The busiest week in the NFL offers a welcome distraction during Thanksgiving weekend. With four games happening before the weekend even begins, there’s plenty of time for football between plates of turkey and pie.
A national Thanksgiving punchline the last few decades, the Detroit Lions are the current Super Bowl favorites, riding a nine-game winning streak and heavily favored over the NFC North rival Chicago Bears.
Thursday’s second matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants lost some appeal with changes at quarterback. Cooper Rush versus Drew Lock, who looks likely to start in place of Tommy DeVito, could be the perfect time for a nap if the game gets ugly.
Primetime Thursday sees the Green Bay Packers host the Miami Dolphins. Now that Miami has corrected its season with the healthy return of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Thanksgiving’s best matchup goes down at Lambeau Field.
—Scott Phillips
We have odds, previews, how to watch and expert picks for each game. But first, let’s review how our experts did last week.
Top 10 | Win % | Record |
---|---|---|
1. Josh Kendall |
68% |
121-56-0 |
2. Austin Mock |
67% |
110-54-0 |
3. Larry Holder |
65% |
116-62-0 |
4. Ben Standig |
64% |
106-59-0 |
5. Chad Graff |
64% |
86-49-0 |
6. Tashan Reed |
63% |
112-67-0 |
7. Zac Jackson |
61% |
104-67-0 |
8. Josiah Turner |
60% |
108-71-0 |
9. Michael-Shawn Dugar |
58% |
71-52-0 |
10. Nick Kosmider |
57% |
93-70-0 |
All odds from BetMGM. Looking for NFL tickets? Find them here. For information on streaming, click here.
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The Bears are proving the NFL truly is a league of inches, having logged three final-possession losses this season on a Hail Mary, a blocked kick, and an overtime heartbreaker. For their suffering, they’re rewarded with a Thanksgiving Day game as massive underdogs to the juggernaut Lions in Detroit. When it rains, it pours.
Chicago’s season has been a fruitless pursuit of offensive consistency, with rookie Caleb Williams flashing his top-pick talent enough times to indicate he’s not the main problem. The team fired its offensive coordinator nine months into the job, and under new OC Thomas Brown, had their best showing of the season against Minnesota in Week 12. But repeated success has eluded the Bears all year and head coach Matt Eberflus’ position remains precarious enough that he isn’t signing any long-term leases. All that is to say that personnel and statistics don’t factor into this matchup as much as the simple fact one team is in disarray and the other is very much not.
The Lions are Super Bowl favorites and have talent and cohesion on both sides of the ball. They are the class of the NFL’s best division and can win any type of game any type of way.
The Bears have a competent defense and little else that works consistently. Maybe a year from now Chicago will be able to outrun the lion, but for now, they’re the slowest gazelle in the NFC herd.
Detroit should cover and be home in time for turkey.
—J.J. Bailey
This might be the Thanksgiving Day football game that does what would seem to be the impossible — push people away from the television and back to an extended conversation with their families. The Dallas Cowboys look to snap their six-game home losing streak when they host the New York Giants in a battle of backup quarterbacks. The Cowboys are a little more than a field-goal favorite.
Not only have the Cowboys lost six consecutive home games going back to last year’s playoff game, they have been blown out in most of them and not even been remotely competitive. They finally have a chance to change that and snap that streak to give their fans something to finally be happy about.
Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush was an addition to the injury report this week with a knee issue, but he is expected to play. He has thrown for 813 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in place of starter Dak Prescott.
There is a little more uncertainty on the Giants side where backup Tommy DeVito is not a guarantee to play as he deals with a right forearm injury. He has lost four consecutive starts going back to last season. If he cannot go, Drew Lock will get the start.
Like the Cowboys, the Giants have been better on the road this season than they have been at home and could actually get to .500 on the road (3-3) with a win on Thursday.
Both teams have been miserable at covering the spread this season and enter Thursday with matching 3-8 records against the spread. The Cowboys (0-5) have failed to cover as a home team.
—Adam Gretz
The third and final Thanksgiving football offering looks like the best one. The 5-6 Miami Dolphins, on a three-game winning streak to revive their season, take on the formidable Green Bay Packers, one of the league’s best teams at 8-3. The Packers are favored at home.
With freezing temperatures and double-digit wind speed expected for kickoff, the Dolphins find themselves shivering fish, err mammals, out of water. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 0-7 in cold weather games of 40 degrees or less, per Pro Football Talk. Here is a meaningful opportunity to flip the script — with a win on Thursday night, Miami will be firmly in the playoff race after its nightmarish first half of the season.
The Dolphins have scored 34 points in back-to-back games. But those were against the Raiders and Patriots, who have a combined record of 5-18. It’s still a resilient effort from this banged-up group. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill is playing through a wrist injury, and tackle Terron Armstead is battling knee trouble. Of course, Tagovailoa missed five weeks after suffering a concussion.
Both defenses are solid. Miami is 10th in yards allowed per play; Green Bay is 11th. The Packers are tied for the second-most takeaways in the league. Safety Xavier McKinney leads the way with seven interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Green Bay’s Jordan Love is looking to cut back on the turnovers himself. He has tossed 11 interceptions in nine outings, after throwing that many in a full 17-game rookie season. The Packers are a good ground team, with their talented and clever offensive line paving the way for the fourth-most rushing yards in football. Josh Jacobs has 480 yards and seven total touchdowns in his last five games.
—Steven Louis Goldstein
(Photo of Jordan Love: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
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