Not Since 1947: LiveBlogging (via Tape Delay) Detroit 37, Washington 25

12:55pm 6:00 (give or take) to Kick-Off and the people who are here are excited as all get out. The problem is, there aren’t that many of them. This tilt between the Lions and the Redskins is blacked-out locally as it did not sell out, and when you look around the stadium, about all you can say about that is, “No kidding, it didn’t.”


12:59pm Some sax player from Kid Rock’s Band (I am not all that familiar with Mr. Rock’s work, sorry to say) plays the National Anthem and I can tell you this much: The Detroit Lions totally kicked Washington’s butt when it came to standing for the Anthem (surprising don’t you think, what with the ‘Skins hailing from DC and all) but it’s true. The Redskins stood around in what can best be described as haphazard “we-don’t really-give-much-of-a-damn fashion”, while the Lions stood at attention, perfectly still, each players toes flush against the spot where the out-of-bounds stripe meets the field. The line stretched from one 20 to the other. And to add to the effect, all sideline support personnel stood shoulder to shoulder in a line of their own a few feet behind the players. It was impressive, I can tell you that. I don’t know if this will translate into points, but something—perhaps my many, many years experience watching professional football—tells me that it will not.

1:13pm Washington’s had the ball twice and they’ve gone three-and-out twice and Donovan McNabb looks for all the world like, well, a Detroit Lions quarterback. Detroit was three-and-out themselves the first time they had the ball but they’ve got it now after a Washington punt at the Washington 47. Matt Stafford is back at QB for Detroit today for the first time since he was laid out in the season opener and that makes this is worthy of a note: upon seeing his throwing arm securely taped to his side after he got hurt in that season opener in Chicago, my doctor said, quite matter-of-factly, in fact: “Second-degree shoulder separation. He’ll be out ‘till Halloween.” Today is, for the record, October 31, Halloween.

1:19pm From the 47, the Lions move smartly to the Washington 21 whereupon young Stafford does what all Lions quarterbacks always do (and, while we’re on the subject, have always done, and we suspect always will do): he throws a drive-killing end zone interception. Stafford was trying to hit Calvin Johnson. As everyone knows, to do this all you have to do is throw the football so high the defensive back can’t reach it no matter how high he jumps because no matter how high that is, Johnson can leap even higher. In the worst case you throw it so high that Johnson can’t get to it and it winds up, incomplete, in the seats. But what Stafford tried to do was squeeze it in there and Washington defensive back DeAngelo Hall stepped in front of Johnson and caught the ball. And, so much for that Detroit drive.

1:40pm Washington goes three and out after the pick but so do the Lions after that and that’s pretty much how the quarter has gone. Or, we should say, went. It just ended. I am not sure if Washington even got a first down (I’ve become totally dependent upon the stats sheets they hand out throughout the game it’s sad to say) and they—Washington—will be punting the ball away to start the second quarter. The score at the end of one quarter, by the way: Detroit 0, Washington 0. (We got the stats sheet. Washington got 1—count ‘em—1 first down in the quarter.)

1:51pm Stefan Logan, who the last time we were here returned a kickoff 105 yards for a TD to tie the Lions record for Longest Play Ever in Detroit’s win over the Rams, just returned a punt 72 yards to the Washington 19. It looked like he was going to score, but in trying to tiptoe down the sideline he lost his balance and went out of bounds. We looked around for the flag which always seems to fly whenever the Lions have a big play—but none was to be seen, so Logan has another huge return and the Lions have a chance to take the lead with a Red Zone first down.

1:54pm Touchdown. It’s Stafford to Johnson from 13 yards on 3rd and 5 or 6, I can’t remember but it was one or the other. It’s a 3-play, 19-yard drive and it’s 7-0, Detroit.

2:00pm 1st and goal Redskins from the 6. Washington’s Brandon Banks returned the kickoff which ensued following the Detroit score about 50 yards and McNabb ran 36 yards to the Detroit 6. A McNabb to Ryan Torain TD pass ties it 7-7. It was just a little dump off and Torain scampered in. The Lions lead last for 1:19, or, if you prefer, 79 seconds.

2:15pm Ndamukong Suh—the man who guaranteed Detroit would not lose another home game this season after Detroit lost the home opener here (and they haven’t, having gone 1-0 since he spoke up)—has just sacked McNabb twice on the same set of downs. Suh now has 6.5 sacks this year to lead all NFL rookies. Who’s second on that rookie sack list? Why, it’s Koa Misi of Miami, of course. This is not a misprint. There’s a player in this league named Koa Misi.

2:22pm It’s the 2-Minute Warning and Ron Angel of the seat in the press box two down from me, says there have been 11 punts so far in today’s game. That cannot possibly be correct, but it probably is. We’ll check it once the halftime stats are distributed because, again, we are utterly at the mercy of the in-game stats when it comes to telling you what’s going on down there.

2:25pm The Redskins take the lead 10-7 on a 37-yard field goal by Graham Gano. It was a 60-yard drive and 50 of it came on a single play—McNabbs first completion of any consequence in the game so far. He hit Anthony Armstrong long over the middle.

2:34pm The Lions just couldn’t get to the half down only three. They punted the ball back to Washington with a whole 0:16 seconds left before the break and of course they let the Redskins get into field goal range and of course the Redskins converted. Gano’s 2nd field goal in 1:04 brings us to halftime: Washington 13, Detroit 7.

2:56pm The second half begins where the first left off: each team runs three plays and punts and now we have had 13 punts combined in this game. Detroit has the ball back at their 48. Let’s see what they do with this good field position.

3:01pm Well, now. The Lions, with a 20-yard Jahvid Best run the big play, move smartly into the Red Zone but stall on 3rd-and-1 from the 7 when Best can’t turn the corner and loses a yard. Jason Hanson comes on to kick the field goal which would cut the Redskins lead to 3, but the Redskins “encroach” (whatever that is) or otherwise violate “the neutral zone” (whatever that is) and the penalty is half the distance to the goal which makes it first and goal, Detroit. Brandon Pettigrew catches Stafford’s second touchdown pass of the day and the Lions do make good on the short field—the 4th down penalty against Washington was huge, obviously—and Detroit somehow leads this game 14-13 with 7:10 left in the 3rd quarter.

3:06pm It looked like the Lions would hold the lead for, oh, maybe 0:10 seconds or so this time as Brandon Banks returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a TD, but, as it turned out, it never happened. There was a block in the back against Washington, so they start from their own 8, instead of starting by kicking an extra point.

3:23pm Stafford completes his longest pass of the day, 31 yards, but largely owing to the fact that these are the Detroit Lions, the receiver on the play, Nate Burleson, fumbles the ball away and the Redskins have it at their own 24. And the third quarter is over: Detroit 14, Washington 13.

3:40pm Washington scores on a 5-yard run by Keiland Williams to go up 19-14 with 11:15 left. The ‘Skins got another solid punt return from Brandon Banks—he’s having a pretty good day—and Washington started at the Lions 46. It took them 3 plays to score. McNabb’s pass on the two-point conversion bid was incomplete, so there was that, at least.

3:47pm This time Detroit answers in a hurry. They get a good kickoff return by Jerome Felton—37 yards—and start in Washington territory. They go 47yards in 6 plays to retake the lead. Stafford hits Johnson for the score from 7 yards out, his third TD pass of the day and Johnson’s second TD catch. Detroit goes for 2 and fails, and its 20-19, Detroit with 8:21 to play.

3:53pm Now its Washington 25, Detroit 20 with 8:05 to play. How can this be? Brandon Banks (remember we mentioned he was "having a pretty good day"?) returned the kickoff which followed the Detroit touchdown 96 yards for a Washington touchdown, so the Detroit lead this time lasted a grand total of 0:16. The Redskins again go for 2 and again they fail, so Washington leads by 5 as we move to the last half of the last quarter.

4:01pm Donovan McNabb makes his first major mistake of the day, and what a time to make it. He has a pass intercepted by Detroit’s Alphonso Smith with 4 and a half to go and the Lions have it at the Washington 37, trailing by 5. Kevin Smith—having a fine afternoon in his own right—catches a 13-yard Stafford pass for a first down at the Washington 24. 4:13 is left on the clock. It’s Smith’s 4th interception of the year, we are told, which is the most by a Lion since Dre Bly had 6 in 2005. (There may be an apostrophe somewhere in Mr. Bly’s name, but we cannot remember and we do not have time right now to look it up what with the Lions driving and the game on the line, etc.) After an incomplete pass on second down, a flag flies and its defensive holding and an automatic first down for Detroit at the Washington 19. 4:08 left. Now it’s 4th and 1 at the Washington ten. What would you do with 3:20 to go? Detroit decides to go for it (Why not? You’re 1-5, right?) and it’s Stafford to Johnson again: 4 TD passes for Stafford and 3 TD catches for Johnson. 26-25, Detroit. Again the Lions go for 2, and this time they make it as Stafford finds another Johnson open in the end zone: Bryant. 3:12 remains and its Detroit 28. Washington 25.

4:13pm Washington has to go for it on 4th and ten with 2:20 to go from their own 28 and Cliff Averill sacks McNabb for an 8-yard loss. The Lions take over on downs. That’s 6 times McNabb has been sacked today, we think. The last time the Lions had 6 sacks in a games was…well, we’ll have to look that up.

4:16pm Two-Minute Warning (it comes with 1:59 left) and Detroit has 3rd and 5 at the Washington 15. The Redskins have 1 timeout left. If Hanson kicks a field goal the Detroit lead would be up 6 and at least Washington couldn’t tie the game with a field goal of their own. The Lions get a yard, the Redskins use their last timeout, and Hanson’s on to kick a 32 yard field goal and it’s 31-25, Detroit with 1:50 to play.

4:22pm Suh scores a touchdown(!) and the “Suhs” (not boos, it just rhymes with “boo”) rain down from the stands. Rex Grossman came on to relieve McNabb at quarterback—we don’t know why, exactly—and on the first play, Kyle Vanden Bosch hammered him and it would have been a sack (and maybe it is, I’ll have to check) and the ball came loose and Suh picked it up on one hop and ran it, I’m not sure they every said officially but it looked like 17 yards or so to me, into the end zone and bang, its 37-25, Detroit with 1:36 to go. And how about that? The 2-point gofer fails but who cares?

4:26pm The Lions are going to win this game. Washington has the ball but there’s only a minute-and-a-half left and the Redskins are out of timeouts. A quick check of the Official Washington Redskins Game Notes (good thing we downloaded them before we came because, did I mention it costs $30 to access the Internet at this place?) indicates that this is the most points the Lions have scored against Washington since 1947 when they beat them at Tiger Stadium 38-21. I text Al Rosenberg this information right away. He’s the Producer of the Detroit Lions Radio Network. Maybe they’ll use it on the air. Who knows? Anyway, it’s over: DETROIT 37, Washington 25.