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Detroit Lions Win Big on Thanksgiving

Tom Brady and the Patriots are on deck.

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Neither would reveal who would start at quarterback when the Eagles oppose the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving at Ford Field.

It was an historic defeat for the Eagles.

There’s no denying that Stafford has looked terrific during the Lions’ current win streak that reached three games after Thursday’s 45-14 win over Philadelphia.

Even before the Thanksgiving loss, there were signs that cracks were starting to form along the foundation.

“I’m trying to be honest and transparent”, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Tuesday. “And I pride myself on being an Eagle”. It’s a collective effort that’s gotten us to where we’re at. With the win, the Lions improved to 4-7 while the Eagles fell to it.

We’ll get a better feel for how good the Eagles can be after those games. Philadelphia’s now lost three straight games to teams that had losing records at the time, and the past two haven’t even been close.

“You’re going to see who the quitters on the team are”, now that the Eagles are a 4-7 garbage fire, Lane Johnson said after Thursday’s game.

There was a buzz all last week about whether players had quit on Kelly and it sure looked like it Sunday. So, fair spot, I really didn’t think of it that way.

It was only a year ago that Kelly’s offense was still the rage. Sanchez, incredibly, lost despite not throwing a pick.

Stafford went 27 of 38 for 337 yards through the air, and tied a career-high with five touchdown passes. He now has 55 receptions on the season for 507 yards and three touchdowns.

Then the edgy receiver celebrated with a “mwaaahhh” kiss. In the locker room players spoke about not breaking up into factions.

Jason Kelce’s left knee was swollen almost twice its original size, the upper half of his leg black and blue from the strain.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly runs onto the field to start a game against the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field. “There are doubters and people that don’t trust their teammates, that don’t trust their coaches”. If they can, then you’ll hear some playoff talk.

The next sickening moment was Carroll getting carted off five minutes into the second quarter with a fractured ankle. Caleb Sturgis continued to struggle, clanging a 50-yard field goal off the uprights. Two series’ later it was confirmed. Sanchez found tight end Brent Celek for a 2-yard score on third-and-goal to cap an 80-yard drive.

There was also another blatant no-call, though, on the Lions’ next drive when cornerback Byron Maxwell grabbed Johnson with both hands to prevent a likely 5-yard touchdown.

Detroit scored another touchdown in the third quarter on a 1-yard run from Joique Bell, giving them a 45-7 lead.

PHILADELPHIA Mark Sanchez and Sam Bradford practiced Tuesday, the latter on a limited basis.

After Carroll went down, the Eagles were left with Byron Maxwell, E.J. Biggers and Rowe as the remaining corners; Denzel Rice was inactive.

Another week and more of the same for running back Theo Riddick.

“We were on our heels the whole time”, safety Malcolm Jenkins said.

And Ansah had 3.5 sacks and forced and recovered a fumble to tie J.J. Watt for the National Football League lead in sacks. The Eagles allowed six sacks after Peters departed. The fight was gone, the passion was gone and the Eagles knew there was no stopping whatever the Lions wanted to do.

“It’s right at the top”, Kelly said. “We’ve got to create more pressure, and Calvin was obviously a very hard matchup for us”.

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“Probably as complete a victory as we’ve had around here”, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. “It’s not what you want, not the outcome anybody is looking for”.

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports