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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lions make NFL history

Matthew Stafford stepped into the huddle, looked into his teammates’ eyes and delivered a message.

“He told us, ‘It’s about that time, let’s loosen up, have fun and score on these guys,’ ” Detroit Lions receiver Titus Young recalled Monday. “Then, we started to rally.”

Did they ever. Again.

Detroit dug a 27-3 hole Sunday at Dallas and came back to win 34-30, a week after falling behind Minnesota 20-0 and winning 26-23 in overtime.

The Lions have become the Comeback Cats, the first team in NFL history to rally from 20-plus point deficits in consecutive victories and its 24-point comeback at Dallas matched the largest one on the road in league history, according to STATS, LLC.

“I think anytime you come down from 20-something, you’re doing some kind of stealing,” Stafford said. “We played good in the second half to come back and steal it. We have to play better in the first half, we know that. We have to come out and improve next week.”

Detroit (4-0) will host the Chicago Bears (2-2) in its first game on Monday night in a decade with the proud-again franchise shooting for a 5-0 start for the first time since 1956 – the year before its last NFL championship.

Detroit coach Jim Schwartz has been encouraged by the resilience of his team, but he’s not ready to start making postseason plans.

“I don’t even know when the playoffs start,” Schwartz said. “We got off to a good start in the first four games, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Long injury lists

Ben Roethlisberger and Andre Johnson are uncertainties for next week’s games after sustaining injuries Sunday.

The Steelers quarterback was scheduled to undergo an MRI on his left foot after injuring it on Pittsburgh’s final drive in a 17-10 loss to Houston. Roethlisberger remained in the game, but walked out of the locker room afterward on crutches with the foot in a protective boot.

Johnson, Houston’s All-Pro wide receiver, is nursing an injured right hamstring and the team will seek other medical opinions.

Coach Gary Kubiak said Johnson will “miss some time,” which he said could range from three to four days to a “few weeks.”

The Steelers host Tennessee next Sunday, and the Titans will be missing safety Chris Hope, who will need surgery on his broken left forearm and likely will be out four to six weeks.

Jets linebacker Bryan Thomas is out for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon suffered in a loss to the Ravens.

Browns Pro Bowl center Alex Mack underwent surgery to have his appendix removed, one day after he felt sick but played all 87 snaps in Cleveland’s loss to Tennessee.

Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur said he does not know if Mack will be able to play in Cleveland’s Oct. 16 game against Oakland.

Jolly arrested

Suspended Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly was jailed Monday after his third drug arrest in three years.

Jolly was charged Saturday with possession of a compound containing codeine. He also was charged with tampering with evidence for attempting to conceal the substance from investigators, according to records.

The 6-foot-3, 325-pound lineman started all 16 games for Green Bay in 2008 and ‘09 but he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in July 2010 and did not play for the Packers last year.