Lions Take Lead Falcons Can’t Overcome

PONTIAC, Mich. —  Scott Mitchell thinks the Detroit Lions are finally coming of age after winning the kind of game they used to squander.

Mitchell ran for one touchdown and passed for three more, staking Detroit to a 28-0 first-half lead Sunday. He then engineered a rally-killing drive that ate up most of the final six minutes as the Lions held off the winless Atlanta Falcons, 28-24, at the Silverdome.

“We did what it took to win the game,” Mitchell said.

The loss was especially hard for the Falcons, who are off to the fourth 0-5 start in club history.

“No hole is too deep to dig out of, but we need to get a win,” said dejected Coach June Jones.

Jamal Anderson brought the Falcons back with three touchdowns--on runs of nine, five and 14 yards--and Morten Andersen’s 47-yard field goal with 5:57 left in the game had the 58,666 fans booing the home team.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys kept fighting,” Jones said. “We gave ourselves a couple of chances to win it. We just never finished it off.”

Everything pointed to an easy day for the Lions (4-2), who went in as 10-point favorites. The Lions have won 10 in a row and 15 of 16 at home.

Atlanta, 2-6 on the road last season, already is 0-3 away from home this season.

“This is the NFL and you can’t take anybody lightly,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we did that, but they came back and made some plays and got back into the game.”

Mitchell, who completed 20 of 37 passes for 276 yards without an interception, finally got the Lions’ offense back on track. Mixing passes to Johnnie Morton and Herman Moore with runs by Barry Sanders, the Lions drove from their own 20 to the Atlanta one. From there, Mitchell dropped to his knee three times, and time ran out.

“You start thinking you’re good and you’re going to be a great team that can walk all over somebody,” said Moore, playing despite a sore right shoulder. “They came right back today and threw a scare into us. I think it opened our eyes a lot, the players and the coaches.”

Bobby Hebert, making his second start in place of suspended Jeff George, completed 18 of 36 passes for 180 yards. He was 10 of 22 for 89 yards in the first half.

“Bobby showed his guts today,” Jones said. “He got pounded in the first half, but he stayed tough, and we did a lot better job of protecting him in the second half.”

But Hebert’s lone interception, picked off by Ryan McNeil in the end zone with 10:44 left to play, proved costly.

For the Lions, Moore, the NFL’s leading receiver, had three receptions for 107 yards, including touchdown catches of 25 and 50 yards.

Anderson rushed 16 times for 103 yards for the Falcons.