Lions Find Road to Their Liking

The road to respectability for the Detroit Lions has been ... the road.

How ironic for a team that went three years and an NFL-record 24 games without winning away from Motown.

Joey Harrington threw two touchdown passes, and Chris Cash made a crucial diving interception in the end zone late in the first half to lead the Lions to a 28-13 win over the New York Giants on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.

“I feel like we can go in anywhere and play and compete,” Harrington said after the Lions (4-2) won for the third time in three road games this season.

“That’s the type of attitude you have to have as a team, as a contender,” Harrington added. “We’re right in the thick of things. We’re not going to say this is good enough, we can be a contender next year because we are young.

“We’re going to give it a shot and keep playing and hopefully things will fall for us.”

Kevin Jones scored on a two-yard run and Artose Pinner iced the game with an eight-yard touchdown run as Detroit ended a four-game winning streak for the Giants (4-2).

The loss also showed that even new Coach Tom Coughlin could not change the Giants’ woes after a week off. New York has lost four straight, eight of nine, and 13 of 16 since the NFL started giving teams weeks off in 1990.

“I can’t blame it on the bye week, that’s a cop-out,” defensive end Michael Strahan said. “If you don’t make plays you don’t win. We didn’t have any enthusiasm. We had it, let it go, and the Lions picked it up and never let go of it.”

Harrington, 18 for 22 for 230 yards, threw touchdown passes of 18 yards to rookie Roy Williams in the first quarter and two yards to Reggie Swinton late in the fourth for a 21-13 lead.

Tampa Bay 19, Chicago 7 -- Michael Pittman rushed for 109 yards and one touchdown, sparking the Buccaneers at Tampa, Fla., in a matchup of teams desperately needing to jump-start disappointing seasons.

Brian Griese threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Michael Clayton and Martin Gramatica kicked a pair of 22-yard field goals for Tampa Bay (2-5), which rushed for a season-high 138 yards. Pittman became the fourth back in six games to top the 100-yard mark against the Bears (1-5).

Pittman, making his third start after sitting out three games while serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, sealed the outcome with a three-yard touchdown run with just under nine minutes to go.

Chicago continued to struggle with Jonathan Quinn filling in at quarterback for injured Rex Grossman. Craig Krenzel replaced Quinn after the Bears fell behind, 10-0, and the rookie completed nine of 19 passes for 69 yards and threw an interception that set up Pittman’s touchdown.

The Bears avoided a shutout when Thomas Jones’ one-yard touchdown run gave them hope for a comeback. But Ronde Barber’s interception and return to the Chicago 11 positioned Tampa Bay to put the game away.

One of the bright spots for the Bears in their slow start under first-year Coach Lovie Smith has been Jones, who leads the team in rushing and receptions. A bust for three seasons in Arizona, the 220-pound back began to turn his career around with Tampa Bay last year.