | 14 | 19 |
| THIRD QUARTER | KC | DET |
| DET | FG | 8:35 | Jason Hanson 20 yard field goal attempt is good. | 14 | 22 |
| FOURTH QUARTER | KC | DET |
| KC | TD | 13:28 | Damon Huard pass completion to the right to Dwayne Bowe for 34 yards for a touchdown. | 20 | 22 |
| KC | 2PT | 13:28 | Damon Huard 2-pt conversion pass attempt failed. | 20 | 22 |
| DET | FG | 0:43 | Jason Hanson 47 yard field goal attempt is good. | 20 | 25 |
| Statistics |
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| Team Stat Comparison |
| KC | DET | |
| 1st Downs | 25 | 12 |
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| 3rd down efficiency | 5-14 | 3-11 |
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| 4th down efficiency | 1-2 | 0-0 |
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| Total Yards | 407 | 236 |
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| Passing | 344 | 99 |
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| Comp-Att | 33-48 | 9-16 |
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| Yards per pass | 6.6 | 5.5 |
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| Rushing | 63 | 137 |
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| Rushing Attempts | 18 | 32 |
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| Yards per rush | 3.5 | 4.3 |
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| Penalties | 6-46 | 4-20 |
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| Sacks against | 4-30 | 2-16 |
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| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
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| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 1-0 |
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| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 1 |
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| Possession | 32:05 | 27:55 |
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The Detroit Lions, though, are not in the position to get picky.
T.J. Duckett ran for a season-high 102 yards and a touchdown, helping Detroit hold on for a 25-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and snap a six-game losing streak.
Detroit had a 19-point lead in the first half, but the victory wasn't sealed until Chiefs receiver Samie Parker went down on his own at the Lions 30 after getting a lateral with no time left.
''A win like this, you've got to take it,'' Lions center Dominic Raiola said. ''But it wasn't pretty.''
The Lions (7-8) surpassed the most victories they've had in seven seasons under team president Matt Millen. Detroit also guaranteed it won't be the first NFL team to finish 6-10 after winning six of its first eight games.
''We missed out on a lot of opportunities,'' defensive tackle Cory Redding said. ''But the one thing we said we were going to do is fight. Seven wins is four more than we had last year, but it's not good enough.''
Kansas City (4-11) has dropped eight straight, the franchise's worst skid since losing nine in a row in 1987.
The latest loss followed a 26-17 setback at home to Tennessee after giving up the final 13 points.
''We've had some opportunities,'' Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. ''We've had them every week, but we just can't get it done.''
The Chiefs made Sunday's game relatively interesting after it looked as though they were going to be routed.
Detroit led 19-0 early in the second quarter before Kansas City suddenly showed a pulse when quarterback Brodie Croyle was injured and replaced by Damon Huard.
Playing for the first time since Week 11, Huard efficiently led 80- and 77-yard drives toward the end of the first half to pull the Chiefs within five points.
Huard's 34-yard pass - on a rope - to Dwayne Bowe in the end zone converted a fourth down and made it 22-20 early in the fourth. It snapped a six-game scoreless streak in the fourth quarter. The 2-point conversion failed.
Then, the Lions struggled to put Kansas City away.
After Jason Hanson kicked his third field goal with 43 seconds left, the Chiefs got the ball back one more time with a chance to score a go-ahead TD.
Kansas City's final drive started at its 17 with 39 seconds left, and Parker ended any chance for a remarkable game-ending play by going to the turf with no time on the clock.
''It's tough when you battle back like we did and to get as close as we did, and then to come up short there in the fourth quarter,'' Huard said. ''It's very frustrating.''
The Chiefs' misery started back at home, where a winter storm delayed their flight by several hours.
Once in Detroit, Kansas City shook up its halftime routine hoping to reverse its poor play in second halves.
''The players said, 'Hey, Coach, we want to stay out,''' Edwards recalled. ''I said, 'Just like high school, we'll go and use the bathroom and then as soon as we're done, we'll go back out. That's what we did. We gave up three points and got back into the game and made it competitive.''
The Chiefs had 25 first downs, more than doubling Detroit's total, and outgained the Lions 407-236.
But the difference proved to be a safety Detroit scored off Casey FitzSimmons' blocked punt and linebacker Paris Lenon's 61-yard TD off Croyle's interception on a play that knocked him out of the game with an injured right hand.
''It's not broken,'' Edwards said.
Duckett filled in well for Kevin Jones after he was sidelined with a right knee injury late in the first half, adding to the injury woes that have plagued his career.
''It's pretty serious,'' Lions coach Rod Marinelli said.
Detroit's Jon Kitna threw just 16 passes for 115 yards and an interception.
Huard was 24-of-36 for 305 yards and two TDs, including one to defensive end Jared Allen, who lined up as a tight end and scored for the second time this season.
Tony Gonzalez had 10 receptions for 137 yards, giving him 23 100-yard games in his career to trail only Kellen Winslow's total of 24 among tight ends in NFL history.
Whoopie Do! The Lions barely beat one of the worst teams in the NFL! This game featured two of the worst teams in the second half of the football season and they both played like it at times. The Defense, after getting decimated last week made some big plays including an interception that was run back by Paris Lenon. John Kitna had another brutal game and was next to pathetic in the second half. But, the Defense held up in the fourth and in the process the Lions won their first game since crushing Denver which seems like eons ago. This victory means absolutely nothing since there was nothing to play for. The past six games meant something and the Lions could not pull out a single victory. Although they have the most wins in the Millen era, this season will go down as a failure given how badly they collapsed in the second half of the season.
Offense: --- D. Another dismal performance and it would be shocking if Mike Martz is running the Offense last year. Week in and week out this unit continues to disappoint. Against a piss poor KC defense they could only manage 236 yards thanks in part to TJ Duckett having a career best 102 yards rushing after Kevin Jones hurt his knee. John Kitna continues to show he is not the long term solution for this team. He is nothing more than a good backup NFL QB at best. He had his chance the past two years to show otherwise. How many times this year has the Offense had to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown? It is nothing but a repeating record.
Defense: --- B. Shaun Rogers and Corey Redding decided to finally earn their pay checks against one of the worst Offenses in the NFL. Paris Lenon's interception return for a touchdown was nice to see from a unit that completely stopped making big plays after the Denver game. With the game on the line in the fourth, the Defense held up strong and made the plays to give the Lions the victory. Where was this effort last week?
Special Teams: --- B. For once the special teams did more to help than hurt the outcome. They came up with a blocked punt which led to a safety. Hanson had three field goals for the most part the special teams did not give up any big run backs.
Coaching: --- C. Marinelli know his team is missing talent and key positions and for the most part should be satisfied with getting seven victories from a team which is closer to a 3-13 team than one with a chance to finish at .500 with a victory next week.
Overall: --- D. The Lions looked lethargic and nearly blew a 19 point lead but they won and now find themselves with a chance to finish .500. The Packers have nothing to play for and the Lions probably have a decent chance at winning their first game in Lambeau since 1991. Even with a win, they have nothing to show for a season in which they started off 6-2 and fell flat on their faces. When they had the pressure on them to win, they crumbled. With no pressure and playing bad football teams, they won. One more week until another wasted season is over.
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