Matthew Stafford Return Ignites Lions To Easy Preseason Win versus Bengals

Matthew Stafford Return Ignites Lions To Easy Preseason Win versus Bengals
John Raffel

Matthew Stafford, Quarterback Detroit Lions

Detroit, MI, United States

Matthew Stafford enjoyed being back in the lineup.

The Detroit Lions enjoyed seeing him back at quarterback.

Stafford, the NFL's 2009 first-round draft pick plagued by injuries early in his career who only appeared in three games last season, threw two touchdown passes on the first two drives of the game to steer the Detroit Lions to a 34-3 win over the Bengals Friday night at Ford Field.

The Lions were up 24-3 at halftime and coasted to the win in the preseason opener for both teams .

Stafford connected 26 yards for a touchdown to Calvin Johnson to conclude the opening drive. It was a 76-yard drive on seven plays.

"I want to be out there, I want to be healthy," Stafford said. "I wanted us to get at the line of scrimmage, make the right checks and we succeeded."

Detroit's Rashied Davis recovered John Griffin's fumble on the kickoff at the Bengal 16. Stafford connected 7 yards to Nate Burleson for the touchdown. Burleson initially was ruled out of bounds but the Lions challenged the call, which the officials reviewed on the video tape and overruled.

On Cincinnati's first play from scrimmage, with the Bengals trailing 14-0, Chris Houston intercepted Andy Dalton's pass.

Stafford left the game after the first two series. He was 6-of-7 for 71 yards.

"It's not the regular season yet when it all counts," Stafford said. "I'm excited for this year, definitely."

"He had great command," Schwartz said. "He did a good job of getting the ball where he needed to go. He was getting rid of the ball quick."

Mike Nugent got Cincinnati on the board with a 26-yard field goal nine seconds into the second quarter.

Shaun Hill's quarterback keeper later in the quarter gave Detroit a 21-3 advantage. Hill passed for 63 yards on eight completions

A 42-yard field goal attempt by Mike Nugent failed late in the second quarter.

Third-string quarterback Drew Stanton entered the game late in the second quarter for Detroit and completed five passes for 71 yards. Jason Hansen kicked a 37-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to end the first half.

Detroit had 236 net yards in the first half compared to 107 for Cincinnati. Dalton passed for 69 yards while Cedric Benson rushed for 37 to lead the Bengal attack.

After a scoreless third quarter, Detroit's No. 4 quarterback Zac Robinson threw 28 yards to Nate Hughes for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Bruce Gradkowski, Jordan Palmer and Dan LeFevour saw action at quarterback for the Bengals in the fourth quarter.

Detroit's Dave Rayner kicked a 44-yard field goal with 3:55 to play.

The Lions had a 350-205 advantage in total yards with 280 in the air and 70 on the ground.

"I was happy with the productivity and our ability to capitalize when they had the chances," Schwartz said. "It was great for a lot of guys to get into game situations. We still have a ways to go."

The Bengals also ran for only 70 yards and passed for 141.

"We have try to get better," said Cincinnati nose tackle Domata Peko. "We have to find a way to sort this out. This isn't the way we wanted to start. But you have to start somewhere. We started here."

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