Thursday, November 22
Houston Texans (10-1) defeat the Detroit Lions (4-7), 34-31 (OT)
Detroit lost its ninth consecutive Thanksgiving Day game in overtime against the Houston Texans. It’s easy to say that the Lions lost the game more than the Texans won it. The storyline is Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz’s challenge flag gone wrong. Schwartz threw a challenge flag when Houston’s scored on an 81-yard touchdown run in the third quarter after two Lions tackled him.
Replays showed Forsett’s left knee and elbow hit the turf near midfield, and the automatic review that accompanies all scoring plays probably would have taken the TD off the board. But NFL rules say that throwing the challenge flag on a scoring play negates the review — and is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to boot.
Forsett even acknowledged he shouldn’t have allowed to score.
“It’s on me,” Schwartz said after the game. “It’s on me.”
Defensive Tackle Ndomukong Suh also may be in trouble with the League. There were multiple questionable instances involving Suh and Houston quarterback Matt Schaub. Suh is known all-to-well for his very rough (at times considered dirty) contact with opposing players, especially quarterbacks.
Washington Redskins (5-6) defeat the Dallas Cowboys (5-6), 38-31.
Robert Griffin the Third is quickly becoming a star in this League. How good was his Thanksgiving Day debut? For the second week in a row, he passed four touchdowns, and while he didn’t post the 93.3% completion that he did against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11, he threw for 311 yards and posted a quarterback rating of 132.6 (QBR: 87.5). He was simply graceful against the Cowboys; his passes were accurate, they were precise, they were placed flawlessly. Reliable running back Alfred Morris also added 113 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries as the Redskins moved down the field all game long. The Skins lead the Cowboys 28-3 at halftime.
It’s hard to look at Tony Romo’s passer rating and tell that he’s not the best quarterback in the NFL. He has never posted a season passer rating of under 91 and he is third all-time in career passer rating, trailing Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. This season, his passer rating is a career-low at 85.9, and tonight he would post a similar 84.1 passer rating. However, Romo threw two interceptions in his 62 pass attempts, and that overshadowed the 441 yards and 3 touchdowns he threw for on 37 completions (including a career-long 85-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant). The Dallas Cowboys’ now-24 turnovers are the second-most in the NFL, trailing only the Kansas City Chiefs. Dallas trailed 28-3 at halftime but a critical sack late in the fourth quarter with Dallas threatening in the red zone when down by two touchdowns sealed the Cowboys fate.
Romo lost for the first time in six starts on Thanksgiving. He also lost his first home start in November ever (24-1). Prior to today, the Cowboys have never lost to the Redskins on Thanksgiving. Morris’ 100-yard day, the last 10 such games for the Redskins have been by rookies.
New England Patriots (8-3) defeats the New York Jets (4-7), 49-19.
The New York Jets are simply dismal. The team held New England to zero points in the first quarter, but then reality seemed to set in. New England scored–and yes, this is accurate–28 points in just over six minutes and their 35 points they would score in the NFL would tie a franchise record (set in 2011 versus the in Titans) and now only trail the 1980 Rams for the most points in a single quarter (37 in the second quarter).
Jet fans were chanting for Tim Tebow to play before the second quarter of this Thanksgiving showdown was over, and booing as the team left the MetLife Stadium field at halftime.
The Patriots, however, continued to be the Patriots. Brady’s first eight passes produced three touchdown passes, and he would finish 18 for 28 with 323 yards and exited the game with two minutes left–probably a result of Rob Gronkowski’s injury last week against the Indianapolis Colts in meaningless garbage time in a complete rout.
Bill Belichick became the eight coach in NFL history to record 200 victories. The Patriots, during their 28-point run, scored three touchdowns in under a minute. The only other teams to score three touchdowns in under a minute are the 2002 Seahawks (versus Minnesota) and the 1998 Falcons (versus Carolina). The Patriots, with 49 points scored tonight, have now scored the second-most points in consecutive games in NFL history, with 108. The trail the 1950 Rams, who scored 135 points in consecutive games.
Field Notes 