Patriots Win Thanksgiving Shootout, 45-24

Tom Brady completed ten straight passes in the second half, four of them for touchdowns, as the Patriots basted the surprisingly fiesty Lions for a 45-24 Thanksgiving Day win.

How unstoppable was the Patriots' offense? They scored a touchdown on every single possession in the second half, and Tom Brady had a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3.

But the Lions made it a heck of a game by controlling the first half.

You knew something was a little off for these Patriots when they made it to the Lions' two yard line with five minutes left in the first quarter, then settled for a field goal try.

Intoxicated by the unexpected show of respect from the Patriots' coaching staff, the Lions drove 94 yards on the ensuing possession and scored on a Shaun Hill 19-yard touchdown pass. Calvin Johnson-owning fantasy football players across America rejoiced. 

The shotgun formation was working for the Lions' offense, and the Patriots gave the 13 colonies Thankgiving indigestion when they gave up another six-minute touchdown drive later in the second quarter. This thing was 14-3 Lions six minutes before halftime.

But New England collected themselves, taking momentum back with their own 83-yard touchdown drive. BenJarvus Green-Ellis hit paydirt with a 15-yard touchdown run.

Devin McCourty picked off Shaun Hill on the Lions' second play from scrimmage in the second half. Four plays later, Brady hit Wes Welker on a five-yard touchdown pass to tie it again at 17 points apiece.

The relentless Lions would not go away. They responded by scoring on a gutsy fourth down touchdown on an end-around from the two-yard line.

See that Belichick? You go for it on fourth down inside the two.

The barn-burning would only continue when the Pats got the ball back. Deion Branch had perhaps the most impressive catch-and-run of the season on a 79-yard touchdown.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz mouthed a quick "What the f*** just happened" on national television, and the game was again tied 24-24. And yeah, that's touchdowns on four consecutive Lions and Patriots posessions right there.

The Lions would burp first. They missed a 46-yard field goal attempt on their next possession, while the Patiots continued their touchdown-on-every-posession streak in the second half, making it 31-24 on the merits of another 22-yard touchdown to Deion Branch.

Then another 16-yard touchdown catch for Wes Welker made it 38-24.

Devin McCourty completed the full rout with his second interception with six minutes left in the game giving us reason to be thankful that these turkeys didn't ruin your Thanksgiving by getting upset in Detroit.

Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who apologizes profusely and didn't realize you had meant to use that bottle of brandy for cooking.

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