It’s time for some Thanksgiving football! We get the annual triple-header, which is one of the few times I can appreciate short week football. And this year we get three rather interesting matchups. The NFL appears to have decided they needed a rivalry week, with all three games featuring significant historic rivalries.
The day opens with with the last place 4-6 Detroit Lions hosting the NFC North leading 7-3 Chicago Bears at 9:30 a.m. PT. The Bears are rolling right now, but the Lions have hung close in the division. Three game separate the top and bottom of the division. The Bears are a 3.5-point favorite in a must-win for both teams. If the Bears lose, they would be less than half a game up on the Vikings. If the Lions lose, they would be even further outside looking in on the wild card race. Mitchell Trubisky is a question mark for this game, but either way, I’m laying the points with Chicago.
The second game features the Dallas Cowboys hosting Washington, with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. Washington will be sending out quarterback Colt McCoy after Alex Smith suffered a compound fracture last Sunday. Washington has a one-game lead on Dallas, and beat them at FedEx field earlier this season. If Dallas wins, they move into a tie, but if Washington wins, they’d have a two-game lead plus the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Cowboys are a 7.5-point favorite, with the line climbing since Smith’s injury. I’m going to take the points with Washington.
The tripleheader wraps up with the New Orleans Saints hosting the Atlanta Falcons on NBC at 5:20 p.m. The Saints are a half-game back of the Rams for the best record in the NFC, and hold the tiebreaker over them. The Falcons have been decimated by injuries and now sit at 4-6. New Orleans is a 13-point favorite over the Falcons, but I have a feeling this ends up a fun one. I’ll take the double digit points with Atlanta.
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
Game time: 9:30 a.m. PT
Channel: CBS
Live Stream: (CBS All-Access, FuboTV)
Date: Thursday, November 22
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Odds: Bears -3.5
Washington at Dallas Cowboys
Game time: 1:30 p.m. PT
Channel: FOX
Live Stream: (Fox Sports GO, FuboTV)
Date: Thursday, November 22
Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Kristina Pink
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Odds: Cowboys -7.5
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
Game time: 5:20 p.m. PT
Channel: NBC
Live Stream: (NBC Sports Live, FuboTV)
Date: Thursday, November 23
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Michele Tafoya
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Odds: Saints -13