One of the NFL's best teams squares off with one of its worst when the New England Patriots play the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. The Lions have lost three straight and have also dropped six in a row on Thanksgiving Day.
It's a quick turnaround for the Patriots, who defeated the Colts on Sunday. After a walkthrough Monday, they were set to have practice Tuesday, fly to Detroit on Wednesday and they play Thursday.
"It would be nice to be able to sit around and put your feet up on the table and enjoy last night's game for a little bit," said Belichick, who didn't spend much time watching film of the victory, "but we're on to Detroit." [...]
"There's a lot coming at you," [Matt Light] said. "You've got to squeeze a lot in when you normally have the extra couple of days. We started on it today."
It will be the fourth meeting between the Patriots and Lions since Bill Belichick took over in 2000. All three previous meetings were on Thanksgiving as well, with Detroit winning in 2000, 34-9, while New England has bested them the past two times, winning 20-12 in 2002 and then 28-21 in 2006.
Detroit is just 2-8 this season, while New England is 8-2, but the Patriots know they're in for a tough game.
But the Lions haven't been pushovers. Five of their losses have been by five points or less. And they're pretty good at home with a 2-2 record that includes an overtime loss to the Jets.
"It's going to be a tough game," Light said. "I wish we could get a nice easy week in this league. But it's not happening. I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon."
The Lions are coming off Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys and will be starting Shaun Hill at quarterback. Hill will be making his third straight start in place of the injured Matthew Stafford. He's appeared in eight games this season, and has thrown 12 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions.
The Patriots and Lions kick off at 12:30 P.M. ET on CBS.