New England Patriots Links 11/26/10 - Patriots Explode From Trap In Second Half To Decimate Lions

Bill Belichick makes his post-game comments following the Patriots win in Detroit.

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It was a good atmosphere there in the locker room. I really appreciate what these guys have done so far this year. To be where we're at has taken a lot of hard work. It hasn't always been perfect. It hasn't even been good, but it is what it is.

We've got a good opportunity here ahead of us, so we're going to relax here - kick back for a couple days, try to take this opportunity to rest and spend a little time with our families and be ready to roll here next week with the Jets. As far as today goes, it was a real good effort in the second half. We outscored them 35-7 in the second half. A lot of things have to go right. Certainly our offense did a real good of making big plays, getting the ball in the endzone, taking advantage of a couple turnover opportunities that we had. That was a big play by Devin (McCourty) there that kind of really swung the game a little bit, with giving us the field position and putting us back where we could be on the even-par with Detroit instead of chasing them all the time like we were in the first half.

In the end, it was just a lot of guys stepping up and making plays. They're a good offensive team and they played well today. I think Jim has done a good job with this team. They're much improved from where they were the last time we saw them. They're very competitive, very good offensively. There's a lot things we need to work on obviously, but we'll just enjoy it here for a couple days and then start grinding it out for the Jets."

Tom Brady offers his post-game remarks to the press on how they flipped the switch at halftime.

"We showed some resiliency. I think coming out in the second half and playing the way we did - the crowd was really into it. I think Devin's interception was a huge play in the game. We executed much better in the second half, so great for everybody."

"I think once the speed of the game calmed down a little bit and we could get it under control, we did a great job. That's a hell of a pass rushing team.(with) Vanden Bosch, Avril, Suh on the inside and Corey Williams."

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Patriots at Lions: Team and player milestones reached, records set and trends continued.
• Erik Scalavino analyzes the Patriots win over Detroit and the difference in the second half.
• Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Lions.
• Post Game Press Conferences: Bill Belichick (4.59 min. video), Tom Brady (1.44 min. video), Wes Welker (4.15 min. video) and Deion Branch (8.44 min. video) plus transcripts.

LOCAL LINKS

• Ian Rapoport recaps the Patriots overcoming a sluggish first half to decimate the Lions in the second.
• Shalise Manza Young details the Patriots' Thanksgiving day feast of the Lions.
• Greg A. Bedard brushes off the Lions win and looks to the huge game ahead versus the Jets.
• Bob Ryan likes the Pats' balanced offense and says Randy Moss may be going to the Hall of Fame, but Deion Branch is going to the playoffs.
• Mike Reiss talks about the 1-2 punch of Deion Branch and Wes Welker.
• Ron Borges focuses on the stellar play of Deion Branch, "He toasted Smith like a marshmallow at Boy Scout camp."
• Mike Petraglia reports Tom Brady loves his 'Patriot kind of guys.'
• Tom E. Curran lauds Branch and Welker in turning these Patriots into a tough team.
• Mike Reiss feels their response to adversity says everything about these New England Patriots against Detroit.
• Mike Reiss identifies the top 5 storylines from the Patriots win in Detroit.
• Mike Reiss gives his rapid reaction to the Patriots win over the Lions, 45-24.
• Mike Reiss offers his quick hit thoughts and observations about the game: First quarter - Second quarter - Third quarter.
• Monique Walker talks about Tom Brady's perfect passer rating against the Lions, the second time he earned it in his career.
• Mike Reiss says that unlike a lot of QBs Tom Brady just kept getting better despite getting hit early and often.
• Michael Felger doesn't know if we can expect much more from the Patriots defense than what they're showing, so it's going to be all on Brady.
• Mike Reiss describes Devin McCourty's interception early in the second half turned the momentum of the game.
• Dave Hogg reports Devin McCourty outplayed Ndamukong Suh yesterday in the competition for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
• Mike Reiss talks with Logan Mankins about the chippy play near the end of the game.
• Mike Reiss notes Bill Belichick gave the players four days off following the win.
• Karen Guregian details the play of the game, Deion Branch beating Alphonso Smith and faking him all the way into the endzone.
• Christopher Price lists Ten Things we learned Thursday. Devin McCourty is making the leap.
• Tom E. Curran has Five Thoughts from Patriots at Lions.
• Ron Borges presents his Best & Worst of Patriots vs. Lions.
• Tom E. Curran and Mary Paoletti offer their Best and Worst from Pats-Lions.
• Mike Reiss offers his 3 up and 3 down for the Patriots.
• WEEI: What went right and what went wrong in Patriots 45, Lions 24.
• Monique Walker Patriots Notebook: Devin McCourty's teammates believe his play is worthy of national attention; The pushing and shoving near the end brought Belichick on the field to separate his players from the pack; Danny Woodhead signed an extension; BenJarvus Green-Ellis has 9 rushing TDs, tied for second most behind Arian Foster (12); Wes Welker has six TDs, two shy of his career; Injury updates.

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Game Center: New England Patriots at Detroit Lions. Recap, analysis, stats and that nifty highlight video.
• ESPN Stats and Information Next-level stats: Patriots-Lions.
• Chris Burke (NFL FanHouse) Corey Williams, Chris Houston call out Lions teammates after loss to Patriots.
• Mike O'Hara (Fox Sports) Brady at his best against Lions.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Report: Patriots extend Danny Woodhead.
• Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) Patriots players of the week.
• Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Thanksgiving game notes: Brees to Moore, Brady, Revis beats T.O. and more.
• Toni Monkovic (NY Times) Are Jets ready for Patriots?
• Les Carpenter (Yahoo! Sports) Kraft parlays parking lots into thriving franchise.
• Jason Cole (Yahoo! Sports) 32 reasons to give thanks in the NFL.

VIEW FROM DETROIT

• Chris McCosky (Detroit News) Tom Brady, quick-strike Patriots too powerful for Lions.
• Carlos Monarrez (Detroit Free Press) Tom Brady, Patriots carve up Lions' secondary.
• Bob Wojnowski (Detroit News) Lions feast early, then fall asleep.
• Chris McCosky (Detroit News) Patriots QB Tom Brady off-limits after Lions hit him early.
• Tim Twentyman (Detroit News) Lions CB Alphonso Smith: I gave Patriots the game.
• John Niyo (Detroit News) Tom Brady's return to Michigan is perfect.
• Michael Rosenberg (Detroit Free Press) Lions fed up on Thanksgiving, and not in a good way.
• Dave Birkett (Detroit Free Press) Schwartz: Penalties, injuries are factors, not excuses.
• Philip Zaroo (MLive.com) Lions' Shaun Hill says Patriots defender was 'literally trying to break my arm.'
• Dave Birkett (Detroit Free Press) Hot topics from Lions' loss to Patriots.