Sanders Is Too Much for Bengals

Barry Sanders went into the record book, but more important for the Detroit Lions, he went into the end zone.

Sanders became the Lions’ all-time rushing leader Sunday, then scored the clinching touchdown in the final quarter on a five-yard run to give the Lions a 19-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

“It feels good,” Sanders said. “Everybody will pay attention to Barry Sanders, but for the last 3 1/2 years I wasn’t the only one out there. . . . A lot of credit has got to go to a lot of other guys besides me. I don’t think I’m being modest, I think I’m being realistic.”

Sanders was nearly the entire offense for Detroit (3-8), which ended a three-game losing streak. He rushed for a season-high 151 yards, 101 in the first half, including several highlight-film runs.

Sanders has 5,202 yards, breaking Billy Sims’ mark of 5,106 with an 18-yard run late in the first half.

Cincinnati (4-7) managed only 95 total yards--52 rushing and 43 passing--for the second-lowest mark in club history.

The Bengals’ only touchdown came on James Francis’ 66-yard interception return that cut the Lions’ lead to 16-13 early in the fourth quarter.

The momentum didn’t last. Mel Gray returned the kickoff 52 yards, and Erik Kramer threw a 32-yard pass to Herman Moore to set up Jason Hanson’s fourth field goal, a 29-yarder with 3:56 left.

“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong when we dropped back to pass,” said Boomer Esiason, who completed 12 of 25 for 64 yards with two interceptions.