Sawyer's "sting' worked Monday, September 14, 1998
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PONTIAC, Mich. -- Detroit Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell has a reputation for inconsistency, but he looked steady Sunday when he threw in Corey Sawyer's direction.
Corey Sawyer still clutches the ball as he walks off the field.
(AP photo)
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Mitchell completed five short but effective passes to Herman Moore and Johnnie Morton in front of Sawyer, the Bengals' No. 3 cornerback who played frequently as Detroit used extra wide-receiver sets. "I had a tough day," Sawyer said.
But it ended well for Sawyer, whose 53-yard interception return on the fourth play of overtime gave the Bengals a 34-28 victory over the Lions at the Pontiac Silverdome.
It was Sawyer's 11th interception of his five-year career, which includes a 61-yard return after intercepting Green Bay's Brett Favre on Dec. 3, 1995, and his first scoring runback. Sawyer's only other NFL touchdown came on Sept. 25, 1994, when he returned a punt 82 yards at Houston -- Cincinnati's last such scoring play until Damon Gibson's 65-yard punt return in Sunday's fourth quarter.
On the conclusive third down-and-3 play from Detroit's 47-yard line, Sawyer was employing a technique called "Double-55," in which he simulated man-to-man coverage but actually took responsibility for an outside area. Had Morton broken inside on a slant pattern, safety Myron Bell would have latched onto him.
"We practiced that all week," Sawyer said. "My job was to stay outside and wait for that "out' route."
Morton noticed where Sawyer was playing and started to break past him. But Mitchell threw the ball prematurely.
"That's basically a play where if I run a slant route and the cornerback stays kind of low, then I take off and go deep," he said. "It's a "read' pattern and it's a little risky."
Mitchell apparently read the play incorrectly: "The defensive back (Sawyer) turned at just the right moment and made a good play, and we didn't," he said.
Ironically, Sawyer's prior failures paved the way for his ultimate success.
"They were hurting us outside, throwing a lot of stuff out there, and Corey set (Mitchell) up to come under," defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said, wearing a huge smile. "Sometimes you're right and on that one, we had just the right call on with the right player executing it. It was a wonderful play. What a great way to end the game."
BENGALS 34, LIONS 28
