NFL: New England Patriots move to 9-2 as Green Bay Packers do enough to win on the road
Sunday 23 November 2014 23:02, UK
Tom Brady threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns as the New England Patriots marched to a seventh straight victory, thrashing the Detroit Lions 34-9 in week 12 of the regular season.
Facing the team he made his NFL debut against way back in 2000, quarterback Brady registered scoring passes of four and eight yards to tight end Tim Wright to help the Pats ease into a 24-7 ahead by half time.
They were also helped out by a pair of touchdowns from LeGarrette Blount, the running back getting an immediate chance to impress having only rejoined the team where he spent last season in midweek.
Snapped up following his release by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Blount went in from three yards out in the second quarter and then rounded out the scoring by punching it in from one yard out in the final two minutes of a contest that saw the league's highest scoring team shred the NFL's best defence repeatedly.
The Lions failed to find the end zone for a second successive outing, all their points coming on three field goals from kicker Matt Prater. He also missed a 53-yarder just before half time.
Victory for New England moves them to 9-2. Having scored four touchdowns and rushed for over 200 yards in the 42-20 result over the Indianapolis Colts, Jonas Gray didn't play a single snap as punishment for turning up late on Friday.
Packers roll on
Elsewhere, the Green Bay Packers proved unable to register a half-century of points for a third successive week, though they still scored enough to see off the Minnesota Vikings on the road.
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Tail-back Eddie Lacy ran for a season-high 125 yards and had two scores, one from a pass from Aarond Rodgers, as Green Bay - now 8-3 - took over top spot from Detroit in the AFC North thanks to a 24-21 triumph over another of their divisional rivals.
Quarterback Andrew Luck saw his streak of consecutive 300-yard games ended at eight, and he also fumbled three times, but the Indianapolis Colts still managed to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-10) 23-3 at home.
The Philadelphia Eagles warmed up for a mouth-watering Thanksgiving showdown with the Dallas Cowboys, a game you can see live on Sky Sports, with a 43-24 win over the Tennessee Titans at Lincoln Financial Field.
Josh Huff gave the hosts the perfect start by returning the opening kick-off 107 yards to the end zone, while LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles both added rushing touchdowns to keep the Eagles in front.
The Cincinnati Bengals kept themselves on top of the AFC North with a 22-13 victory in Houston; Andy Dalton threw for 233 yards and a touchdown and A.J. Green had 121 yards receiving as the Texans, who saw new quarterback Ryan Mallett struggle in his second start, never led in the contest.
Brian Hoyer, like Mallett another former back-up to Brady in New England, recovered from throwing three interceptions to lead the Cleveland Browns on a game-winning drive, Billy Cundiff's 37-yard field goal as time expired seeing them to a 26-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
The defeat means Atlanta, who had taken the lead on a 53-yard field goal from Matt Bryant with 44 seconds to play, still have beaten a team outside of their division. They had come into week 12 leading the NFC South but now stand at 4-7.
Despite managing just 204 yards on offence, the Chicago Bears rallied from a 10-0 half-time deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-13. Matt Forte rushed for a pair of touchdowns to make it a miserable return to his old stomping ground for former Bears head coach Lovie Smith.
