Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in the United States. I hope you all enjoy your time with family, friends, and get your fill of turkey and all the wonderful sides and desserts. There is a great slate of football this year and even though all of the games seem pretty one-sided, they should be great games regardless. Just like last season, the NFL is remembering the late John Madden this Thanksgiving. The John Madden Thanksgiving Classic is what the Thanksgiving Day triple-header is called, and it appears that it is here to stay. So, while you are congregating with your family, you may catch a game or two today, so keep reading to be prepared.

GAME 1

Green Bay Packers (4-6) at Detroit Lions (8-2); Detroit -8, O/U: 47.5

Two classic Thanksgiving Day teams are facing off against each other in the first matchup of the day in Detroit. Detroit always gets the Turkey Day game and it will be the 84th time the Lions have played on the national holiday. The Lions haven’t won on Thanksgiving since 2016 and it appears the tides will turn today. Or at least that is what the oddsmakers think. Green Bay will play for the 37th time, but surprisingly enough, they haven’t played on the holiday since 2015. They haven’t won since 2011. The Packers and Lions have met more on Thanksgiving than any two teams in the NFL. It will be the 22nd time that they face each other. Their last meeting was a 40-10 blowout win for the Lions in 2013.

It’s a LOVE-ly Day for Some Football

Jordan Love will lead the Green Bay Packers into Detroit for the Noon game today, but there are in for a tall task if they want to continue the momentum of their win last week. Jordan Love has had big shoes to fill this season and while he hasn’t been the QB that Aaron Rodgers was for so many years, Love has made the most of it. He’s had some good games, but his best performance was probably last week against the Chargers. The Lions are a totally different team, but he may start to get rolling a bit now that he had a big game under his belt. The Packers are 8-point dogs going into Detroit and the defense will have their hands full with the 2ndbest offense in football and 5th best scoring offense. The Packers have looked decent in their last 3 games, so I wouldn't count them out.

Detroit Rock City is On the Run

I know those aren't the lyrics, but I predict that the Detroit RBs are going to be moving their feet, leaving their seats, and losing their minds. I just couldn’t fit that all in the title. I predicted that they could be a scary team in the preseason and they may be just that. They’re a stout team and they just make it out of the playoffs as the team representing the NFC. The Packers have the 28th worst Rush Defense and the Lions have the 5th best Rush Offense. Something tells me that they’re going to run all over the Packers. The Lions have bested the Packers in Thanksgiving Day games with 12 wins as opposed to the Packers 8 wins against them. 8 Points is a lot of points to cover, so I don’t think they will do that, especially considering this is a rival game in short week. I do think the Lions win today though.

Difference Maker(s): Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery

I talked about it earlier, but these two will be featured quite a bit. I expect the Lions to go up early and run the ball quite a bit. If not, I expect Gibbs to be featured in the pass game quite a bit. Both runners are averaging 5 yards per carry and I think they will rack it up today against a weak Packers defense.

GAME 2

Washington Commanders (4-7) at Dallas Cowboys (7-3); Dallas -13.5, O/U: 48.5

Washington and Dallas will meet for the 11th time in the holiday’s history and Dallas has dominated the history between the two. Dallas has 8 wins compared to DC’s 2 wins. This matchup today appears to be as lopsided as the history between the division rivals. The last time the two teams met was in 2020 and Washington were the Football Team, instead of the Commanders. The Washington Football Team destroyed Dallas, 41-16, for their 2nd Turkey Day win against them.

Left Thumb Down, Who Are We?

The Commanders are on a terrible stretch. They started the season off hot with 2 wins, but have gone 2-7 since. Their two wins aren't against the cream of the crop by any means either. Commanders fans seem to think that they have their guy in Sam Howell and I can’t really say that they don’t. He has been solid for them. In fact, he is leading the NFL in passing yards. Other than that, though, he hasn’t been the best, but he also hasn’t been nearly the worst. Their problems haven’t really been offensively. Their defense is atrocious and that is pretty bad considering their coach is a defense-first coach. I don’t think Ron Rivera will be back next season and the Commanders will be looking towards a rebuild. As for today, I don’t think they stand a chance.

The Same Ol’ Cowboys

The Cowboys were 7-3 this time last year and here they are again with the same record. They’re practically the same, but this time they are without Zeke and Trevon Diggs. Diggs is injured, but Elliott is no longer with the team. They have missed his impact too. Tony Pollard hasn’t been terrible, but he wasn’t nearly the player he was last season. No worries, though, because they haven’t needed him. CeeDee Lamb has filled the void and them some. Dak Prescott is playing like a potential MVP candidate and the defense has been superb all season long, ranking 2nd in defense and 5th in scoring defense. The Cowboys seemingly have had the team to make a run, but something always goes wrong. That isn't a worry at the moment, but we’ll see where they are in the coming weeks. They’re favored by 13.5 and I think that they will cover that today against a weak Commanders team. I also think the over will hit and I think the Cowboys will score at least 40 today.

Difference Maker: CB, DaRon Bland

Rightfully, there was some concern as to if the Cowboys secondary would step up in Trevon Diggs’ absence. Luckily, the Cowboys haven’t had much to worry about. DaRon Bland has be phenomenal and he has clearly been the breakout player for the Cowboys. He has 6 INTs and 4 pick 6’s this season, and my prediction is that he will make it 5 today.

Yacs

2023 NFL Thanksgiving Day Preview (Afternoon and Evening)