Stafford, Calvin lead Lions to 45-14 rout of the Eagles

Despite the team’s miserable performance the past two weeks, the Eagles are only one game behind the New York Giants (5-5) in the mediocre NFC East. A win over the Lions coupled with the Giants losing at Washington next Sunday would mean a three-way tie for first place in the division.

Odds and Point Spread: +1.5 Detroit.

He had not had as many as eight catches since a Week 3 loss to the Broncos when he had eight for 77 yards. He also carried the ball twice for six yards.

That third TD by Johnson came after Sanchez was sacked by Ziggy Ansah, who finished with 3.5 sacks. Stephen Tulloch also had a sack and Devin Taylor had half. Unfortunately for the Lions, he hasn’t been able to be that quarterback consistently, and they haven’t been able to play up to their talent as a result. With Mathews out again running backs DeMarco Murray and Darren Sproles will carry the load for the Eagles offense.

Now the Eagles have to play at New England in their next game. Kenjon Barner chipped in with 30 rushing yards on seven carries.

The Eagles offense has inconsistent in the first half with Mark Sanchez completing 8 of 14 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown pass.

Defensively, the Lions were just as strong. Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same without some time spent around the television rooting on your favorite National Football League teams in a series of holiday games spaced out across the day. This time it was a 25-yard score on a handsome over the shoulder catch.

The Lions took a 14-7 lead on their next possession with Stafford’s 2-yard scoring pass to Tate, who snuck out of the backfield and juked a defender for a walk in touchdown.

Speaking of Johnson, he’s put up 100+ yds in his last 3 Thanksgiving games, and has found the end zone in his last 6. The Lions came into this game having lost their last 10 games on Thanksgiving.

Detroit got the ball back, leaving Bell to run 39 yards, before smashing the ball into the endzone from a yard out on the next play for a sixth touchdown for the Lions.

Detroit wasted no time adding to the lead as it increased to 38-7. Stafford lives in attack mode and will give the Eagles chances to flip the field if they can stick with WRs Johnson and Golden Tate.

“I told G, ‘Man, swag on them a little bit, ‘” fellow receiver Calvin Johnson said.

The Lions move to 4-7 on the season – still well out of playoff contention – but one can’t help but think they might still be alive if the end of the Monday Night game in Seattle ended differently with a certain Calvin Johnson fumble and illegal batting non-call. Stafford threw five touchdown passes, three of them to Megatron, marking the second week in a row that the Eagles’ defense allowed the opposing quarterback to throw five touchdown passes. Matthews totaled three receptions for a team-high 60 yards in the loss. Evans dropped back to pass, but instead scrambled for a four-yard touchdown run as time expired.

Grateful seemed to be the word of the day on Thanksgiving for Ansah who wore a gold key around his neck that was inscribed with the word “grateful”.

The Detroit Lions will try to extend their winning streak to three games today against a Philadelphia Eagles team that will start a backup at quarterback.