The day after Thanksgiving is a day for eating leftovers, doing some Black Friday shopping and if you have the misfortune of being a Detroit Lions fan, ruminating on another demoralising defeat.

After a particularly chastening 41-25 loss to the Houston Texans on Thursday, even Lions fans must be wondering whether it is worth having their team spoil their holiday with consistently poor performances on Thanksgiving.

The Lions, along with the Dallas Cowboys - who were blown out by the Washington Football Team - are an NFL tradition when it comes to Thanksgiving. 

But gone are the days when Barry Sanders would spend Thanksgiving making defenders look foolish and recently it is the Lions who most frequently leave the field red-faced.

Here we examine the numbers the Lions have put up in Thanksgiving games to assess if their presence on the schedule is a tradition worth maintaining.

The losing streak is stretched

The raw win-loss numbers do not make for pretty reading for Detroit. After the defeat to the Texans, the Lions are 4-13 in Thanksgiving games since 2004.

Detroit had stopped an eight-game losing streak in 2013, a victory over the Green Bay Packers starting a four-game winning streak.

However, they are now firmly back on the wrong track, Houston's triumph making it four turkey day defeats in a row for the Lions.

Turnovers again prove costly

Detroit went into Thursday's game with opponents having dominated the per-game numbers in Thanksgiving matchups since 2004.

Prior to the meeting with the Texans, opponents had averaged 28.1 points per game to the 21.1 for the Lions, with Detroit also being outgained 364.3 to 360.4 yards per game.

The major difference between the Lions and their Thanksgiving foes in that timeframe has been Detroit's inability to protect the football.

Before the Week 12 clash with Houston, the Lions had doubled the number of turnovers of their Thanksgiving opponents, committing 36 compared to 18 by the teams they faced.

That trend continued on Thursday. Though the Lions marginally outgained the Texans, they ended the game with three giveaways while Houston turned the ball over just once.

It was a performance in keeping with the ineptitude they have displayed under Matt Patricia on Thanksgiving.

Patricia the main problem?

Across the three games the Lions have played under Patricia, they have committed six turnovers.

Their opponents, by contrast, have given the ball away three times. Given that discrepancy, it is no surprise the Lions are 0-3 on Thanksgiving under the former New England Patriots defensive coordinator.

And, with those games making up the majority of their now four-game losing streak, perhaps it is worth seeing whether the Lions stay the course with Patricia before calling for them to be removed from the Thanksgiving slate.

With Detroit's hopes of making the playoffs basically extinguished for another season at 4-7, the decision appears a simple one for the Lions brass.

Patricia is 13-29-1 as a head coach. Few coaches survive posting such a record and, if the Lions decide to move on, then they merit the opportunity to turn things around on Thanksgiving in 2021.

However, if they elect to give him another season at the helm, then it is clear that NFL fans deserve the opportunity to have something else on their Thanksgiving menu.