Brady, Patriots cruise past Lions
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Foxboro, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in leading the New England Patriots to a 34-9 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Brady carved up the NFL's top-ranked defense, completing 38-of-53 passes for 349 yards.
LeGarrette Blount had two rushing scores in his first game back with the AFC- leading Patriots (9-2), who secured their 14th consecutive winning season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I thought our guys did a good job today, being ready to go," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. "Any time you keep a team out of the end zone like Detroit, that's good. We were able to put some points on the board, make plays in all three phases of the game."
New England has won seven games in a row, 14 straight against NFC North teams and 15 straight at home.
Matthew Stafford was 18-of-46 for 264 yards as the Lions (7-4) fell one game behind Green Bay in the division with a second consecutive loss.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think any time you lose a game it's a challenge," Stafford said. "You've got to figure out what you did well, figure out what you didn't do well enough and take it into the next game and make sure the mistakes don't continue to happen and build off the positives."
Detroit got the ball to begin the game and Matt Prater kicked a 48-yard field goal.
The Patriots went three-and-out on both of their first two drives before their offense came to life, scoring touchdowns on three consecutive possessions to go up 21-6.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brady twice connected with Tim Wright on 3rd-and-goal for touchdowns, sandwiching a 3-yard scoring run by Blount on his first carry back with the Patriots.
New England signed Blount on Thursday, two days after being released by Pittsburgh for leaving the field before the end of last Monday's game because he was upset he did not receive any carries.
The Patriots defense came up with a big stop after Wright's first touchdown reception. Detroit was at the New England 7-yard line after a 42-yard catch- and-run by Golden Tate, but the defense stiffened up in the red zone as Darrelle Revis and Patrick Chung both broke up passes. The Lions settled for a 20-yard Prater field goal early in the second quarter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Danny Amendola returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards, setting up the Blount's touchdown run that put New England up 14-6.
Blount set a Patriots postseason record with four rushing touchdowns against Indianapolis in last season's AFC Divisional Playoffs.
New England's Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 35-yard field goal to conclude the first half after Prater missed a 53-yard try wide left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Patriots marched down the field to open the third quarter, but Brady was picked off by James Ihedigbo at the Detroit 2-yard line.
Nothing came of the turnover, as the Lions were forced to punt.
Gostkowski then nailed a 43-yarder to extend New England's lead to 27-6 with 5:05 remaining in the third.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prater booted a 49-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, but the next two Detroit drives ended with a turnover on downs and a Stafford interception.
Blount powered his way in from a yard out with 1:53 remaining to cap the scoring.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Patriots running back Jonas Gray didn't play in Sunday's game after arriving late to the team's facility on Friday. He totaled 201 rushing yards and four touchdowns last week against the Colts ... Blount had 78 yards on 12 carries ... New England's Julian Edelman caught 11 passes for 89 yards and had a punt return touchdown called back because of an illegal block ... Detroit running back Reggie Bush (ankle) was inactive for the second straight week.