ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PONTIAC, MICH.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
HERMAN MOORE had a team-record 14 catches for the red-hot Lions.
The Detroit Lions can still think playoffs.
With Scott Mitchell passing for three touchdowns Monday night, the Lions won their fourth straight game, a 27-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Lions coach Wayne Fontes was given a win-or-else ultimatum by club owner William Clay Ford four games ago. Now Detroit is 7-6 and still alive.
The victory also gave the Lions their first season sweep over Chicago (7-6) since 1983. The Bears, who have lost four of their last five games, haven't won a road game in December since 1987.
Detroit is 24-13 under Fontes in games played on or after Thanksgiving. Fontes is 19-6 in the final four games of the season.
Herman Moore, who scored the Lions' first touchdown, set a club record with 14 catches for a career-high 183 yards, breaking the team mark of 12 in a game shared by three others. Moore has 101 catches for the season.
The high-powered show by the NFL's top-rated offense was expected. But the Lions' defense also stepped up against the Bears, who went into the game with the league's No.6 offense. Erik Kramer, who had been sacked only eight times in the Bears' first 12 games, was sacked four times by Detroit.
The Lions rolled up 419 yards while holding Chicago to 185 yards.
Kramer completed 21-of-33 for 140 yards. That gave him 3,217 yards for the season, breaking Bill Wade's 1962 club record. But by failing to throw a touchdown, Kramer was still two short of Sid Luckman's single-season club record of 28 in 1943.
Mitchell matched Bobby Layne's 1951 record of 26 touchdown passes.
Mitchell, who completed 26 of 38 passes for 320 yards, hooked up with Moore for a 46-yard touchdown, tossed a 4-yard touchdown strike to Johnnie Morton and threw a swing pass that Barry Sanders turned into a 9-yard touchdown for a 21-0 halftime lead.
Sanders, needing 96 yards to become the 10th player in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards, finished with 90 yards on 23 carries. He caught six passes for an additional 93 yards.
Jason Hanson's 42-yard field goal gave Detroit a 24-0 lead 2:49 into the third quarter.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB