Matthew Stafford threw four touchdowns - three to Calvin Johnson – in his return from a shoulder injury as the host Detroit Lions pulled away for a 37-25 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Stafford, sidelined since Week 1 with a shoulder injury, hit Johnson for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 with 3:12 left, giving the Lions the lead in a wild final quarter.
Stafford finished 26 of 45 for 212 yards with one interception.
Johnson, meanwhile, had five catches for 101 yards for Detroit (2-5), which outscored Washington 23-12 in the fourth quarter.
Stafford’s two-point conversion to Bryant Johnson gave the Lions a 28-25 lead and Jason Hanson added a 32-yard field goal with 1:50 left.
The Lions broke the game open 14 seconds later when rookie lineman Ndamukong Suh returned a fumble by Rex Grossman 17 yards for a score. Grossman had replaced Donovan McNabb, who was benched after going 17 of 30 for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Brandon Banks returned a kickoff 96 yards for the Redskins (4-4), who lost running back Ryan Torain to a hamstring injury. Torain, who has been playing well in place of Clinton Portis, finished with 10 yards on nine carries and a 5-yard touchdown catch before leaving.
Banks’ return came right after Stafford had given the Lions a 20-19 lead with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with 8:21 left.
Washington | Detroit | |
Donovan McNabb | Player | Kevin Smith |
4 | Attempts | 12 |
45 | Yards | 51 |
11.2 | Avg Yards | 4.2 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
36 | Long | 13 |
Washington | Detroit | |
Anthony Armstrong | Player | Calvin Johnson |
3 | Receptions | 9 |
92 | Yards | 101 |
30.7 | Avg Yards | 11.2 |
0 | Touchdowns | 3 |
50 | Long | 15 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Washington | 275 | 80 | 195 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
Detroit | 304 | 102 | 202 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6.0 | 1 |