Reggie Bush after scoring (AP photo)
Folks are always looking for comparisons in sports.
How did this star do compared to another star years ago?
This time, some are wondering how Reggie Bush did compared to other Lions greats. Bush definitely influenced Sunday’s 34-24 Lions victory over the Minnesota Vikings. He rushed for 90 yards and had 101 yards receiving.
Not bad.
Sports writer Mike O'Hara, who writes for the Detroit Lions website, answers the question: Reggie, Billy, Barry: How did Bush’s debut compare to how Billy Sims and Barry Sanders broke in with the Lions?
The best answer is that what Bush did Sunday doesn’t have to be compared to what any other running back. He did enough for his performance to stand on its own merits and validate – for one game, at least – everything the Lions hoped he would give them when they signed him in March.
He caught the ball. He ran hard. He broke big plays. In short, he influenced the game. He made the plays of the game for the Lions’ offense. First he turned a short pass over the middle into a 77-yard catch and run for a TD that gave the Lions a 27-17 lead in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, when the Lions were driving to clinch the game, he got within two feet of the goal line on third and two with a six-yard run. That made it first and goal. Rookie Joseph Fauria caught a TD pass on the next play to extend the lead to 10 points.
He went over the 100-yard mark as a receiver, and that’s probably the area where he’ll make his biggest impact throughout the year. But he ran hard to gain 90 yards on the ground. It was a good two-way effort.
O'Hara goes on to write the debuts of Sims and Sanders were different because they were rookies. Obviously, Bush is not.
He writes that Sims opening game against the Rams, he rushed 153 yards and scored three touchdowns. He noted that Sanders in 1989 was a contract holdout and had only two days of practice before playing the Cardinals. Plus, he didn't play the first half. But he did have nine carries for 71 yards, O'Hara notes.
O’Hara concludes: "Let’s put away the history book and focus on the 2013 Lions."
