Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Matthew Stafford had three touchdown passes, and Joique Bell scored twice as the Detroit Lions pounded the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-17, at Ford Field on Sunday. Stafford went 26-for-34 for 311 yards with touchdown passes to Bell, Calvin Johnson and Joseph Fauria for the Lions (9-4), who have won two straight after consecutive road losses. I feel good, I feel confident in what we are doing, said Stafford. The guys on offense are feeling pretty confident in what weve been doing here lately, and the guys up front are keeping me clean most of the time. Johnson finished the game with eight catches for 158 yards, while Bell had 18 carries for 83 yards and a rushing touchdown while adding five catches for 50 yards for Detroit. Our guys certainly played a good team game today, said Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell. It certainly wasnt perfect, they never are. Our offense was controlled and we ran the ball better than pretty much any game this year. The Lions are still in the hunt for the top spot in the NFC North, as the team sits a half-game back of the Packers for first place. Green Bay hosts Atlanta on Monday night. Josh McCown was under pressure all day as he was sacked six times and took several hard hits. He completed 20-for-39 passes for 250 yards with two touchdown passes, but he was picked off twice and also lost a fumble. They played really hard and got after us pretty good, said McCown. We were able to get a few things going at times, but it wasnt enough today. Vincent Jackson caught 10 passes for 159 yards, and Mike Evans caught both touchdown passes for the Buccaneers (2-11), who have lost their last three games. We were beaten by a better football team today, said Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith. They were able to run the ball and we werent. All three phases, they were way better than us. Detroit turned the ball over on downs at Tampa Bay 24-yard line on the opening possession of the game. The Buccaneers, though, went three-and-out and the Lions got the ball back at their own 30. Johnson caught a 21-yard pass on 3rd-and-10, while Eric Ebron made a 12-yard grab on 3rd-and-10. Catches of 15 yards by Johnson, and 13- yards from Golden Tate got the ball to the Tampa 6, and Stafford threw a right corner fade that Johnson came down with for a 7-0 lead with 2:57 to play in the first. Tampa Bay came back with a successful drive to get on the board, as Patrick Murray booted a 54-yard field goal down the middle to make it a 7-3 game with 13:32 to play in the half. The Lions then went three-and-out, but the defense came up with a big play as Glover Quin picked off a tipped pass to give his team the ball back at the Tampa 34. Facing a 3rd-and-goal at the Tampa 1, Bell bulled his way up the middle to give his team a 14-3 lead with 6:01 to play in the half. Another turnover from Tampa, this one a fumble from McCown that Detroit recovered at the Tampa 32, led to a 46-yard field goal from Matt Prater that gave the Lions a 17-3 lead with 3:01 to play in the second. Tampa quickly got into scoring position out of the two-minute warning as McCown went deep and Jackson came up with a 50-yard grab to the Detroit 8. The Lions nearly escaped without giving up any points, as James Ihedigbo picked off McCown in the end zone. However, he decided to bring the ball out and wound up getting it stripped, with Tampa getting the ball back at the Detroit 10. Four plays later, McCown found Evans in the left side of the end zone for a 5- yard score to make it a 17-10 game at the break. Detroit forced a Tampa punt on the opening possession of the second half, and a 53-yard catch from Johnson set up a 23-yard boot by Prater for a 10-point lead early in the third. Tampas next two touches ended with punts, and the Lions started a drive at their own 12 that saw Bell gain 27 yards on the first snap. Getting the ball across midfield, Stafford then connected with Johnson for 18 yards to get into the red zone, and Fauria caught a 10-yard score for a 27-10 lead with just 15 seconds left in the third. The Buccaneers came back with their best drive of the game. A 24-yard pass interference call on Detroit got the ball across midfield, and McCown went into the left corner of the end zone for Evans, who used his bicep and helmet to come down with a 26-yard score to make it a 27-17 contest with 12:52 left. Tampa got across midfield on its next possession, but ultimately had to punt, pinning Detroit at its own 8. Bell took the first snap around the right tackle for 57 yards down to the Tampa 35. A 15-yard catch from Johnson got the ball to the 5, and the next snap saw a Stafford pass batted into the air. Bell, though, came down with the ball and ran his way in for a 34-17 lead with 5:01 to play. The Bucs punted on their next drive, and failed on fourth down on their next possession as the Lions held on for the victory. Game Notes The Lions controlled the ball for 36:35 and totaled 407 yards of offense. Tampa managed just 233 yards, including a meager 26 yards on 14 rushing plays ... Detroit hosts Minnesota next Sunday ... Tampa plays in Carolina next Sunday ... Detroit has won three of the last four meetings with Tampa Bay, and leads the series, 30-27 ... It was the 43rd 100-yard game of Johnsons career. Cheap Air VaporMax China . Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. Air VaporMax Sale . Villa has already confirmed his short-term deal and the Daily Mirror reported early Tuesday that Lampard will join him as both build up match fitness ahead of moves to the new Major League Soccer franchise New York City. http://www.cheapairvapormaxfreeshipping.com/. Ben Street scored twice for the Heat (17-5-1), who won their fourth game in a row and 13th in their last 14 outings. Brett Bulmer scored the lone goal for the Wild (6-11-0), who dropped their sixth straight contest. Blue Air VaporMax 2018 Online . Toronto (11-12) gave up leads in 10-8 and 11-4 losses to the Baltimore Orioles this week. It was never close Friday as the Boston Red Sox got to Mark Buehrle early en route to an 8-1 win. Red Air VaporMax 2018 On Sale . Paul George and Darren Collison each scored 17 points and Roy Hibbert added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers (9-3), who won their third straight.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- With go-to scorer Dirk Nowitzki having an off night, the Dallas Mavericks relied on other offensive options to hold off the Sacramento Kings. Monta Ellis scored eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks kept their playoff position with their third straight win, a 93-91 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. The Mavericks won for the fourth time in five games to maintain seventh place in the Western Conference. It was the fifth straight road win for Dallas, which concludes its four-game road trip Tuesday in Utah. "Every game is a playoff game right now," Dallas reserve centre DeJuan Blair said. The Kings defeated Dallas at home earlier this season and their three straight losses have been by a combined nine points. So with Nowitzki getting 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting, the Mavericks had to look elsewhere for a reliable scorer. It was Ellis who stepped up in a tight fourth quarter. He made a crucial 3-pointer and converted all three free throws when Dallas was clinging to its slim lead down the stretch. Ellis made a 3 at the 3:04 mark of the fourth quarter and converted a three-point play to give the Mavericks a 90-84 lead with 1:51 left. "Monta saved the day in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "He made that huge 3 and then he had the and-one (three-point play) on a pick and roll. He was phenomenal in the fourth quarter." Rudy Gay had 32 points and tied a career high with eight assists for the Kings, DeMarcus Cousins added 28 points and 10 rebounds, and rookie point guard Ray McCallum had eight points and nine rebounds. The Kings played their sixth straight game without starting point guard Isaiah Thomas (right quadriceps contusion), who is averaging 20.7 points and 6.4 assists per game. "The Kings match up tough against us," said Blair, who had six points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes. "They have played us three tough games." Vince Carter scored 17 points and Jose Calderon hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points for the Mavericks, who made 13 threes. Nowitzki, who shot 64 per cent and averaged 28.7 points in his previous three games, missed eight of his first 10 shots. Followwing a timeout early in the third quarter, Nowitzki hit a 19-footer and soon after made a 3-pointer.dddddddddddd "Obviously, their backs are up against the wall right now. They know they need every game they can get to get into the post-season," Gay said. "We went into this game knowing that we didnt have anything to lose. They are going to play a lot of teams that dont have anything to lose. For them to stay competitive, its going to be tough for them." The Kings fouled Ellis intentionally and he made two free throws to put Dallas in front 92-87 with 24 seconds left. McCallums layup and two free throws by Gay pulled the Kings to within one point. But Nowitzki hit one of two foul shots and Cousins was short on a baseline jumper in the closing seconds that would have sent the game to overtime. "I still think we had an opportunity to make something happen," Cousins said. "But I am kind of disappointed in myself for settling for a shot like that. I could have gotten a lot better shot than that." The teams swapped misses before Gays three-point play pulled the Kings within three points with 26 seconds left. Cousins made a driving shot in traffic to put Sacramento ahead 77-75 with 6:51 to go in the fourth. Consecutive 3s by Carter and another by Shawn Marion put Dallas ahead 84-79 with 4:20. Trailing for much of the third quarter, Ellis had three transition baskets and Calderon made a 3 to help Dallas outscore the Kings 11-4 in the final 3:15 to take a 68-65 lead into the fourth. "We knew it was going to be a dog fight, but the good thing is we stayed together," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "The Kings are pretty tough, but we came through. Every game has such a high level of importance. We need to play much better than tonight." NOTES: Cousins had 14 of his 16 first-half points in the first quarter. The Kings led 48-45 at the half. ... Dallas shot 29 per cent in the second quarter and was outscored 24-16. ... Ex-King Peja Stojakovic, a three-time All-Star in Sacramento, sat courtside next to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive. ... Derrick Williams scored 31 points in an earlier home wins against the Mavericks, but had only five in the rematch. ' ' '