Stafford leads Lions past Saints, 35-27

Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford became the latest grateful recipient of the Saints’ charity, throwing for 254 yards and three touchdowns in surgically directing the Lions to a 35-27 victory over the Saints on Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Stafford shredded the Saints’ porous secondary in the first half, completing 12 of 13 passes for 142 yards and three touchdowns as Detroit raced to a 21-3 halftime lead.

Stafford completed 22 of 25 passes.

A pair of touchdown passes by Drew Brees sandwiched around a Kai Forbath field goal made it a one-score game at 28-20 with more than ten minutes still to play.

-WR Calvin Johnson caught only one pass – a tough grab over the middle for 19 yards – but his biggest play of the game came after the Saints closed within 35-27 with 1:55 left. A long drive for the Lions, though, allowed Brees to get his right foot back in order, and the franchise quarterback didn’t miss a snap.

The Lions? We’re used to dysfunction from them.

Recently, the 30-year-old said he was only getting started.

Michael Burton gave the Lions a 14-3 lead on the second play of the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown catch, the first of his career.

Yet, when Detroit looked ripe to self-destruct, the Lions put together a scoring drive that included Abdullah’s 27-yard run and Joique Bell’s short rushing touchdown. “I’m sure there will be explanations and maybe apologies about that”.

On the final play of the half, Brees connected with wide receiver Colston in the end zone, but guard Jahri Evans was flagged for being downfield illegally, and with no time left on the clock, the half ended. Drew Brees looked hobbled for much of the game, and Marques Colston was brutalized by former Saint Isa Abdul-Quddus over the middle of the field towards the end.

“When teams don’t want to play him and respect him the way he needs to be respected, we’ll throw the ball to Megatron and have a field day doing it”, Ebron said.

Early in the first half, Brees was flushed out of the pocket and as he threw the ball, he was tackled awkwardly by Lions defender Ziggy Ansah. “You know they are going to make a run”. The Saints defense has not been good all season and they are in the bottom tier in the National Football League against the pass, allowing 279 passing yards per game to opponents, which is tied for next to last with Pittsburgh.

After Hightower ran to the 1 on second-and-goal from the 5, and was stopped for no gain on third down, the Saints called timeout with three seconds left in the half. Second year pro Willie Snead, who made his regular season debut this year, made a career-high 10 catches for 76 yards.

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