By RICK GANO, AP Sports Writer
September 12, 2004
CHICAGO (AP) -- Bracy Walker got one of the game balls and rightfully so.
Needing intravenous fluids to fight off dehydration, Walker rescued the
Detroit Lions from the NFL's longest road losing streak Sunday.
He rambled 92 yards for a TD after teammate Shaun Rogers blocked a
third-quarter field goal attempt. And later he preserved Detroit's 20-16
victory over the Chicago Bears, intercepting Rex Grossman's pass in the end
zone pass with 18 second left.
``It's important to end the streak for all the obvious reasons,'' Lions
coach Steve Mariucci said after his team's 24-game stretch of road losses was
wiped away. ``We are glad it's over, believe me.''
Detroit's victory spoiled the coaching debut of the Bears' Lovie Smith,
whose team was bogged down by penalties and mistakes.
The victory was a costly one for the Lions. They lost WR Charles Rogers to a
broken collarbone for the second straight year and he could miss most of the
season. He got hurt going for a first-quarter pass. Rogers, the second overall
pick in the 2003 draft, played only five games last season.
Pro Bowl cornerback Dre' Bly will have an MRI on Monday after spraining a
knee ligament in the first quarter.
Joey Harrington tossed a 4-yard go-ahead TD pass to Az-Zahir Hakim in the
fourth quarter and Detroit held on for its first road victory since beating the
Jets on Dec. 17, 2000.
With 1:54 left, facing a difficult punt out of their own end zone, the Lions
chose to have punter Nick Harris run out of the end zone for safety. It cut the
lead to 20-16, but gave the Lions a free kick -- a strategy that nearly
backfired.
R.W. McQuarters returned the free kick 37 yards to the Detroit's 47 and
Grossman's 19-yard pass to David Terrell and a 15-yard run by Thomas Jones got
the Bears to the Lions 9.
With no timeouts, Grossman was sacked and then had to spike the ball on
second down. Scrambling on third down, he threw the ball to the corner for
Terrell, but Walker made the pick.
``Grossman started to scramble and I thought he was going to try and run it
into the end zone,'' Walker said. ``He just so happened to throw the ball, and
I looked and it fell into my hands.''
Grossman, who lost a fumble and had two interceptions, took the blame.
``I was trying to throw it up for a jump ball situation for David in the
back of the end zone. I threw it a little short,'' Grossman said. ``I should
have thrown it away. I didn't.''
Thomas Jones' second 2-yard TD run, this one with 12:40 left , put the Bears
up 14-13, a score set up by a roughing-the-passer penalty.
Trailing at the half 7-3, Detroit took the lead when Rogers blocked Paul
Edinger's 27-yard field goal attempt and Walker grabbed the ball, picked up
some blockers and cut back across the field on the 92-yard return.
``I heard that dreaded sound, ``the thump'' and the ball just happened to
roll my way. My first instinct was to run,'' Walker said.
``It was all discombobulated and I thought about pitching it to Andre'
Goodman, but he was running so fast it would have been a forward lateral. I
didn't have any legs.''
The Bears had three second-half turnovers and three big penalties -- one on
Terrell for taunting after he made a catch along the sideline and then handed
the ball to Harris. Two more were for personal fouls, one on center Olin Kreutz
and another on defensive back Charles Tillman for shoving a scrambling
Harrington after he'd run out of bounds.
``I just dropped the ball. I didn't throw it at him,'' Terrell said. ``The
refs called nitpicky fouls all day . The personal foul on Olin Kreutz wasn't a
personal foul. So they made bad calls.''
Rookie Roy Williams' spectacular one-handed grab of a Harrington pass went
for a 26-yard gain to the Bears 17 late in the second quarter.
When McQuarters was called for pass interference on Williams in the end
zone, Detroit had first-and-goal at the 1. But Kevin Jones' TD run was called
back by holding on Schlesinger and the Lions had to settle for Jason Hanson's
26-yard field goal with 16 seconds to go.
Grossman connected with Terrell on back-to-back passes of 30 and 27 yards to
set up Thomas Jones' 2-yard TD run in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Notes Former Bears coach Dick Jauron, fired in January, was also given a
game ball as the Lions' defensive coordinator. ... There were 18 penalties,
nine on each team. ... Harrington was 14-of-26 for 187 yards, Grossman 16-of-35
for 227. ... Terrell had the first 100-yard receiving day of his career, 5-126.
Updated on Sunday, Sep 12, 2004 10:29 pm, EDT
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