It's a Thanksgiving Tradition: Lions Lose

The Tennessee Titans offense was on fire from their first possession with a touchdown by running back Chris Johnson, following a Detroit Lions fumble.

Johnson had an amazing day, racking up 119 yards in the first half, and finishing the game with 126, but he wasn't the only Titan to run for more than 100 yards, as Lendale White tallied 106.

By the fourth quarter Tennessee was so comfortable with their lead that they even put in Vince Young for a series, where he completed one pass.

 

The vaunted Titans defense lived up to expectations and defensive end Dave Ball had a particularly impressive day, running back an interception for a touchdown, forcing a fumble, getting one sack and two tackles. Kyle Van Den Bosch, Jacob Ford and Kevin Vickerson also each had a sack. The defense gave Tennessee a huge advantage on time of possession, besting the Lions by more than ten minutes, 34:54-23:06.

 

The Lions were, once again, the picture of futility. They came into the game winless -- marking the second time this decade that they have come into the Turkey Day game as 0-fors -- and started losing immediately. The defense gave up the most points ever for a Thanksgiving game. The offense only made six first downs, and 154 yards of total offense. There is no other word to describe the team other than awful.

 

Though the winner of the game was decided by the end of the first quarter, the contest was still important for the Titans.They will clinch the AFC South with an Indianapolis loss on Sunday.

The match also gives an interesting take on the parity discussion in the NFL. The league can't be that even and equal when a team like the Lions can be that much worse than a team like the Titans.