First Half with the Houston Texans against the Detroit Lions in week 12

Detroit is the first to score and take the lead early in the game.

Houston gets the ball and they go 3 and out on their first possession. They punt the ball back to the Lions giving them the opportunity to extend the lead on this Thanksgiving Day football game.

The Texans defense steps up and shuts down the drive so they punt for the first time and are given the opportunity to even the score. A penalty flag on the punt for unsportsmanlike conduct backs Houston up 15 yards. Houston goes 3 and out again and Houston must punt. This makes 2 drives in a row for the Texans where they fail to get a first down on either one.

A 3 and out for the Lions and they punt the ball for the second time. During the punt, as the ball is coming down it appears to touch a Houston player and Detroit recovers the ball. This play is challenged but the play is not overturned and Houston has the ball on their own 45 yard line.

The Lions defense has been doing their job really well so far in this game and they stop the Texans short of the 1st down on a 3rd and eight and they must punt again. A fair catch on the 10 yard line and the Lions have another shot at it before the end of the 1st period. There is 3 minutes in the 1st quarter.

A nice first down on a 3rd and 10 with a pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew. The drive ends up falling apart for the Lions and they punt the ball at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

Houston is able to get into the end zone with a run by Arian Foster and they are finally able to put points on the board. The score is now tied at 7 to 7.

Before you know it the Lions are inside the red zone and the Texans are under pressure to shut down this drive and try and force the Lions to take a field goal, but they do not and a pass on 3rd and goal to Mike Thomas gets them the 6 points. With the extra point the Lions take the lead again for the second time of the game. The score is Detroit 14 to Houston 7.

Detroit gets into the end zone with a short pass to Owen Daniels. They get the extra point and the score is tied again at 14 each. With the 2 minute warning for the half approaching, the Lions have one more shot at taking a lead to the locker room at half time.

Detroit gets the football back and will start their drive on the 41 yard line. They run one play a short pass to Ryan Broyles and he takes it into the red zone. This brings up the two minute warning. A pass to Calvin Johnson and the Lions have the lead for the third time in this holiday football game. The score is 21 Lions to 14 Texans.

Since they did not use much time off the clock the Texans will have just under a minute and a half in the first half when they get the ball back. They have all 3 times outs and 1 minute 49.

The Lions defense seems to be reading the offensive line of Houston well, and they are getting there and making the stop and breaking up the plays well. Houston does convert the 3rd and gets a first down. The Lions break up the next play and knock the football out of quarterback Matt Schaub’s hands but foortunately for the Texans they recover the ball. They then let the clock run out and it brings up half time with the score still at 21 Detroit to Houston 14.