Sanders Sets Mark as Lions Win, 33-7

The Detroit Lions, behind the running of Barry Sanders and passing of Bob Gagliano, won their fourth consecutive game, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33-7, Sunday for Detroit’s longest win streak since the start of the 1980 season.

Sanders, the NFC’s leading rusher, ran for 104 yards and one touchdown in 21 carries, giving him 1,312 yards and the Lions’ club record for a rookie. Billy Sims, who set the former mark with 1,308 yards in 1980 and is now retired, rushed onto the field to congratulate Sanders after an 11-yard run with 6:34 left in the third quarter that put him over the mark.

It was the sixth 100-yard game for Sanders, who has rushed for more yardage than the entire Detroit team did a year ago. With one game remaining, he is 125 yards shy of Sims’ single-season club mark of 1,437 in 1981.

The Lions (6-9) lost a bid for their first shutout in six years when Tampa Bay’s Joe Ferguson and Mark Carrier hooked up for a 69-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game. It was Detroit’s first sweep of the Bucs (5-10) since 1983.

“We weren’t good enough in any phase of the game,” Tampa Bay Coach Ray Perkins said. “We got outcoached, outplayed and, if they had cheerleaders, we probably got outcheered.”

Gagliano, who has been the quarterback in all four games in the winning streak, completed 19 of 33 for 192 yards, including first-quarter touchdown passes of two yards to Richard Johnson and 55 to Jason Phillips. Sanders ran for a four-yard second-quarter touchdown and Eddie Murray kicked field goals of 33, 43, 35 and 36 yards.

The Bucs’ offensive line, which allowed only 22 sacks in the first 11 games, has yielded 17 in the last four weeks, including four by Detroit. The third sack, with 10:54 remaining in the second quarter, put Tampa Bay quarterback Vinny Testaverde out of the game with a sprained left ankle.

Ferguson went the rest of the way, completing seven of 18 for 161 yards, with three of the Bucs’ four interceptions. Carrier, who has eight 100-yard receiving games, including four of his last five, caught four passes for 131 yards.

“We didn’t execute,” Carrier said. “We made a lot of mistakes. Every time we made a big play we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Detroit took the opening kickoff and, with Sanders ripping off runs of 13 and 34 yards, went 67 yards in six plays, with Gagliano hitting Johnson in front of Harry Hamilton for the score.

On Tampa Bay’s second possession, Jerry Holmes intercepted a Testaverde pass in front of Carrier at midfield. Three plays later, on a third-and-15, Gagliano found Phillips wide open behind blown coverage for a scoring play that put Detroit ahead 14-0 with 4:57 left in the first quarter.

With Gagliano passing for 25 yards and scrambling twice for 28, the Lions went 53 yards in 12 plays on their next possession and Murray kicked a 33-yard field goal to cap the second-quarter drive.