Matthew Stafford

Detroit, MI

It was the largest margin of victory in Detroit Lions history.

But that didn't seem to impress Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

Matthew Stafford passed for four touchdowns and 294 yards to steer the Lions to a 48-3 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at Ford Field.

It marked the third career game for Stafford with four touchdown passes.

The Lions, who were 4-0 during the preseason, are off to a 2-0 start in the regular season. The Chiefs, who committed six turnovers, fall to 0-2.

"We can still play better," said Schwartz. "We didn't start the game well. We gave up a lot of yards rushing on the opening series. We started playing better as the game went on."

"We're good," said Detroit placekicker Jason Hanson, who set an NFL record for game appearances with one team. "Whether we're going to be really good or just good, we'll find out in the coming weeks. There's still a lot to prove, but you know, there's an energy and it's been lame for awhile here. The fans have always been great but it's starting to be different."

"I give the Detroit Lions a bunch of credit," said Kansas City coach Todd Haley. "They're doing a very good job early on in the season of maximizing their opportunities.'

With Detroit leading 20-3 at halftime, Stafford connected with Calvin Johnson for the second time on a touchdown pass in the third quarter from a yard out. Stafford had a 9-yard scoring pass to Jahvid Best for a 31-point lead. Best scored on a 1-yard run with 11:31 to play. Keiland Williams added a 1-yard TD run for Detroit late in the game.

To open the scoring, Stafford passed 15 yards early in the first quarter to Johnson for a touchdown, for a two-play scoring drive that was fueled on two personal foul penalties against the Chiefs.

Jon McGraw had intercepted a Stafford pass but fumbled the ball back to the Lions on the opening drive. On his PAT which gave the Lions a 7-0 lead, Jason Hanson set the all-time NFL record for the number of career games by one player for one team. Hanson is at 297 games.

"That's quite a meaningful record," Hansen said. "It's a blessing to be on the same team and not have to bounce around. That's an amazing record."

The Chiefs responded by marching down field and getting a 33-yard field goal by Ryan Succop.

"We got the three points and I felt good about it," said Kansas City fullback Le'Ron McClain. "People have to step up."

"I felt the offense did very well as they always do and have been doing since preseason," said Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. "For us on the defensive side of the ball, we started a little slow, let them get a couple of big runs on some trick stuff, on reverses, but overall, we played pretty well."

Stafford passed 36 yards to tight end Tony Scheffler for a touchdown with 5:50 to play in the first half.

For the half, Stafford was 15-of-25 for 201 yards.

Hanson booted a 51-yard field goal late in the half. He is the NFL's all-time leader in career 50-yard field goals with 45. Hanson has tied three other placekickers with the most seasons in booting a 50-yarder with 17.

Hanson added a 28-yard field goal late in the half.

"We did need to play well and make some plays at the end of that first half because we had left a lot of them on the field," Schwartz said. "We didn't play our best, particularly in the first quarter. But we started to be able to have defense play off the offense and offense play off the defense and make some plays."

Stafford was 23-of-39 with one interception. Nate Burleson caught seven passes for 93 yards.

The Chiefs lost standout running back Jamaal Charles on an injury early in the game.

"It was definitely tough," said Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster. "He is a great player, great runner. He was one of the keys to our offense."

Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel threw three interceptions and was 15-of-22 for 133 yards.

"Well they did a great job," Cassel said of the Lions. "I think they had a bend, but don't break mentality. I thought we were able to move the ball a little bit early on, but at the same time, they took advantage of those opportunities and that offense played great today as well."

 

FOX NFL Sunday: Week 2 Recap

 

 

NFL 2011 Week 2 Results

Bills (2-0) 38, Raiders (1-1) 35
Broncos (1-1) 24, Bengals (1-1) 22
Browns (1-1) 27, Colts (0-2) 19
Buccaneers (1-1) 24, Vikings (0-2) 20
Cowboys (1-1) 27, 49ers (1-1) 24
Falcons (1-1) 35, Eagles (1-1) 31
Jets (2-0) 32, Jaguars (1-1) 3
Lions (2-0) 48, Chiefs (0-2) 3
Packers (2-0) 30, Panthers (0-2) 23
Patriots (2-0) 35, Chargers (1-1) 21
Redskins (2-0) 22, Cardinals (1-1) 21
Saints (1-1) 30, Bears (1-1) 13
Steelers (1-1) 24, Seahawks (0-2) 0
Texans (2-0) 23, Dolphins (0-2) 13
Titans (1-1) 26, Ravens (1-1) 13
Giants (1-1) 28, Rams (0-2) 16

 

Twitter: @ihavenet

 

 

Copyright 2011, AHN - All Rights Reserved