DETROIT – Roy Williams went from much-maligned player to standout receiver.

Williams caught a career-high three touchdown passes from Joey Harrington to lead the Detroit Lions past the Arizona Cardinals 29-21.

Detroit (4-5) ended a two-game losing streak and Arizona (2-7) lost its third straight.

The Lions led 19-3 at halftime and by 15 with 8:35 left before Arizona came back.

The Cardinals pulled to 29-21 with 2:24 left on Kurt Warner’s 8-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald. After not recovering the onside kick, Arizona got the ball back at its 18 with 1:01 left. The Cardinals’ comeback hopes ended at their 39 with a deflected pass on fourth down.

Williams, playing an entire game for the first time since Oct. 2, had seven receptions for 117 yards and caught TD passes of 7, 21 and 29 yards. The last Lion to catch three TDs in a game was Herman Moore in 1995.

Williams had been out with a quadriceps injury until returning last week, when he played just three plays. Early in the season, teammate Kevin Jones screamed at him on the sideline for a route he ran, and Williams publicly lamented a lack of chemistry with Harrington.

The second-year receiver might be forgiven after his latest performance, in which he made Harrington look good by making tough catches.

Harrington was 22-of-32 for 231 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. He started his second straight game in place of the banged-up Jeff Garcia and didn’t hear many boos at home for a change. Unlike Arizona, the Lions had some success running the ball with Jones’ 81 yards rushing.

Warner started for the Cardinals over Josh McCown and completed 29 of 45 passes for 359 yards with a TD and no interceptions. Fitzgerald had nine receptions for 141 yards and a score.

The Cardinals had their first TD rushing this year when J.J. Arrington scored from 1 yard in the third quarter, but they had just 38 yards rushing as a team.

Arizona had to rely on its kicker to be a bright spot, as usual. Neil Rackers connected from 51 and 28 yards, making him 28-for-28 on field goals this season.

The Lions scored on their opening drive for the first time this year.

Jones ran for 36 yards on a fourth-and-1 to set up Williams’ 7-yard TD catch, which he bobbled before securing and getting both feet in the back of the end zone. Dan Wilkinson tackled Obafemi Ayanbadejo for a safety, giving Detroit a 9-0 lead late in the first quarter.

The Lions had a pair of 16-point leads before Arizona mounted a failed comeback in the final minutes.

AP-ES-11-13-05 1639EST

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