Just win, baby! Lions offense lights up Raiders, 36-21
OAKLAND, Calif. - Jon Kitna backed up his big boasts with a clutch fourth-quarter comeback and a couple of key defensive plays by Dewayne White.
Kitna threw a go-ahead, 32-yard touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald with 4:15 remaining and White forced two late turnovers that helped the Detroit Lions rally to beat the Oakland Raiders 36-21 Sunday after blowing a 17-point lead.
The matchup between the NFL's two worst teams from a year ago turned highly entertaining in the second half when former Lions backup quarterback Josh McCown led the Oakland Raiders on three touchdown drives to turn a 17-0 deficit into a 21-20 Oakland lead with 7:43 to go.
Then Kitna took over and spoiled Lane Kiffin's coaching debut in Oakland. Kitna, who predicted a 10-win season for the team that has been the NFL's doormat this decade, completed four of five passes for 67 yards on the game-winning drive, capping it with his third touchdown pass of the game.
Facing no pressure, Kitna moved around in the pocket until McDonald broke open in the end zone for the score. McDonald then taunted the fans in Oakland's Black Hole, celebrating the go-ahead score.
The Lions added to the lead when Jason Hanson kicked a 23-yard field goal with 2 minutes left after McCown was intercepted by White. White then stripped McCown on the next play and recovered a fumble to set up a 14-yard score by Tatum Bell that iced the game.
Despite the loss, the Oakland Raiders showed much more offensive spunk than they did a year ago, when they managed only 12 touchdowns on offense on the way to a 2-14 season. McCown, who beat Daunte Culpepper for the starting job completed 30 of 40 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns, but also turned the ball over three times.
Ronald Curry had 10 catches for 133 yards and a 4-yard score and LaMont Jordan scored on a 12-yard run and had 159 yards of total offense for Kiffin.
Kiffin, 32, became the youngest man to coach a game in the NFL since Harland Svare took over the Los Angeles Rams as a 31-year old in 1962. He appeared ready to give the Oakland Raiders their first season-opening win since 2002 until the final minutes.
Kitna finished 27-for-36 for 289 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Bell added 87 yards rushing on 15 carries as the Lions moved the ball easily against last year's third-ranked defense in the NFL.
The Oakland Raiders fans disagreed with the decision to start McCown, booing the offense and chanting "Daunte! Daunte!" after McCown was intercepted early in the third quarter.
That set up a 16-yard TD pass from Kitna to Calvin Johnson that made it 17-0. Making that score even worse was the fact that the Oakland Raiders passed on the chance to draft Calvin Johnson in April, picking quarterback Jamarcus Russell instead. While Jamarcus Russell remains unsigned in a contract dispute, Calvin Johnson had four catches for 70 yards in his debut.
McCown then put it together in Oakland's best offensive stretch in years. He threw a 42-yard pass to Curry that set up Curry's touchdown. That ended a stretch of 232 minutes, 44 seconds without a touchdown for the Oakland Raiders, dating to last season.
Oakland's offense then got into the end zone again less than 3 minutes later. Stanford Routt's interception of a pass that deflected off Roy Williams' hands set up Jordan's score that cut the lead to 17-14. A 7-yard pass to Justin Griffith gave Oakland the lead, but Kitna made sure it wouldn't last.
The first half was not nearly as exciting. The best drive was a 95-yarder by Detroit that ended when Kirk Morrison intercepted Kitna in the end zone. The Lions got the first score on a two-play, 37-yard drive, ending with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Roy Williams. Hanson added a late field goal to make it 10-0 at the half.
Former first-round draft pick Sebastian Janikowski missed three field goals in the first half for Oakland..
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