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Lions turn win over to Cowboys, lose 26th straight on road
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
Arlington, Texas -- You never know when a road game will turn against the Lions; you only know that sooner or later it will.
On Sunday, in a 35-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions' record-extending 26th straight road loss, the game turned in a blink early in the third quarter.
And, in the ultimate piece of Lions luck, it turned on what was a superb special teams play by gunner John Wendling.
"I haven't seen that one before," said defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch. "I really don't know what to say. It gets tough, frustrating, disappointing --just another difficult loss and another different way to lose."The Lions were up 12-7 and appeared to have the Cowboys pinned inside the 5-yard line for the fourth time in the game. Wendling got to Nick Harris' punt at the goal line and batted it back toward the 5.
"I did my job as a gunner," said Wendling, who pinned punts two other times inside the 5 in the game. "I kept the ball out of the end zone and that's one of those things as a special teams player on punt coverage, you live for that."
Except Wendling knocked the ball on one hop to Cowboys returner Bryan McCann, who scooped it up and ran it back 97 yards for a touchdown.
"I turned around and I was almost in shock," Wendling said.
So, apparently, were the Lions, because two plays after getting the ball back, fullback Jerome Felton fumbled it back to the Cowboys at the 19. That led to a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jon Kitna to Miles Austin and a 14-point swing that took the Cowboys from five points down to nine points up, 21-12, in 2:43.
"It sucks," said Calvin Johnson, who caught six passes for 46 yards. "That hurt us the most. It was kind of a dagger. I mean, we're going to keep on fighting, but that one really changed the momentum."
The Lions thought there was a chance McCann stepped out of bounds around the 20-yard line on his touchdown return. But a replay was never shown on the monster scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium. Thus coach Jim Schwartz opted not to challenge the ruling.
"We knew it was close and our coaches upstairs didn't think he went out," Schwartz said. "We waited for a replay, but on the road, you aren't going to get a replay on that. You need something to go on before you throw the (challenge) flag. We had nothing."
Said Wendling, "It was a tough play; a freak play. Those things are going to happen, but that wasn't a back-breaker. We have to overcome those things. We still had a chance to win the game."
Except, the Lions never even threatened to overcome that sequence of events.
They threw one more offensive punch at the Cowboys. Quarterback Shaun Hill (32 for 47, 289 yards and two touchdowns) drove the Lions right down the field. First he hit Nate Burleson for 58 yards (Burleson had seven catches for 97 yards and the Lions' first touchdown). Then Hill found Johnson in the back of the end zone from the 14.
It was the Lions' last punch.
Kitna, the former Lion, engineered a 7-minute, 55-second, 71-yard drive, finishing it off with a 4-yard strike to Austin.
Then, for the salt in the wound, he capped an 80-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown run, on a bootleg on a fourth-and-1 play.
"He's got some wheels," Austin joked. "Some Model-T wheels but, hey, he's getting the job done."
Kitna was 18 for 24 passing for 147 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 40 yards, which was more than any of the Lions' running backs.
"This is tough," Burleson said, talking about the 26 straight road losses, the three straight losses and the 2-8 record. "We got beat by the Cowboys. I felt like we had a good chance to win this game. It's just like last week, when you are playing against a team with talent, little mistakes can turn quickly against you.
"Until we figure out how to win when we get ahead, we'll continue to get the same results."
The Lions were hamstrung offensively, again, by the lack of any kind of run threat. Jahvid Best didn't start and played a limited role because his turf toe injury worsened this week.
Maurice Morris (10 carries, 31 yards) and Felton (four carries, 14 yards) got the work.
"I felt like we were moving the ball but we couldn't sustain drives and get points," Hill said. "Those drives, we have to get points. It was a thing here and thing there that slowed us up."
The Lions, though, don't have time to dwell on this loss. They face the Patriots on Thursday.
"All I know is to keep fighting," Hill said. "Keep fighting and things will turn. They have to. We're working too hard for it not to."
Vanden Bosch agreed.
"There are a lot of things we can learn from this game, but I don't know if we have much time to look back," he said. "We have to move forward. This team, we can get on the right track. We're capable of winning big games against good teams. But we can't allow ourselves to dwell on this one."
chris.mccosky@detnews.com
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101121...oys--lose-26th-straight-on-road#ixzz15xyzvzeR
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
Arlington, Texas -- You never know when a road game will turn against the Lions; you only know that sooner or later it will.
On Sunday, in a 35-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions' record-extending 26th straight road loss, the game turned in a blink early in the third quarter.
And, in the ultimate piece of Lions luck, it turned on what was a superb special teams play by gunner John Wendling.
"I haven't seen that one before," said defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch. "I really don't know what to say. It gets tough, frustrating, disappointing --just another difficult loss and another different way to lose."The Lions were up 12-7 and appeared to have the Cowboys pinned inside the 5-yard line for the fourth time in the game. Wendling got to Nick Harris' punt at the goal line and batted it back toward the 5.
"I did my job as a gunner," said Wendling, who pinned punts two other times inside the 5 in the game. "I kept the ball out of the end zone and that's one of those things as a special teams player on punt coverage, you live for that."
Except Wendling knocked the ball on one hop to Cowboys returner Bryan McCann, who scooped it up and ran it back 97 yards for a touchdown.
"I turned around and I was almost in shock," Wendling said.
So, apparently, were the Lions, because two plays after getting the ball back, fullback Jerome Felton fumbled it back to the Cowboys at the 19. That led to a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jon Kitna to Miles Austin and a 14-point swing that took the Cowboys from five points down to nine points up, 21-12, in 2:43.
"It sucks," said Calvin Johnson, who caught six passes for 46 yards. "That hurt us the most. It was kind of a dagger. I mean, we're going to keep on fighting, but that one really changed the momentum."
The Lions thought there was a chance McCann stepped out of bounds around the 20-yard line on his touchdown return. But a replay was never shown on the monster scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium. Thus coach Jim Schwartz opted not to challenge the ruling.
"We knew it was close and our coaches upstairs didn't think he went out," Schwartz said. "We waited for a replay, but on the road, you aren't going to get a replay on that. You need something to go on before you throw the (challenge) flag. We had nothing."
Said Wendling, "It was a tough play; a freak play. Those things are going to happen, but that wasn't a back-breaker. We have to overcome those things. We still had a chance to win the game."
Except, the Lions never even threatened to overcome that sequence of events.
They threw one more offensive punch at the Cowboys. Quarterback Shaun Hill (32 for 47, 289 yards and two touchdowns) drove the Lions right down the field. First he hit Nate Burleson for 58 yards (Burleson had seven catches for 97 yards and the Lions' first touchdown). Then Hill found Johnson in the back of the end zone from the 14.
It was the Lions' last punch.
Kitna, the former Lion, engineered a 7-minute, 55-second, 71-yard drive, finishing it off with a 4-yard strike to Austin.
Then, for the salt in the wound, he capped an 80-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown run, on a bootleg on a fourth-and-1 play.
"He's got some wheels," Austin joked. "Some Model-T wheels but, hey, he's getting the job done."
Kitna was 18 for 24 passing for 147 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 40 yards, which was more than any of the Lions' running backs.
"This is tough," Burleson said, talking about the 26 straight road losses, the three straight losses and the 2-8 record. "We got beat by the Cowboys. I felt like we had a good chance to win this game. It's just like last week, when you are playing against a team with talent, little mistakes can turn quickly against you.
"Until we figure out how to win when we get ahead, we'll continue to get the same results."
The Lions were hamstrung offensively, again, by the lack of any kind of run threat. Jahvid Best didn't start and played a limited role because his turf toe injury worsened this week.
Maurice Morris (10 carries, 31 yards) and Felton (four carries, 14 yards) got the work.
"I felt like we were moving the ball but we couldn't sustain drives and get points," Hill said. "Those drives, we have to get points. It was a thing here and thing there that slowed us up."
The Lions, though, don't have time to dwell on this loss. They face the Patriots on Thursday.
"All I know is to keep fighting," Hill said. "Keep fighting and things will turn. They have to. We're working too hard for it not to."
Vanden Bosch agreed.
"There are a lot of things we can learn from this game, but I don't know if we have much time to look back," he said. "We have to move forward. This team, we can get on the right track. We're capable of winning big games against good teams. But we can't allow ourselves to dwell on this one."
chris.mccosky@detnews.com
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101121...oys--lose-26th-straight-on-road#ixzz15xyzvzeR
