Oh yes, I went there.
With several injuries to their front-seven, the Patriots overcame a stubborn Lions team today, 45-24. Down by seven at the half, the Patriots stormed back, scoring three unanswered touchdowns to hand the Lions their seventh straight loss on Thanksgiving.
The Lions showed their trickiness on the Patriots first drive as Ndamukong Suh picked up a sack on Tom Brady. The sack was strange as Suh lined up at linebacker, and not in his usual position at defensive tackle. The play showed his versatility and showed viewers that his freakish athleticism. He's built like a house, but can play like a pass-defending outside linebacker. The Patriots settled for a short field goal to go up 3-0.
Shaun Hill, filling in at quarterback once again for the injured Matthew Stafford, led the Lions down the field with intermediate throws and even using his own legs when needed, before launching a throw to Calvin Johnson for a touchdown. Though the pass was under thrown, it turned out to be the perfect length as Johnson lost Kyle Arrington and fought to make the catch. What helped more than anything however, was the fact the throw came on play-action, which caused safety Brandon Merriweather to bite on the run, leaving him out of position, and Johnson one-on-one with Arrington for the easy score.
With the Patriots down, the Lions momentum carried to their defense. They forced the Patriots into miscues, stuffed their runs at the line, and got plenty of pressure on Brady, as Kyle Vanden Bosch knocked him down twice in vicious manner. The former Titan abused left-tackle Matt Light twice, leaving a defenceless Brady ripe for the kill.
The Lions took advantage of the Patriots inefficiency, commanding a long, 13-play drive culminating in a fourth-and-inches conversion on a sneak by Hill, and then a one-yard touchdown run by the long-time Seahawk Maurice Morris to make it 14-3.
After a horrible drop by Brandon Tate in single coverage, the Patriots stepped up a gear, and fired back with a touchdown of their own - BenJarvus Green-Ellis with a rumbling 15-yard scamper. 'The Law Firm' steam-rolled through Lions cornerback Alphonso Smith and pushed him all the way to the end-zone to make it a one-score game.
The Lions tacked on a field goal before the end of the half to make it 17-10.
Kid Rock played a half-time show, blatantly ripping off Springsteen's 'Born to Run' with a tired and plagiarising song called 'Born Free'. The crowd couldn't have looked more bored.
After going three-and-out to start the second half, the Patriots D finally made a statement. On a first-and-ten from their own 28, Hill lofted a pass for Johnson once again, but this time rookie cornerback Devin McCourty leapt beautifully to intercept in front of him. Hill didn't exactly try to throw off the Patriots D as he stared at Johnson the entire time before throwing in his direction.
With a short field in front of him, Brady made quick work of the Lions D. Brady went play-action before throwing to Wes Welker, running a slant and out to his left, who powered through a missed tackle by Alphonso Smith for the touchdown to tie the game up.
After long passes to tight-end Brandon Pettigrew and Johnson, Hill and the Lions offense sifted through the Patriots D with relative ease. After a three-and-out at the New England one-yard line, Morris ran off left-tackle on fourth-and-one to re-take the lead for Detroit.
Challenged with third-and-two at his own 21, Brady got aggressive, unleashing a deep strike to Deion Branch for a 79-yard touchdown. Though under thrown, Branch managed to out-duke Alphonso Smith on his way to the end-zone to put the Pats ahead, 24-17. Once again, the throw was on play-action, a move that seemed to burn the Lions time and time again.
From then onwards, the Lions offense grounded to a stop. After missing a 46-yard field goal, Brady and company took over, working their way down the field comfortably. The drive ended with Brady and Branch hooking up once again for a 22-yard touchdown. It was a perfect throw by Brady, in between the cornerback and the safety as Branch went in untouched. Who was the cornerback? You guessed it, Alphonso Smith.
Another failed Lions drive, another touchdown for the Patriots. This time a screen-pass to Welker, who ran in to score from 16 yards. What was amazing however, was the fact that Welker had no one covering him. Welker's arguably the best screen receiver in the league, and no one had tabs on him? What's going on there? At least we know it wasn't Alphonso Smith's fault.
Down 38-24, and looking for a spark with just six minutes to go, Hill tried to force the ball deep, but was picked off once again by McCourty, who ran the ball down to the Detroit 12. Green-Ellis killed off the game for good as he scored his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run. Not to be a graceful loser, Lions safety Louis Delmas picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for trying to pick a fight with a Patriots blocker after the extra point.
That was all she wrote for the Lions, who could only hang with the big boys for one half of football. The Patriots move into first in the AFC East with a 9-2 record (the Jets play later tonight) while the Lions lay at the basement of NFC North at 2-9.
Player of the Game
Tom Brady
Brady completed 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns, earning a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating. You can't get much better than that. Brady has played at the top of his game lately, and has shown the Patriots don't need Randy Moss. With no obvious deep-threat, Brady has utilised tight-ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez with great effect, moving the Patriots from a quick-strike offense to a unit that chips away at the opposition defense with short throws and plenty of running. If Brady can play like this in upcoming games against the Jets and Packers, two teams with great pass-defenses, he will surely be the recipient of plenty of MVP nominations in the new year.
