Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Detroit 17 at Buffalo 24 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Detroit Lions: QB Joey Harrington looked... like a rookie QB in this game. He was unsure of himself while under constant pressure from the Bills pass rush, especially in the second half, and he made some very bad throwing decisions. His only passing TD could have been picked off in the endzone by 2 Bills defenders but they tipped the ball and it fell into the hands of Az-Zahir Hakim for the score. Harrington ended up 20/42 with 199 yards passing, 1 TD, and 1 INT in a poor outing. RB James Stewart had another solid day running the ball, gaining 83 yards and a rushing TD in 24 carries and adding another 53 yards receiving on eight receptions. Stewart ran the ball extremely well in the first half, but his production dropped in the second half as the Lions fell behind and went to the passing game. This is the second good outing in a row for Stewart after a slow start, but both efforts came against questionable defenses. TE Mikhael Ricks played after missing last weeks game and several practices this week with a groin injury. He looked OK running his routes, but dropped several catchable passes from Harrington. Ricks was targeted each time the Lions were in the redzone. Buffalo Bills: Drew Bledsoe had another good outing, going 21/36 for 302 yards, a TD and no interceptions against the Lions poor secondary. Eric Moulds was Bledsoe's prime target during the game, though both Moulds and Peerless Price ended up with over one hundred yards each receiving. Travis Henry had only 64 yards on 19 carries, but ran in two TD's, both from five yards out. Henry fumbled the ball deep in Bills territory late in the fourth and it was recovered by the Lions. It gave the Lions an opportunity to tie the game, but they ended up turning the ball over on downs to the Bills. Eric Moulds had an excellent outing against the Lion secondary, catching nine passes for 123 yards, but failed to find the endzone. He seemed to be Drew Bledsoe's first read on almost every pass, and Bledsoe took several shots downfield to him, including a nice 42 yard yarder. Moulds had great separation throughout the day. Peerless Price also had a very nice outing against the Lions under achieving secondary, catching four passes for 101 yards and a TD. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Detroit Lions QB: Joey Harrington came back to Earth. The rookie looked very shaky and unsure this game, going 20/42 for 199 yards with a TD and an interception. The Bills put pressure on the young QB all game, and especially in the second half, forcing Harrington to make a lot of bad throwing decisions. Harrington should have had at least two or even three more interceptions this game, but got very lucky... especially on his only TD toss. He attempted to throw to a very tightly covered Bill Schroeder in the endzone... the ball was tipped twice before it fortuitously fell into the hands of Az-Zahir Hakim for the TD. Harrington also muffed a fourth and one attempt when he tripped after the snap and seemed to hesitate for a second remembering that in the NFL you have to be down by contact. He got up and threw an ugly incomplete pass to Cory Schlesinger. Not a good outing for the rookie QB. RB: James Stewart had his second good outing in a row, rushing for 83 yards and a TD on 24 carries and adding another 53 yards in eight receptions... the most receptions by far for the Lion receivers this game. Stewart ran very well in the first half, but his numbers dropped in the second half as the Lions played catch up and the Bills defense stiffened. He was stopped on 4th and inches at the Buffalo 20 at the end of the game on a drive that could have tied the game. After a slow start, this is two good games in a row but keep in mind that both efforts came against questionable defenses. WR: Az-Zahir Hakim, while still Harrington's favorite WR target, caught only three passes for 33 yards. He scored a TD, but it was on a pass that was intended for Bill Schroeder and had been tipped twice before it fell into his hands. None of the Lion WR's were very productive in this game. Bill Schroeder, who was listed as questionable before the game with an ankle injury, caught only 2 passes for 46 yards, one of which was a nice 24 yarder. The few shots downfield Harrington took were mostly in Schroeder's direction... one 23 yarder in the endzone was intended for him even though he was tightly covered on the play. It was tipped twice before being caught for a TD by Az-Zahir Hakim. Germane Crowell caught 3 passes for 23 yards. He had a nice 14 yard grab in the game and ran his routes well. Harrington gave Crowell a decent amount of targets, but a lot of his passes were bad due to pressure form the Bill defense. TE: Mikhael Ricks played the whole game after missing last week's game and several practices this week with a groin injury. He had only 2 catches for 29 yards, but was targeted several times in and out of the redzone. Harrington looks to Ricks a lot in the redzone, but Ricks dropped a pass in the endzone that was catchable and would have tied the game, and another one in the endzone went over his head... he was interfered with on the play, but the referee ruled the pass was uncatchable, so no penalty. Ricks looked good running his routes and was getting open despite being listed as questionable before the game. K: Jason Hanson hit his only FG attempt of the game from 35 yards out and both extra point attempts. Punt Returner/WR Desmond Howard left the game with a rib injury and did not return. Pass Defense: The Lion secondary was horrible, giving up several long passes downfield and letting Eric Moulds get wide open almost every play. The Lion secondary continues to be the weakest point of the Lions game. The pass rush managed to put some good pressure on Bills QB Drew Bledsoe and sacked him three times, twice in the first quarter. Rush Defense: The rush defense was OK, holding RB Travis Henry to just 64 yards on 18 carries, but they gave up two TD's to Henry, both from five yards out. The Lion defense is still a unit to avoid over all. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Buffalo Bills QB: Drew Bledsoe had an excellent outing against a poor Lion secondary, going 21/36 for 302 yards, a TD, and no interceptions. The Lions pressured Bledsoe most of the game and sacked him three times, but Bledsoe remained poised and shook off several hard hits. Eric Moulds and Peerless Price both had over one hundred yards receiving, with Price catching Bledsoe's only TD toss in the game. Bledsoe took many shots downfield against the Lions secondary, targeting both Moulds and Price about evenly. Bledsoe also took a QB sneak for four yards on a fourth and one. RB: Travis Henry gained 64 yards in 19 carries on the ground, but scored two TD's, both from five yards out. He fumbled late in the fourth quarter deep in Bills territory, giving the Lions a shot at evening the game up, but the Bills defense stopped James Stewart on a fourth and inches to preserve the Bills victory. WR: Eric Moulds had an excellent day, catching 9 passes for 123 yards, however he failed to get in the endzone. Moulds was Drew Bledsoe's prime target in the game. Moulds was open almost every play against the Lions poor secondary, and Bledsoe took several shots downfield at him, including a nice 42 yarder. Peerless Price also had a good game, catching 4 passes for 101 yards and a TD. The TD came on a mid-range pass that Price broke free on after putting a nice move on a Lion defender. Price did drop one 50 yard pass even though he was wide open. Josh Reed caught 2 passes for 18 yards and was not a factor in this game. TE: Jay Riemersma caught only 2 passes for 18 yards, but was targeted a couple times in the redzone. The ball was knocked away by the Lion defender each time. K: Mike Hollis was 1/1 on field goal attempts and made all three extra point attempts. Charlie Rodgers muffed a kick off after a Lion TD and the Lions recovered, leading to James Stewarts 2 yard TD run. Pass Defense: The Bills secondary did a good job of shutting down the Lion WR's all game, leaving Joey Harrington to rely on little dump passes to Lion RB James Stewart. They intercepted Harrington once on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half, and should have had about three more. The pass rush did a very good job of keeping Harrington under pressure and forcing the young QB into bad throwing decisions. Rush Defense: The rush defense started slow in the first half, allowing Lion RB James Stewart to run well, but tightened up in the second half and held Stewart to very small gains all half. A good performance, but the Bills defense remains questionable over all.