DETROIT -- Observed and heard in the locker room after the Detroit Lions’ 20-16 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Even though the Lions entered Sunday at 6-2 and in first place in the NFC North, center Dominic Raiola believed beating the Dolphins was “the most of a must-win game that I’ve ever been a part of. We needed to win, and that’s what we did.” Asked why he felt like that, he said, “The difference between 7-2 and 6-3, it sounds different. It sounds better. But it’s big.”
Tight end Brandon Pettigrew once again played on an injured foot but was the only injured Lions tight end who actually played Sunday. He said his foot “is a little banged-up, but that’s part of football. Everybody out there is banged-up.”
The Lions gave their game ball Sunday to Army specialist Andrew Martin, who was also part of the coin toss. Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Martin is being deployed to Korea and “we certainly wanted to give him something to remember in regard to this particular game.”
