Redskins take down the red-hot Lions
One of the premiere showdowns of week 11 was a matchup between the red-hot Detroit Lions, who have won four in a row including a huge upset of the World Champion Packers at Lambeau Field, and the NFC East leading Washington Redskins.
Redskins’ head coach Norv Turner had an outstanding gameplan to keep Barry Sanders and the high-flying Lions’ offense off the field…ball possession. Until late in the 4th quarter, the Redskins dominated the time of possession with an effective running attack and an efficient play action passing game. In fact, the Redskins rushed the ball 42 times on Sunday. RB Terry Allen was back in action and carried the ball 27 times for 97 yards.
Redskins’ QB Gus Frerotte threw for 215 yards on 15 of 28 passing with a TD. 13 of his completions were to tight ends and running backs. In fact, Leslie Shepherd was the only wide receiver to catch a ball for the Skins with 2 receptions for 45 yards.
On the defensive side of things, the Redskins held all-world running back Barry Sanders in check as Sanders only rushed the ball 13 times in the game. Sanders is on pace to rush for over two thousand yards, but the Redskins held Sanders to only 81 yards until late in the 4th quarter. Sanders ripped off a 29-yard draw play and that put him to 110 yards on 13 carries on the day. Sanders is on pace to rush for nearly 2,300 yards. He has 1,428 yards through 10 games with 11 TDs.
The worst thing that happened to the Lions was that QB Scott Mitchell came out with a concussion. He was 8 of 14 for 127 yards and a TD when he left the game in the 2nd quarter. Frank Reich replaced Mitchell and he struggled. He went 12 of 35 for 112 yards with an interception. He was also sacked three times.
The Redskins are atop of the NFC East standings at 7-3. They have a great opportunity next Sunday to knock off the Cowboys at Texas Stadium and really damage the Cowboys’ chances at making the playoffs.
The Lions’ loss hurt their chances at catching the Packers atop the NFC Central standings. They are now 7-3 and two games back of the Packers. Next week, the Lions host division-rival the Minnesota Vikings.