Detroit Lions/NY Giants Giants NFL recap on ESPN

Charlie Batch tied his career best with three touchdown passes, the Lions' defense forced four turnovers and their special teams set up two scores as Detroit embarrassed the New York Giants 31-21 Sunday.


	Herman Moore caught four passes for 38 yards, including 7-yard TD pass from Charlie Batch in the second quarter.

"The defense and the special teams have been great for us all year," said Batch, who came into the game with the lowest rating (65.0) among NFC starting quarterbacks. "We knew if we could put some points on the board, we could be a real good football team."

The win was the second straight for the Lions (7-4) since Moeller took over after an emotionally drained Bobby Ross retired unexpectedly two weeks ago.

More importantly, it gave Detroit a tiebreaker edge with the Giants (7-4), who have lost two straight at home and played lousy in the process.

Moeller was more concerned with the Lions' upcoming schedule. They play New England on Thanksgiving and play in Minnesota the following Thursday, which means they have three games in 12 days.

"We aren't in the playoffs yet," Moeller said. "We still have to earn it. We have a tough game on Thursday, but right now they are listening and we have a real good focus."

TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN

Question on the Lions: Was Bobby Ross' resignation the answer to the Lions' problems?
Donahoe: Since Ross' resignation, the Lions have won two straight games. But you can't attribute that just to Bobby Ross' absence. Ross is a great coach and a fine human being, and he got to the point where he was burned-out and didn't want to coach anymore. For whatever reason, the Lions were underachieving earlier in the season. Maybe the coaching change is the reason, maybe it isn't. What stood out in the game today was the performance of Charlie Batch, who has not played well at times this year. But he seemed to put it all together today. He looked much more comfortable in the pocket and used nine different receivers, throwing three touchdown passes. Give Gary Moeller some credit, because the Lions have played smarter, more consistent football the last two weeks.

Question on the Giants: Are the critics right about the Giants' questionable record?
Donahoe: Until the Giants beat a quality team, the critics are going to continue to say that their record is a mirage. They've played four quality teams this years and they've lost all four of those games -- against the Redskins, Titans, Rams and now the Lions (a team they should have been able to beat at home). The Giants still control their own destiny, and they need to not worry about the critics but instead focus on their team and the games ahead.

Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director of football operations.

Coupled with Philadelphia's 34-9 win over Arizona, the Giants slipped into second place in the NFC East, a half-game behind the Eagles (8-4).

"This is a blown opportunity," Giants offensive tackle Lomas Brown said. "Guys who doesn't realize how much of a blown opportunity this is should wait a few weeks when we're sitting there saying: `We should have beaten Detroit.' That always happens with the games you should win and you don't."

The Lions never gave the Giants a chance in this one, making plays and capitalizing on mistakes by New York, which also played poorly losing to the St. Louis Rams last week.

Batch's touchdown passes covered 5 yards to Walter Rasby, 7 yards to Herman Moore and 32 yards to Johnnie Morton, the last one giving the Lions a 28-0 lead early in the third quarter.

James Stewart scored on a 1-yard run and Jason Hanson kicked a 19-yard field goal as Detroit matched its season-high point total playing behind a revamped offense line.

There were a lot of contributors for the Lions. Kurt Schulz's seventh interception of the season set up Rasby's TD. A 50-yard punt return by Desmond Howard led to Stewart's TD and a punt block by Larry Foster late in the first half helped get Moore in the end zone.

"I'm just excited about the attitude of the team, the way the guys have reacted to the adverse situation we had a couple of week ago," linebacker Stephen Boyd said. "Instead of falling apart, we are coming together."

Kerry Collins ran 4 yards for a touchdown and threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to Dan Campbell and 13 to Joe Jurevicius for New York, which was hearing boos from its fans by the end of the second quarter. When Jurevicius scored, only a few thousand from the crowd of 77,897 were still there.

Giant Disappointments
The Giants have beaten only one team with a winning record this year, with two wins over the Eagles. In their four losses against winning teams, New York has given up over 18 more points per game while scoring nearly a touchdown less. Fortunately for the Giants the Redskins are their only remaining opponent with a record above .500.
	7 wins	4 losses
Opp win pct.	.403	.707
PPG	21.1	16.3
PPG all.	10.1	28.3
TO margin	+9	-8

"We have to get angry about the way we played the last two weeks and do something about it," said Collins, who completed 29 of 51 for 350 yards.

The Lions came into the game leading the NFC with a plus-10 turnover differential, 28 takeaways and 18 interceptions, and they padded those numbers by intercepting a pass and recovering three fumbles.

Batch finished 20-of-32 for 225 yards and one meaningless interception late in the game. He hit five of six third-down passes on the Lions' three first-half scoring drives.

Detroit, which had scored only 21 points in its last two games, had that many in the first half. Schulz's interception set up a 13-play, 71-yard drive that Batch capped with his bootleg pass to Rasby.

Stewart's TD run came one play after Batch hit David Sloan on a 10-yard pass to the 1. The touchdown pass to Moore came on a slant pattern on a third-and-7 after the Lions recovered the blocked punt at the New York 8.

Game notes
Defensive end Robert Porcher had three of the Lions' four sacks. He needs 2.5 more to surpass Bubba Baker (75.5) as the team's career sack leader. ... Giants receiver Amani Toomer, who missed the second half of last week's game with a concussion, had eight receptions for 108 yards. ... WR Ike Hilliard left the game in the third quarter with a bruised sternum.

ALSO SEE

Detroit Clubhouse

NY Giants Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Detroit's Johnnie Morton talks with ESPN's Ron Jaworski after the Lions' victory.
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Jim Fassel is unhappy with the poor play of the Giants.
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