Matthew Stafford Throws Five Touchdowns To Lead Detroit Lions Over

“It’s a lot easier to deal with the Eagles when you’ve got a lot of rest between series”.

The Lions ran the ball for only 108 yards as a team, but they didn’t need to pound the ball on the ground to dominate time of possession. They’re now 4-7 as well, and with a tough remaining schedule (New England, Buffalo, Arizona, Washington and the New York Giants) they could easily finish 4-12.

Philadelphias passing defense was ranked 16th in the National Football League entering the game but they didnt play like it. At all. “I have confidence in those players”, Kelly said. His baffling usage of DeMarco Murray (as well as the amount that he paid a running back who only managed to stay healthy in his contract year when he was blessed with the best offensive line in the NFL), his quarterback conundrum (trading away Nick Foles, who had some measure of success in his system, for perennial failure Sam Bradford and ditching Michael Vick while retaining Mark Sanchez) has not helped his troubled offense and his ineffective defense are all combining to increase the questions about Kelly’s genius or lack thereof. Sanchez, incredibly, lost despite not throwing a pick.

How much did it hurt the Eagles when they lost cornerback Nolan Carroll?

Kelly, in his third season with the Eagles, said his team had trouble matching up with Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who in lockstep with quarterback Matthew Stafford carved up the Philadelphia secondary.

The suddenly hot-handed quarterback authored three impressive touchdown throws in the first half.

Tate slammed on the brakes, making Walter Thurmond II slide past him, and walked … into … the … end zone.

It was all downhill from there. All across the board the guys played well, coach Jim Caldwell said. Then Celek capped off the drive with a touchdown reception on third down to tie the game. “But that’s not ever going to change my approach, my trust in the players in this locker room and the coaches”.

The Lions opened the third quarter with a 7-minute, 51-second touchdown drive.

But the Eagles look beaten. Two series’ later it was confirmed. He caught a game-high eight passes for 93 yards Sunday, Riddick added five catches for 62 yards, and Joique Bell scored the Lions’ final touchdown on a 1-yard dive early in the fourth quarter.

-WR Golden Tate had just his second touchdown reception of the season, gathering in a 2-yard pass from QB Matthew Stafford during the first half.

For the seventh straight season Johnson reeled in a Thanksgiving touchdown. Stafford hit Johnson for a four-yard score to take the 31-7 lead.

Rowe wasn’t the only Eagle unable to defend Johnson.

On the next play, Kuechly made a nifty over-the-head catch on a ball thrown to Jason Witten.

Safety Malcolm Jenkins was beaten by Megatron for Stafford’s fifth TD.

Defensively, Ziggy Ansah was on fire with 3.5 sacks (a career high) and a recovered fumble on the Eagles 14-yard line. Both sacks came on third down and forced the Eagles to punt.