The Thanksgiving early matinee was certainly a tale of two halves. The Detroit Lions came out fired up and made the New England Patriots look like the 2-8 squad by leading 14-3 in the second quarter. The halftime score was 17-10 in favor of the Lions. Tom Brady had been knocked down quite a few times, and it seemed like the New York Giants players from Super Bowl XLII had put on Lions uniforms. The Patriots went into the locker room at the half and clearly corrected their mistakes, as they went on to close out the game on 28 unanswered points in a span of the last 21 minutes.
Offense
The Patriots put up their biggest point total of the 2010 season yesterday and scored 35 points in the second half. Tom Brady had a perfect rating of 158.3, completing 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards and 4 touchdowns. He continues to show the league why he’s the MVP this year. The running game eclipsed the century mark with 109 yards on 25 carries. The leader was Benjarvis Green Ellis, as he rushed for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Deion Branch and Wes Welker had great performances, as they combined for 11 receptions, 203 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski continues to impress, as he hauled in 5 catches for 65 yards, displaying his great hands. All in all, the Patriots rolled up 447 yards of total offense.
Grade: A+
Defense
The Patriots defense looked good and bad at times. They still have problems stopping teams on third down, as they allowed the Lions to convert 7 of 14.
They also allowed them to convert 2 of 3 fourth-down conversions and 406 yards of total offense. Lions quarterback Shaun Hill was 27 of 46, passed for 285 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions by rookie cornerback Devin McCourty. The Lions running game was a big reason for their first-half success, as they kept the Patriots defense off balance. They finished the game with 129 yards on 27 carries with a couple of touchdowns by Maurice Morris. Nine different Lions receivers caught the ball yesterday, with Calvin Johnson leading the way with 4 receptions, 81 yards, and a beautiful touchdown catch on an underthrown ball. Jerod Mayo had yet another double-digit tackling game, finishing with 12. Gary Guyton and Pierre Woods registered sacks, and the team had 11 passes deflected.
Grade: C
Special Teams
The Patriots special teams units looked both good and bad. Brandon Tate had a rough time returning kicks to the 20 yard line, as he averaged just 17.3 yards on four returns. Julian Edelman had a great performance returning punts, as he totaled 47 yards on three returns including a 28 yarder. Shayne Graham converted his only field goal attempt and all six PAT tries. Rookie punter Zoltan Mesko was brilliant, as he averaged 51 yards on three punts, one of them landing inside the 20. New England continues to have problems on the kick return defense, allowing Stefan Logan to average 27.7 yards per return on seven attempts. The punt return defense was pretty good, as they let Logan return one punt for eight yards.
Grade: B
The Bottom Line
The bottom line for the Patriots’ success this year is that they’re simply winning by scoring a lot of points and winning the turnover battle. They’re #1 in the AFC for turnover differential at +11, and only the Chiefs have turned it over less. One interesting fact is they have 15 interceptions as a team, which is tied for the AFC lead. One of their nine turnovers came from back-up quarterback Brian Hoyer.
