A Lions’ Share of Best NFC Record

The Detroit Lions, despite the retirement of Barry Sanders and mounting injuries, keep finding new heroes in a surprising ride to the top of the NFC.

In a wild shootout Sunday, backup quarterback Gus Frerotte threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Johnnie Morton with 28 seconds left for the seventh lead change as the Lions beat the St. Louis Rams, 31-27, for their fourth consecutive victory.

“We proved that we are for real,” Lion safety Ron Rice said. “One of the best teams in the NFL just came in here and got beat.”

Frerotte, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 209 passes and two touchdowns, played the entire second half because Charlie Batch--who passed for 148 yards and one touchdown--sprained the thumb on his throwing hand.

On the winning drive, the Lions went 77 yards in 10 plays, the biggest being a 57-yard pass play to Germane Crowell in front of Ram cornerback Dexter McCleon on fourth and 26 at the Lion 21.

“On fourth and 25 or whatever it was, you just throw it up and let the guys run under it,” Frerotte said. “It looked like both of their guys fell down and Germane was just standing there by himself. That was an amazing play. I just held the ball as long as I could and let it go.”

Detroit also benefited from a pass interference call against McCleon that gave the Lions a first down at the 12. Detroit scored on the next play.

Kurt Warner, who was 24 for 41 for 305 yards and three touchdowns, tried to bring the Rams back one last time, but had a pass intercepted by Rice with two seconds remaining.

The Rams, who have lost two in a row after a 6-0 start, led 12-10 at halftime, but an interception by Terry Fair set up a two-yard touchdown pass from Frerotte to Cory Schlesinger. Jason Hanson’s 43-yard field goal gave Detroit a 21-12 lead with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

The Rams closed within 21-19 on a 75-yard pass play from Warner to Az-Zahir Hakim for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Hanson’s 44-yard field goal put the Lions ahead 24-19 with 6:10 remaining, but the Rams answered with an 87-yard, eight-play drive that culminated at 2:42 with Warner’s two-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Tucker, a backup left tackle who was eligible on the play. Warner’s pass to Issac Bruce for the two-point conversion made the score 27-24.