Just Pathetic

For as long as I can remember, I've always watched the annual Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day football game. The Lions started the tradition of hosting a game on turkey day back in 1934, 30 years before I was born. The Dallas Cowboys began their Thanksgiving Day tradition of hosting a game in 1966 and now, the NFL has created a third Thanksgiving Day game which will rotate among teams and be played as a night game. There truly is nothing like stuffing yourself full of turkey, dressing, and sweet potato pie while watching pro football virtually non-stop from 12:30 PM. The only downer for me is that lately, my team sucks!

Thursday's game started with such promise for the Lions. They drove down the field and scored a touchdown on the opening drive. That was a first for the season! We're in Week 12. Then, the defense holds the Dolphins, forcing a punt. That was big because the build up to this game centered around the return of former Lions quarterback Joey Harrington. Harrington is now starting for the Dolphins. The Lions got a 52-yard field goal from Jason Hanson on their second drive. Detroit was up 10-0 and it looked like we would roll to victory. NOT!!!

The Dolphins defense made some quick adjustments and shut down Roy Williams-- he burned Miami for 110 yards in the first quarter-- which pretty much shut down the Detroit offense. Without Kevin Jones in the backfield, Detroit managed just 21 yards of rushing. One dimensional teams rarely win and the Lions didn't on Thursday. After scoring 10 quick points in the first quarter, the Dolphins shut them out in the remaining three quarters while scoring 27 points on their way to victory and the dinner table. MIA 27 DET 10. Sweet revenge for Harrington who, before Thursday, never had much success on turkey day. With the Lions, he was 1-4 with no touchdown passes on Thanksgiving Day. With the Dolphins, he comes back and leads the team to victory on the strength of three touchdown passes!

Detroit is now 2-9 and guaranteed another losing season. Though, that was a foregone conclusion a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, Good Evening!