Brett Favre was leading fourth-quarter drives for the Green Bay Packers the last time the Detroit Lions won a game.
Now the Lions are winners again after 19 straight losses, and Favre’s leading those last-minute comebacks for the Minnesota Vikings.
Neither win was pretty. Both were pretty much priceless.
Favre took the Vikings 80 yards in 87 seconds before finding Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone for a 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Rookie Matthew Stafford threw an early TD pass for the Lions, who played mostly mistake-free to end their streak with a 19-14 win over the Washington Redskins.
“We went a whole season without feeling like this, so you have to take it in and enjoy,” said Lions center Dominic Raiola, who has lost 99 times in nine seasons with the Lions.
ns in Favre’s first real home game with Minnesota.
But the Vikings (3-0) knew just why they’d signed their longtime nemesis in the offseason.
“The offensive line was fired up. Adrian was fired up, and the receivers were fired up. And Brett fell right in. He was fired up, too, like: ‘We’re going to get this done,”’ Lewis said.
“And that’s the attitude that we took out there on the field.”
On the last play, Favre stepped forward in the pocket and slid to the right by design to buy time for his receivers to move into position. Instead of throwing a ball up for grabs, he figured he could get close enough to the line of scrimmage to fire a line drive that would be tougher to defend.
Lewis hauled it down in the back of the end zone, staying in by the barest of margins. The play was upheld on review, and after the 49ers’ last desperation heave, Favre’s 43rd comeback from a fourth-quarter deficit or tie was complete.
“It’s hard to even recall all of ’em. This one was pretty special,” Favre said.
Memorable, too, in its own way will be Detroit’s win, in front of 40,896 fans at Ford Field.
Detroit (1-2) hadn’t won since Dec. 23, 2007, and its 19-game skid matched the second longest in NFL history. The Lions no longer have to hear about Tampa Bay’s record 26-game losing streak.
They’re on a one-game roll.
ay.”
Eagles 34, Chiefs 14
At Philadelphia, Kevin Kolb threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy had 84 yards rushing and one TD for the Eagles (2-1). DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek each had 100-plus yards receiving and one score against the winless Chiefs.
Colts 31, Cardinals 10
At Glendale, Ariz., Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, three in the second quarter, and completed 24 of 35 for 379 yards with one interception for Indianapolis (3-0). The Colts’ quarterback had four TD passes in a game for the 18th time, moving him ahead of Johnny Unitas into third on the NFL career list, behind Dan Marino’s 21 and Brett Favre’s 20.
Kurt Warner threw for 332 yards and two scores for Arizona (1-2).
Jets 24, Titans 17
At East Rutherford, N.J., David Harris had an interception and a big sack on consecutive drives, and Mark Sanchez threw two touchdown passes and ran for another for the Jets.
Sanchez became the first rookie quarterback to start a season with wins in his first three games, and New York’s defense turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter on Kerry Collins, who was incomplete on his last 13 passes as the Titans fell to 0-3.
Packers 36, Rams 17
was 13 for 23 for 269 yards and hooked up with Greg Jennings on passes of 50 and 53 yards that set up touchdowns. Rodgers had a 46-yard pass to Donald Driver that set up another score.
Kyle Boller, who played three quarters after Marc Bulger bruised his shoulder, threw two touchdown passes for the Rams. Steven Jackson carried 27 times for 117 yards.
Ravens 34, Browns 3
At Baltimore, Joe Flacco threw for a career-high 342 yards and Willis McGahee scored two more touchdowns against the winless Browns, who have scored one offensive touchdown in their last nine games. Derrick Mason caught five passes for 118 yards, including a 72-yard TD, for the Ravens (3-0).
Jaguars 31, Texans 24
At Houston, Maurice Jones-Drew had his first 100-yard game of the season and scored three touchdowns for the Jaguars (1-2). Jones-Drew scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run early in the fourth quarter and finished with 119 yards rushing.
The Texans (1-2) have the league’s worst run defense, allowing 190 yards to the Jets, 240 to the Titans and 184 on Sunday.
Giants 24, Buccaneers 0
At Tampa, Fla., Eli Manning threw for two touchdowns and Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw led a resurgence of a strong ground attack for the Giants (3-0).
did not have a first down until late in the third quarter.
Patriots 26, Falcons 10
At Foxborough, Mass., the Patriots (2-1) finally got their offense rolling as Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and Fred Taylor ran for 105 against the Falcons (2-1).
Brady threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker and Taylor ran for an 8-yard score.
Broncos 23, Raiders 3
At Oakland, Calif., Kyle Orton threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall, and rookie Knowshon Moreno ran for 90 yards and a score to lead the Broncos (3-0). Correll Buckhalter added 108 yards on 14 carries.
The Raiders (1-2) were held to 137 yards, their second straight week with less than 200 yards of offense.
Chargers 23, Dolphins 13
At San Diego, Philip Rivers scored on a 5-yard scramble late in the third quarter to highlight a victory over the winless Dolphins, who lost quarterback Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury early in the second half.
The Chargers (2-1) are above .500 in the regular season for the first time since the end of 2007. The Dolphins are 0-3 for the third time in six seasons.
Saints 27, Bills 7
At Orchard Park, N.Y., Will Smith had an interception and a sack to help New Orleans (3-0) shut down Buffalo (1-2). Pierre Thomas sealed the win with two touchdown runs in the final 10 minutes and finished with 126 yards.
me streak that had been second longest among active players.
Bengals 23, Steelers 20
At Cincinnati, Carson Palmer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell with 14 seconds left, completing a nearly perfect drive that gave the Bengals (2-1) a victory and ended the Steelers’ nearly decade-long domination in Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh (1-2) had won its last eight games on Cincinnati’s home field dating to 2001.
Bears 25, Seahawks 19
At Seattle, Jay Cutler threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Devin Hester with 1:52 remaining, rallying the Bears over the Seahawks.
Seattle (1-2), playing without seven injured starters, drove to the Bears 29 with 30 seconds left. But Seneca Wallace was high and incomplete to Julius Jones on fourth-and-2 to seal the win for the Bears (2-1).
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