Tom Brady threw four second-half touchdown passes - two each to Wes Welker and Deion Branch - as the New England Patriots rallied for a 45-24 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thursday.

Brady threw for 341 yards on 21-of-27 passing and directed the Patriots (9-2) to five consecutive touchdown drives in the second half as New England erased a 17-10 halftime deficit.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Patriots, who outscored Detroit 35-7 in the second half in winning their third straight game.

After the Lions had gone ahead 24-17 in the third quarter on Maurice Morris' second 1-yard touchdown run, Brady and his receivers turned on the jets.

Brady connected on scoring strikes of 79 and 22 yards to Branch to put the Patriots ahead for good at 31-24 with 13:45 to play. He padded the lead to 14 points with a 16-yard TD pass to Welker with 6:42 remaining.

In his last four games, Brady has thrown for 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, giving him 23 scoring passes on the season. He finished the game with a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Shaun Hill finished 27 of 46 for 285 yards with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions - both by New England rookie Devin McCourty - for Detroit (2-9), which absorbed its fourth consecutive defeat.

Branch finished with three receptions for 113 yards while Welker had eight catches for 90 yards.

Calvin Johnson had four receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown for the Lions.