THAT’S WON!
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NEW ORLEANS — Saints defensive lineman Cam Jordan saw the goal post right in front of him and couldn’t resist the urge to rise up for a basketball style dunk of the football over the cross bar.
Jordan had just tipped quarterback Matthew Stafford’s pass to himself in the Lions’ end zone — a climactic moment in a game defined by bizarre bounces, unusual plays, extraordinary momentum swings and a first for the Saints’ defense. Only a forbidden, fineable touchdown celebration would do.
“I realized my regular sack dance wasn’t going to cut it,” said Jordan, who expects to be fined and said it will have been worth it. “Fourth quarter, game was sort of tight. We had to seal that. I had been preaching: ‘ This is our chance to respond.’ I’m glad I was the one to do it.”
Running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara combined for 237 yards from scrimmage, a resurgent defense forced five turnovers and scored a franchise- record three times and the Saints took a 52- 38 victory over the Lions on Sunday in a game that wound up being nowhere near over after the Saints took a five- touchdown lead.
The Saints ( 3- 2), who have a winning record for the first time since their last playoff season in 2013, had to gut out a remarkable bid by the Lions ( 3- 3) to pull off the greatest comeback in NFL history.
“It was a different one from sure,” said Stafford, noting that he and Saints quarterback Drew Brees brought up the strange nature of the game when they greeted each other on the field before heading to the locker room. “He said, ‘ That was a weird one, huh?’ And I said, ‘ Yeah, it was crazy.’ ”
Already renowned for leading Lions comebacks, Stafford only regretted three interceptions he described as fluky and his two fumbles.
“I’ll probably be more frustrated with the fumbles than anything else,” he said.
The Lions scored four consecutive TDs, including one on a 74- yard punt return by Jamal Agnew and another on A’Shawn Robinson’s close- range interception near the Saints’ goal line, in less than 15 minutes off the game clock to pull to 45- 38 with 6: 41 left.