Lions beat Vikings 16-13, have sole possession of 1st place

Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden defended some of the decisions that left him open to second guessing in his team’s loss to the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys.

Elliott, the NFL’s rushing leader, gave Dallas a 31-19 lead with a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Nov 24, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed (86) scores a touchdown against Dallas Cowboys free safety Byron Jones (31) in the game at AT&T Stadium. Detroit drained what was left of the clock, Prater mailed in the 38-yarder as time expired and the Lions had their sixth win in seven weeks.

The Thanksgiving Day debuts of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott weren’t as mind-blowing as the rest of their boffo rookie seasons, but the two budding franchise cornerstones were pivotal nonetheless in the Cowboys’ 10th consecutive victory. He had just punched in a 1-yard touchdown rush that put the Washington Redskins away. “But that’s no excuse”, Whitner said. And on their final drive of the game, Washington kept taking underneath throws, burning up precious seconds with every play.

The Steelers built a 21-7 lead by scoring touchdowns on each of their first three possessions – a 5-yard TD run from Le’Veon Bell, and touchdown catches by Brown of 25 and 33 yards. Since Pat Shurmur took over as interim offensive coordinator on November 2 and began to call quicker and shorter passes, Bradford has completed a staggering 77.9 percent in four games. Dallas was much more efficient, obviously, scoring touchdowns on both trips into the red zone, and adding a 46 yard field goal from Dan Bailey in between.

“All these games are going to come down to the wire, probably, the way we are”, Zimmer said. That could be the confidence booster they need, at least I hope so. He just made me attack him even more. Prescott then nearly took off running again before he saw Dez Bryant in 1-on-1 coverage and delivered a strike for a 26-yard gain to the 1. Nobody is waiting for somebody to make a play. “He made plays with his arm”. “We handled those situations well”.

Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson joined the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving tradition by making the first start of his National Football League career on Thursday.

That attitude trickled down to the locker room.

Things got testy between Redskins CB Josh Norman and Dez Bryant, as the two jawed more and more as the game wore on. They had to be separated after the game. He got loose for another 15 yards and a first down on a 3 and 15 in the fourth quarter to extend a drive.

Watching the Cowboys do it again Thursday, providing a new twist (allowing 505 yards) on the same old story (winning), it took me back. The NFL record is 12 in a row by Minnesota in 1969.

Vikings: A banged-up offensive line took a hit in the first half when center Joe Berger was evaluated for a concussion, and wasn’t cleared to return.

“But at the same time, I thought about it, because I wanted to run over [to the sideline] and say, ‘Hey guys, like from a play-calling standpoint, it’s going to be a lot easier to throw screens, to throw check-downs, to run the football, bubble screens – something shorter, because down the field, seven-step drops are going to be a little harder in the sun'”. “He can’t watch, he wants to play”.

Minnesota didn’t convert a third down until Bradford connected with Patterson late in the third quarter and finished 2 of 10 on third down.

Terrance Williams had 10 yards on the day, but his toe tap on a second-quarter touchdown was the best highlight in a game with 858 yards of offense. Not only did quarterback Kirk Cousins have one of his best games statistically, several players fought through pain and/or injuries in the battle that could have had a reversed outcome save for a couple of impactful plays.