The Lions dominated the Bills earlier tonight despite the scoreboard.  Matt Stafford started this game and he looked a little bit shaky completing 5 of 9 passes for 81 yards with a pickoff.  He also lost a fumble.  Brooks Bollinger played well for a guy who just signed with the Lions a couple of days ago as he completed 11 of 19 passes for 111 yards with a interception.  RB Tristan Davis had his 15 seconds of fame in this game as he scored on a 79 yard run.  He finished the game with 92 yards rushing on 3 carries (30.7 ypc).  Aaron Brown was also busy with 11 carries for 56 yards (5.1 ypc) with a TD.  Calvin Johnson made a brief appearance but he still led the Lions in receiving with 56 yards on 2 catches (28.0 avg).  The Lions finished up with 422 total yards on offense in this game (249 rushing, 173 passing).

The defense was in bend but don’t break mode tonight.  LB Jordon Dizon led the way for the Lions on defense with 7 tackles.  The Bills finished up with 321 total yards on offense in this game (87 rushing, 234 passing) but it didn’t matter because they only allowed 6 points.  The Lions finished the pre-season with a strong 3-1 record.

The Lions looked almost like a good football team yesterday in Detroit.  Daunte Culpepper got the start in this game and he completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards with 1 TD pass.  Matthew Stafford followed Culpepper in the game and he was also good completing 13 of 19 passes for 160 yards with 1 interception.  Drew Stanton finished out the game and he was sharp completing 4 of 6 passes for 56 yards with 1 TD pass (the eventual game winner).  Kevin Smith was very effective in this game as he carried the ball 8 times for 50 yards (6.3 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 33 yards (11.0 avg) in this game.  WRs Calvin Johnson (67 yards) and Derrick Williams (63 yards) each caught 4 passes apiece in this game.  The Lions finished up with 412 yards of total offense in this game (151 rushing, 261 passing).

Linebacker Julian Peterson led the way for the Lions in this game with 8 tackles.  The Lions held the Colts to 299 total yards in this game (50 rushing, 249 passing).

The Lions got absolutely destroyed by the Browns last Saturday Night as they were behind 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.  Matt Stafford got the start in this game and he often looked like a deer in headlights completing only 5 of 13 passes for 34 yards with a pickoff.  Daunte Culpepper was solid in this game completing 10 of 16 passes for 86 yards.  Drew Stanton finished up the game completing 5 of 12 passes for 66 yards with 1 TD pass.  Fullback Jerome Felton led the Lions in rushing in this game with 34 yards on 7 carries (4.9 ypc).  WRs Dane Looker and D.J. Boldin each caught 3 passes for 39 yards (13.0 avg) to lead the way in the passing game for the Lions in this game.  TE Carson Butler only caught 1 pass in this game but it was good for a 20-yard TD from Drew Stanton.  The Lions finished up with 288 total yards on offense (102 rushing, 186 passing) and that’s not good when you consider they were playing against the Browns’ defense.

Linebacker Jordon Dizon led a not so hot performance by the Lions’ defense with six tackles.  The Browns rushed for a stunning 194 yards (6.1 ypc) in this game which made the fact that they only threw for 154 yards mean less.  The Lions’ special teams were also terrible as Joshua Cribbs ran a punt 84 yards for a TD against them in this game.  The Lions looked like last year’s version last Saturday Night.

Daunte Culpepper will start the Lions’ third preseason game on Saturday against Indianapolis over first overall pick Matthew Stafford, Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz announced today.  He added that Culpepper will play into the second quarter before giving the ball up to Stafford.

Schwartz insists that competition for the starting job on September 13 at New Orleans is still wide open.

“I don’t want to handicap it one way or the other,” Schwartz said. “But the final decision has not been made.”

Stafford, a rocket-armed Georgia product, has looked shaky in two preseason efforts.  His poor accuracy through two exhibition contests has led to him completing only 12 of 27 passes with two interceptions. The young QB looked especially green in his first preseason start last week, during which his passer rating was a mere 14.6.

Culpepper, a 10-year veteran with Minnesota, Miami and Oakland, played five games for the Lions last season.  He threw for 4 touchdowns and six interceptions while contributing to the worst regular season record in NFL history.   But although he possesses a boatload of experience over Stafford along with two thirty touchdown seasons under his belt, Stafford’s raw talent is making this race tight. Jim Schwartz, welcome to the NFL.

“It’s going to be based on the information we have at hand,” he said, “not from wetting our finger and holding it up in the air, not from taking a poll and not from an ‘ask the audience’ lifeline or anything like that.”

He added, “We’re going to do what’s best for our club.  We’re going to do what’s best for the guy that we drafted, not what somebody outside of the building says and not what worked best for another player. Every player is different.”

The Detroit Lions won a GAME!  Too bad it doesn’t count in the standings.  The offense was amazing for the Lions in this game as they rolled up 454 total yards (191 rushing, 263 passing)!  Daunte Culpepper started at QB for the Lions in this game and he completed 5 of 6 passes for 41 yards.  Matthew Stafford followed Culpepper in this game and he completed 7 of 14 passes for 114 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  The interception was a pick six returned 42 yards for a TD by Falcons’ linebacker Tony Gilbert.  Drew Stanton was outstanding in this game leading the Lions to victory.  He completed 8 of 13 passes for 114 yards with a TD throw.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 59 yards (14.8 ypc) in this game.  Rookie RB Aaron Brown was outstanding in this game for the Lions with 47 yards rushing on six carries (7.8 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 51 yards and one of his catches went for a TD.  Rookie WR Derrick Williams pitched in with 2 catches for 35 yards (17.5 avg) and a TD. 

The Lions only gave up 228 total yards in this game and that was outstanding!  CB Chris Roberson and OLB Darnell Bing led the way for the Lions in this game with 5 tackles apiece.  I know this is only the pre-season but the Lions have to be happy with the result on the scoreboard.