Detroit, MI

The Detroit Lions have rallied from 17-plus point deficits three times this season, including in Sunday's 49-35 victory over the Carolina Panthers at Ford Field.

But it's not a major surprise to Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Stafford threw five touchdown passes including a 7-yard game-winning strike to Calvin Johnson in the fourth quarter and the Detroit Lions overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the Carolina Panthers 49-35 Sunday afternoon at Ford Field.

"I think it says a lot," Stafford said of the three major comebacks. "Everybody believes. We get in there at halftime and nobody's pointing figures. Everybody understands that what we have to do is get back in the game, get stops on defense, score on offense and be sound on special teams. We were able to do that in the second half."

It was the second time this season Stafford has thrown for five touchdowns and he has 25 scoring passes this season.

The deficit was 24-7 at one stage of the second quarter.

"We can get hot as a team," said Detroit coach Jim Schwartz. "We went out at halftime, started getting defensive stops, started getting turnovers, our offense was going, defense and special teams. We can get hot as anybody in the league and we saw that, particularly in the third quarter."

Stafford passed 16 yards to Nate Burleson for a touchdown early in the third quarter to cut Carolina's 13-point halftime lead to 27-21. On the next drive, Stafford passed 17 yards to Tony Scheffler to give Detroit its first lead of the game, 28-27.

Midway in the fourth quarter, Kevin Smith's 4-yard touchdown run gave the Lions an 8-point lead.

The Panthers tied it up on Newton's 6-yard touchdown scamper and his two-point conversion pass to Steve Smith.

But Detroit marched 80 yards down the field with Stafford throwing 7 yards to Johnson for the go-ahead touchdown. Chris Harris intercepted a Newton pass to set up Smith's game-clinching 19-yard TD run.

The Lions committed three turnovers in the first quarter to spark a 10-0 Panther lead. Stafford, who threw four interceptions against the Chicago Bears last week, had two more picked off in the first quarter against the Panthers.

Carolina took advantage of the Lions miscues with a 27-yard field goal by Olindo Mare and a touchdown pass of 15 yards from Newton to Smith.

The Lions came back early in the third quarter on a 28-yard touchdown screen pass from Stafford to Smith, who had rushed for 43 yards on the previous play.

But Kealoha Pilares returned the kickoff 101 yards to put the Panther lead back at 10 points. Later in the quarter, a Lions defensive penalty on a Carolina punt ignited a Panther scoring drive, capped off by Newton's 11-yard run.

The Lions narrowed the gap to 24-14 on a 3-yard TD pass from Stafford to Titus Young. Mare booted a 31-yard field goal to end the first half.

"We were trying to be aggressive in the first part of the game," Stafford said. "You know, went deep the first two plays of the game but didn't hit them. I forced that last one on third down, that first (interception) Stafford passed for 355 yards while Newton threw for 280.

Smith rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns and caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. He had been picked up on waivers Nov. 7 by Detroit.

"He's a guy that obviously has a lot of talent but early on in his career was set back with a lot of major injuries," Schwartz said. "Credit to Kevin, he never lost faith and he persevered. His talent never went away and when he was able to get healthy and get another opportunity, he took advantage of it."

"I've been working hard," Smith said. "I've just been in practice, just getting back in the groove. I just came out and wanted to help the team and we won, so it's good."

Detroit improves to 7-3 while Carolina is 2-8 and has lost five of its last six.

"This was a team loss," said Panther coach Ron Rivera. "You play the second half the way we did and we're going to get beat."

 

It was the second time this season Stafford has thrown for five touchdowns and he has 25 scoring passes this season.

Stafford passed 16 yards to Nate Burleson for a touchdown early in the third quarter to cut Carolina's 13-point halftime lead to 27-21. On the next drive, Stafford passed 17 yards to Tony Scheffler to give Detroit its first lead of the game, 28-27.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Kevin Smith's 4-yard touchdown run gave the Lions an 8-point lead.

The Panthers tied it up on Newton's 6-yard touchdown scamper and his two-point conversion pass to Steve Smith.

But Detroit marched 80 yards down the field with Stafford throwing 7 yards to Johnson for the go-ahead touchdown. Chris Harris intercepted a Newton pass to set up Smith's game-clinching 19-yard TD run.

The Lions committed three turnovers in the first quarter to spark a 10-0 Panther lead. Stafford, who threw four interceptions against the Chicago Bears last week, had two more picked off in the first quarter against the Panthers.

Carolina took advantage of the Lions miscues with a 27-yard field goal by Olindo Mare and a touchdown pass of 15 yards from Newton to Smith.

The Lions came back early in the third quarter on a 28-yard touchdown screen pass from Stafford to Smith, who had rushed for 43 yards on the previous play.

But Kealoha Pilares returned the kickoff 101 yards to put the Panther lead back at 10 points. Later in the quarter, a Lions defensive penalty on a Carolina punt ignited a Panther scoring drive, capped off by Newton's 11-yard run.

The Lions narrowed the gap to 24-14 on a 3-yard TD pass from Stafford to Titus Young. Mare booted a 31-yard field goal to end the first half.

Stafford passed for 355 yards while Newton threw for 280.

Smith rushed for 140 yards.

 

 

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