The Detroit Lions have secured their second victory of the NFL season with a 27-20 win over the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field.
The Redskins had a good start to the game when DeAngleo Hall picked off Lions quarterback Matt Stafford after beating Calvin Johnson to the ball and ran it in for a 17-yard touchdown.
However, Detroit responded and Stafford moved the ball downfield, finding Bell on a big gain on third down before entering the 20-yard line of the Redskins. He handed to bell, who beat several tackles before powering over the line to tie the scores.
The Lions were beginning to roll on offense and Stafford started to take apart the Redskins defense. He drove his side downfield into the 20 before finding tight end Joseph Fauria, in the endzone, for his second touchdown of the season to give his side the lead.
Washington replied immediately as Robert Griffin III engineered a scoring drive, which culminated in second-year man Alfred Morris, running the ball into the endzone from 30 yards out down the right-hand sideline.
Just before the break, there was time for Stafford to move his team into field goal range and David Akers made no mistake in restoring his side's lead.
The Redskins kicked a field goal of their own in the third quarter through John Potter from 43 yards to tie the scores, but Akers kicked the Lions ahead again with a 28-yard effort of his own.
Washington thought that they had gone ahead midway through the fourth quarter when Griffin hit receiver Aldrick Robinson on a huge go-route down the middle of the field and he hauled in what he thought was a 57-yard touchdown.
However, it was brought back by the officials after it was deemed that the receiver had used the ground to help make the catch. As a result the Redskins went three and out on the drive giving the ball back to the visitors.
Detroit made good use of the ball as they extended their lead to 10 points when Stafford found Calvin Johnson in the endzone in a slant route for an 11-yard strike, which despite a field goal from Potter was enough to secure the win.
Simon Sinclair
