Two of the Lions who were most instrumental in the Lions snapping their meager 26-game road losing streak are up for awards this week (and, no, Calvin Johnson is--somehow--not one of them).
↵Drew Stanton was nominated Monday for the Week 15 FedEx Air player of the week and Maurice Morris was nominated for GMC Never Say Never Moment of Week 15 (and I just figured out why Mike Tirico and Deion Sanders always take over my ESPN FantasyCast before I can see my scores).
↵Stanton was behind the wheel of the Lions' 23-20 road victory, completing 23 of 37 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown. Perhaps most impressive is that he played the entire second half with a separated left shoulder. Unfortunately, he's going up against great weeks from the more renowned Philip Rivers (19 of 25 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns) and Michael Vick (21 of 35 passes for 242 yards, three touchdowns passing and 130 yards and a touchdown rushing). Yeah, it's nice that Stanton was nominated.
↵Maurice Morris was nominated for the Never Say Never Moment of Week 15 for his 35-yard run in overtime that helped set up Dave Rayner's game-winning field goal. I was actually surprised to read this because Morris' run was at the inception of the drive and Calvin Johnson's inhuman catches later in the drive probably trumped. As is the case with Stanton's chances at winning, Morris is going up against perhaps one of the greatest made-for-Never-Say-Never-Moment's ever in DeSean Jackson's walk-off punt return for a touchdown, which completed the Eagles' unbelievable comeback.
↵Even if they don't win these awards, it still sweetens the Lions victory and makes it feel like the team we root for is finally relevant.