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player ready...They might have had more important or more dramatic Thanksgiving Day victories, but more welcome? Probably not.
The Detroit Lions–battered, beaten and depleted by injuries–needed a victory Thursday for just those reasons.
It was not going to get them back into the NFC North race. And it certainly was not going to salvage the season.
But it gave them a chance to save face with a few million NFL holiday viewers and a full house at Ford Field.
The Lions parlayed a strong first half by quarterback Joey Harrington, five field goals by Jason Hanson and the inspired play of cornerback Dre’ Bly into one of those rare and coveted Thanksgiving shockers–a 22-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
“It was huge for us,” Harrington said.
It was probably as big as a game can be for a team making scant progress in a three-year battle to return to respectability.
Harrington was 12-of-14 for 124 yards in the first half, and Shawn Bryson scored only the Lions’ fourth rushing touchdown of the season. Hanson connected from 42, 28, 49, 46 and 32 yards.
And the defense held NFC rushing leader Ahman Green to 57 yards on 13 carries, held the No. 1-rushing offense to 52 net yards (121.5 below the Packers’ average) and sacked quarterback Brett Favre four times. Favre, playing with a break in his right thumb, committed four turnovers.
The loss put the brakes on Green Bay’s hot pursuit of Minnesota in the NFC North. The Vikings are 7-4, with a little breathing room going into their game Sunday at NFC West-leading St. Louis. The Packers are 6-6.