LIONS VS EAGLES POST-GAME WRAP
The following is a post-game wrap from the Detroit Lions’ 24-23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, October 9, 2016 at Ford Field.
LS DON MUHLBACH
By playing against the Philadelphia Eagles, LS Don Mulhbach tied Hall of Fame CB Dick LeBeau (185) for the sixth-most games played in Detroit Lions history. Thus far in 13 seasons, Muhlbach has tallied 185 career games.
QB MATTHEW STAFFORD
By throwing 3+ touchdowns in the 24-23 win against Philadelphia, QB Matthew Stafford tallied his 26th career game with 3+ touchdowns passes.
Overall, he completed 19-of-25 passes (76.0 pct) for 180 yards with a 135.0 passer rating. This was Stafford’s ninth career game with a 75.0+ completion percentage with at least 25 attempts, and the fourth time it has happened in the last eight games he has played (88.0 at NO 12/21/15, 78.4 vs. SF 12/27/15, 79.5 at Ind 9/11/16)
All three of Stafford’s touchdowns against the Eagles (1, 17 and 1 yards) occurred in the first half. His performance against Philadelphia was the sixth time he has thrown at least three touchdown passes in the first half of a game. The last time was against New Orleans in Week 15 of the 2015 season (12/21).
With the Lions trailing 23-21 in the fourth quarter, Stafford led the Lions on a 7-play 28-yard drive to position the team for a game-winning 29-yard field goal. The drive was Stafford’s 22nd career game-winning drive (second in 2016) in the fourth quarter or overtime when the Lions trailed or were tied.
With the successful field goal at 1:28 in the fourth, the drive also marked Stafford’s 14th career game-winning drive with less that 2:00 to play or in overtime.
RB THEO RIDDICK
RB Theo Riddick caught two touchdown passes (1, 17 yards) in the Lions’ 24-23 win over Philadelphia and became the first Lions running back to register two receiving touchdowns in a game since RB Horace King vs. Minnesota December 9, 1978.
By catching two touchdown passes against the Eagles, Riddick became the fourth Lions running back to record 10+ receiving touchdowns over a three-year span, joining Bill Dudley (15, 1947-49), Howard Cassidy (10, 1956-58; 14, 1957-59; 12, 1958-60) and Doak Walker (10, 1950-52; 11, 1953-55).
Ridick is the seventh Lions running back in team history to catch 10+ touchdowns in a career and the first to reach that mark since Hall of Fame RB Barry Sanders (10, 1989-98).
Against the Eagles, Riddick caught six passes for 33 yards. With 6 catches he moved past Shawn Bryson (135, 2003-05) and Joique Bell (139, 2012-14) for the third-most receptions by a Lions running back over a three-year span. Since 2014, Riddick has caught 140 receptions over the past three seasons, the second-most among all running backs in the NFL during that span.
CB DARIUS SLAY
With less than 2:00 to play in the fourth quarter, CB Darius Slay picked off an Eagles pass (11-yard return) to seal the Lions’ 24-23 win against Philadelphia. It was Slay’s first interception of the season and fifth of his career.
Slay also forced an Eagles fumble on 3rd-and-2 at the Eagles 45-yard line that was recovered by DT Tyrunn Walker. The turnover gave the Lions the ball back with 2:34 to play in the fourth quarter and led to the game-winning field goal. The forced fumble was the first of Slay’s career.
Slay is the first Lions player with a forced fumble and interception in a game since CB Eric Wright against the Kansas City Chiefs September 18, 2011.
In the game, Slay had 3 tackles (3 solo), 1 interception (11 yards), 1 forced fumble and 2 pass defenses.
DARIUS SLAY…
On the forced fumble late in the game; “We just came back as a defense like, ‘We need to make a play, so let’s all make a play.’ We knew they were going to run the ball, so we were being a lot more aggressive, so I just came up there and I think I stuck him pretty good. The ball came up. We saw that he had to carry the ball out wide, so we knew he was going to fumble once in a while, so I just made a play.”
On his interception in the fourth quarter: “I was surprised he even threw that. I was in great position, so I’m like, ‘OK.’ But then I looked in the air and I said, ‘Oh, the ball is coming for real. He’s (Carson Wentz) really throwing this. Oh well, it’s time for his first career pick.’ I was like, ‘Oh, this is me right here, for sure.’ He’s a talented guy, man. I was kind of surprised. I didn’t believe all the hype at first, but he’s a very, very great decision (maker). But right then I just made a better play.”
On how big the win is for the team: “It’s a big win. It’s the start of one of our home games, we’ve got two more in a row. Just come back in here and just try to build our team up. Three home games in a row, you know, it’s nothing better than that to bond defending home.”
On if this win was a redemption for the team: “Yeah, we feel like we can pull off any win. They were making a couple plays here, plays there and they got their turnover and we capitalized on that and we just played ball. We know we’re a great team and we just try to finish strong.”
On what it means to be able to make two big plays in a game: “It’s big, man. That’s my nickname, ‘Big Play Slay,’ so I try to make every play I do big. I’m just blessed and fortunate to be able to do it.”
WR MARVIN JONES, JR.
With 37 receiving yards, WR Marvin Jones Jr. surpassed 500 receiving yards in the season’s first five games, as he has now totaled 519 yards. He joined WR Herman Moore (1996) and WR Calvin Johnson (2012) as the only players in team history with 500+ receiving yards through the first five games of a season.
Jones’ 519 yards are the second-most by a Lions receiver through five games in team history (Johnson, 558 in 2012).
WR ANQUAN BOLDIN
By grabbing four receptions vs. Philadelphia, WR Anquan Boldin (1,030) moved past WR Reggie Wayne (1,029) for the fifth-most receptions by players in their first 200 games played.
K MATT PRATER
K Matt Prater connected on a 29-yard field with 1:28 left to play in the fourth quarter that gave the Lions a 24-23 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. The kick was the 10th game-winning field goal with less than 2:00 to play in the fourth quarter or in overtime of his career (second in 2016). Overall, he has now made 14 game-winning or game-tying field goals with under 4:00 to play in the fourth quarter or in overtime.
LB TAHIR WHITEHEAD
With a team-high 12 total tackles in the Lions’ 24-23 win at Philadelphia, LB Tahir Whitehead registered a career single-game high 12 total tackles. It was his fourth game in 2016 with 10+ tackles in a game and fifth such game of his career.
DT A’SHAWN ROBINSON
In the fourth quarter against the Eagles, rookie DT A’Shawn Robinson recorded his first career sack. He is one of two rookies in the NFL, along with Chargers LB Jatavis Brown, with 1 sacks, 2+ Tackles for Loss and 2+ pass defenses.
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