It took Matthew Stafford a game and a half to finally put together a nice set of consecutive drives as the Lions beat the Carolina Panthers 49-35 victory over the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon.
Coming off his worst game a pro last weekend, Matthew Stafford was able to put together a nice game for himself throwing five touchdown passes which ended up matching a career high.
What may even be more promising for the Lions as try to make a push for the playoffs is their running game.
In his return to Detroit, running back Kevin Smith had a career high 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the win. This all comes after having what looked to be a career altering injury back in 2009 when he tore his ACL in a game against the Bengals.
For Stafford though, after starting the game going 3 for 8 and two interceptions, he was able to finish the Panthers off 28 of 36 passing for 335 yards. Furthermore Stafford was able to spread the ball around very nicely hitting Smith, Titus Young (3 yards), Nate Burleson (16), Tony Scheffler (17) and Brandon Pettigrew with touchdown passes. The pass to Pettigrew was the go ahead 7-yard touchdown pass with 2:32 left to play in the game.
Chris Harris, who was picked up by the Lions two weeks ago was able to pick off Cam Newton on the ensuing play and help seal the game for the Lions.
Former Heisman Trophy winner and first overall pick this past NFL Draft, Newton finished 22 of 38 for 280 yards but threw four interceptions.
The Majors Detroit Facebook Player of the Game: Detroit RB Kevin Smith
The Facebook fans choose Kevin Smith who had a career day in his return to Detroit.
The Majors Detroit Player of the Game: Detroit QB Matthew Stafford
There’s no doubt that Kevin Smith had an excellent game against Carolina, but that’s the thing though, it came against Carolina. Matthew Stafford gets the honor this week as he was able to shake a bad first half with a ton of pressure on him to lead the Lions to victory.
The Majors Detroit Zero of the Game: Detroit Defense
The defense cannot give up 28 points to the Carolina Panthers. It doesn’t matter if some of those points came after a Detroit turnover.
Looking Ahead: The Lions have a short week before taking on the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving who will enter in that game 10-0 on the season. Can the Lions beat the Packers for a second straight year at Ford Field and ruin any chance that the Pack has at going undefeated on the season?
The Bottom Line: A win is a win in the NFL but the Lions need to do a better job on defense to limit their opponents from getting a big lead in the first half.
Ref: NFL.com, Detroit Free Press, YouTube, Freep.com (image)