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Bills coach Jauron faces another of his former teams

Oct 10, 2006 - 10:45 PM Buffalo (2-3) at Detroit (0-5) Sunday 1:00 pm EDT

DETROIT (Ticker) - When the Detroit Lions last won a game, Dick Jauron was on their sideline.

Jauron will be across the field Sunday when the Lions - one of four winless teams in the NFL - host the Buffalo Bills in an interconference game.

Last season, Jauron was the defensive coordinator of the Lions and took over as interim coach after Steve Mariucci was fired November 28. Detroit went 1-4 under Jauron, posting a 13-12 victory over New Orleans at San Antonio on December 24.

The Lions have not won since, losing the 2005 season finale at Pittsburgh under Jauron before starting this campaign with five straight losses under rookie coach Rod Marinelli. It is the worst start for the Lions since they were 0-12 in 2001 under Marty Mornhinweg.

While Marinelli is still searching for his first win, Jauron has two in his first season with the Bills and can get back to .500 with a victory here.

In addition to coaching the Lions, Jauron also played free safety for the team from 1973-78.

Jauron hopes this reunion is better than the one he experienced last week, when the Bills were trampled, 40-7, by the Chicago Bears. Jauron had coached the Bears from 1999-2003.

This is the last of three straight games against NFC North opponents for the Bills. They started the stretch with a 17-12 win over Minnesota.

J.P. Losman was intercepted three times before averting a shutout with a five-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans with 1:06 left in the fourth quarter. Evans had nine catches for 94 yards, but the Bills managed just 10 first downs and 145 total yards against the NFL's best defense.

The Lions' last loss had to be the most frustrating for Marinelli. They took a 17-3 lead into the fourth quarter before self-destructing in a 26-17 setback at Minnesota last week.

Jon Kitna committed four turnovers, two of which resulted in touchdowns for the Vikings. Kitna was sacked by defensive tackle Pat Williams and linebacker Ben Leber recovered in the end zone, pulling the Vikings within 17-16 with 13:12 left.

With just 1:31 remaining, Kitna threw a pass that was picked off by linebacker E.J. Henderson and returned 45 yards for a touchdown.

After yielding 123 yards on the ground to Minnesota's Chester Taylor, the Lions will face AFC rushing leader Willis McGahee, who has 439 yards.

Buffalo won the last meeting, 24-17, in 2002. This will be the Bills' first trip here since Thanksgiving 1994.