Lions vs. Saints: Score and Twitter Reaction for Monday Night Football

The New Orleans Saints didn't show up for their Monday night game against the Detroit Lions at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome until the second half. By then, it was too late.

Detroit jumped out to a 28-3 lead against the Saints and held on for dear life the rest of the way to pick up a 35-27 victory. Quarterback Matthew Stafford led the way with 254 passing yards and three touchdowns, but it was another abysmal performance by the Saints defense that set the tone.    

ESPN Stats & Info highlighted just how bad it has gotten in New Orleans:

Running backs Ameer Abdullah and Joique Bell both found the end zone on the ground for the Lions, while wide receiver Golden Tate hauled in two of Stafford's touchdown passes. As for the Saints, quarterback Drew Brees was impressive in the comeback effort with 341 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Brandin Cooks tallied 124 receiving yards and a score.

Alas, the offensive outburst was far too little, too late, and Calvin Johnson pounced on an onside kick to end any hope of a dramatic comeback.

The Saints looked like an absolute disaster in the early going. Detroit steamrolled its way to a 21-3 lead in the first half, and Stafford completed 12 of his first 13 passes for 142 yards and all three of his touchdowns.

Justin Rogers of MLive weighed in on the initial developments:

The NFL shared a play that summed up New Orleans' efforts on the defensive side of the ball:

To make matters worse for the Saints, Michael Fabiano of NFL.com tweeted: "You can tell Brees is hurt. Can't step into his throws."

Even if that was the case, the former Purdue star rifled a beautiful ball downfield to Cooks in the final minutes of the first half for what was originally ruled a touchdown. After a review, the receiver was said to be down at the 1-yard line, but the play drew a head-turning comparison from Mark F. Bonner of the International Business Times:

The NFL captured the highlight:

Tim Hightower then ran the ball in for a touchdown, but a penalty wiped it off the board. The Saints elected to go for it on fourth down and scored again on a pass to wide receiver Marques Colston, but yet another penalty negated the score. The half ended with the Lions ahead 21-3 and the crowd unleashing a litany of boos.     

The officials actually stopped play before the fourth-down attempt when Detroit signaled for a timeout, even though it didn't have any remaining. Dan Carson of Bleacher Report commented on the mistake:

It was more of the same at the start of the second half as Detroit went 78 yards on six plays to open up a 28-3 lead. Abdullah scored from 15 yards out and prompted this reaction from NFL on ESPN:

Mike Triplett of ESPN noted it looked like the end of an era:

The Saints went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, which left Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk questioning their strategy as the game slipped further away:

At least the home team finally forced a punt in the middle of the third quarter after allowing touchdowns on four straight possessions. New Orleans parlayed that into a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brees to Cooks to trim the deficit to 28-10. Brees made some history in the process, per the Saints:

New Orleans cut further into its deficit early in the final quarter with a field goal to make it 28-13, and NFL on CBS pointed to even more history being made by the signal-caller on the drive:

On the next play from scrimmage, Abdullah fumbled the ball away to give the Saints possession inside the Detroit 40-yard line. Five plays later, Brees found Colston from 11 yards out to bring his team within one score at 28-20, and Michael Rothstein of ESPN said it was business as usual for the Lions: 

Just when it looked like Detroit was in the midst of a complete collapse, Stafford led his team down the field with a little help from Abdullah on a critical third down. Bell lated scored from the 1-yard line to cap a nine-play, 76-yard drive that put the visitors ahead 35-20. Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News noted the Lions had more than just the lead to feel good about:

The Saints remained within striking distance with an impressive 15-play, 80-yard drive. Brees hit Benjamin Watson for a one-yard score to cut the deficit to 35-27, but there were less than two minutes remaining at that point.

Johnson was invisible nearly all game, but he recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Bell busted through the line for a 36-yard run to set the Lions up inside the New Orleans 10-yard line. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press commented on Johnson's performance:

Matt Prater missed a short field goal to give the Saints one last chance with nine seconds remaining, but Hightower was tackled near midfield to end the game.

What's Next?

The Lions (5-9) are well out of playoff contention, but they could build some momentum heading into the offseason with winnable contests against the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears to close the season. Those two teams are a combined 9-19 and in similar playing-out-the-string situations.

The Saints (5-9) are also out of the postseason race, and the best they can hope for in the final two contests is victories against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons. A couple of wins would give fans something good to feel about heading into the offseason, though losses would improve New Orleans' draft position.

Either way, it's a lost campaign for the Lions and the Saints, two teams that harbored playoff hopes at the beginning of the year.

Postgame Reaction

The Lions seemed to catch a break in the first half when the officials stopped play, failing to recognize Detroit didn't have any timeouts remaining, as the Saints snapped the ball on fourth down.

Official Pete Morelli talked to pool reporter Ted Lewis about the sequence. "There is no penalty on that type of play," Morelli said. "The only penalty on timeouts is when they freeze a kicker. By rule, there's no foul, no penalty by rule (for) granting an extra timeout," per Nick Underhill of the Advocate.

It wasn't the only questionable call that drive. New Orleans lost a touchdown because Senio Kelemete was ruled ineligible, but head coach Sean Payton said his lineman reported as eligible and that "Senio's one of the smartest guys on our team," per Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com.

Brees' status is of long-term concern. The quarterback said he hurt his foot and would have an MRI on Tuesday, per Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com.

On the other side, fantasy owners were likely wondering why Johnson only had one catch. Stafford offered an explanation, per Paula Pasche of the Oakland Press: "You guys can see the way Calvin is running around out there. He's doing everything he can right now, he's fighting through. They were doubling him the whole game. Every time I caught the snap, 31 (Jairus Byrd) was sprinting to where he was."

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said the team would enjoy the win, though Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News reported Caldwell "had no interest in reflecting on why [the] offense didn't hum like this the rest of the year."

Perhaps if he figures that out during the offseason, the Lions can challenge for a playoff spot in 2016.