The Lions headed into Thursday's game at 2-8, while the Patriots came in at 8-2, so surely there couldn't be a competitive Thanksgiving Day contest in Detroit this year, could there?
Actually, for three quarters, the Lions gave the Patriots all they could handle -- Detroit actually led 24-17 late in the third quarter and the game was tied 24-24 into the fourth. But New England dominated the fourth quarter on the way to a comfortable 45-24 victory, which moved the Patriots a half-game ahead of the Jets in the AFC East. New York hosts Cincinnati on Thanksgiving night.
• Bill Belichick made a surprising decision to kick a first-quarter field goal, when the Patriots had less than a yard to go on fourth down deep in Detroit territory. The kick gave the Patriots an early 3-0 lead, but Belichick is usually one of the most aggressive coaches in the league on fourth down, so it was unusual to see him settle for three with a real chance at seven.
• Lions quarterback Shaun Hill looked very good on Detroit's first-quarter touchdown drive, making plays with his legs (runs of eight and 13 yards, both of which picked up first downs) and then hitting Calvin Johnson for a 19-yard touchdown on the quarter's final play.
• Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh entered the game with seven sacks, and he picked up another in the first quarter. He's got a shot at the NFL rookie record for sacks in a season (14 1/2, by Jevon Kearse in 1999), and it will be a major surprise if he doesn't win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Early on, Suh was a force -- but later in the game, the Patriots began double-teaming him and did a good job of taking Detroit's star out of the game.
• Unlike Belichick, Lions coach Jim Schwartz did take a chance on a fourth-down call, with a Shaun Hill quarterback sneak yielding a first down inside the Patriots' 1. The Lions plunged into the end zone for a touchdown and a 24-17 lead on the next play.
• Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran over two Lions defensive backs, Amari Spievy and Alphonso Smith, on his path to the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. It was a great play by Green-Ellis and an embarrassing display of tackling by Spievy and Smith.
• Hill did a great job of engineering the Lions' drive after that Green-Ellis touchdown. Detroit's offense went 41 yards in 45 seconds to get into range for Dave Rayner's 44-yard field goal at the end of the first half. Rayner hit and Detroit took a 17-10 lead into halftime.
• Hill threw his first really bad pass of the game early in the second half, missing Calvin Johnson and instead getting picked off by Devin McCourty. The interception set up a Tom Brady-to-Wes Welker touchdown pass that tied the score 17-17.
• CBS made a terrible decision to put Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the booth in the third quarter, and have Jim Nantz and Phil Simms talk to him while the game was going on. That's not the time or place for a celebrity interview.
• Brady had all day to pass late in the third quarter -- he found Deion Branch deep downfield almost immediately after Morris' touchdown. Smith then put on one of the most embarrassing displays of tackling in NFL history, allowing Branch to run past him and shrug him off in the open field to tie the game at 24.
• Brady hit Branch for another touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, beating Smith once again. That put New England up 31-24 and made it apparent that the Lions were headed for another loss.
• Later in the fourth quarter, Brady threw his fourth touchdown pass, a 16-yarder to Wes Welker that pretty much sealed the game, making the score 38-24 with less than seven minutes to play.
• Hill threw his second interception to McCourty after that, the Patriots' offense responded with another touchdown, and the Lions' collapse was complete.
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