On holiday, hope for happier times
Teams in Thanksgiving games seeking return to win column
Maybe the NFL teams set to play on Thanksgiving got caught looking ahead to the holiday extravaganza.
All six squads playing on Thursday lost in their lead-up to the Thanksgiving game, marking the first time since 2001 that every team playing on the holiday dropped its previous contest.
Back then there were only two Thanksgiving games, with the Lions hosting the Packers and the Cowboys hosting the Broncos.
This year there are six teams — the Lions, Bears, Raiders, Cowboys, Saints and Bills — looking to get rid of the bad taste of a loss so they can enjoy their holiday. Four of those are on winless stretches of at least three games.
The Lions (0-9-1) host the Bears (3-7) in the first game, a matchup between a winless team and one on a five-game losing streak. The Bears and Lions are familiar Thanksgiving foes, with this being their 19th meeting, two shy of the record held by the Lions and Packers.
That game will be followed by the slumping Raiders (5-5), who have lost three straight, visiting the Cowboys (7-3), who have dropped two of three.
The nightcap features another team on a three-game skid, with the Saints (5-5) hosting the Bills (6-4).
The final two games on Thanksgiving are part of a record nine this week between teams that don’t have a losing record, the most in NFL history in Week 12 or later.
Road warriors
The Cardinals have become the NFL’s road warriors.
They have won all six road games this season, with each victory coming by at least 10 points. The last team to do that was the Cowboys in 1968, when they won all seven road games they played that season by double digits.
The Cardinals are off this week but can match the mark the following week against the Bears.
Playing from ahead
The Vikings have had a knack for playing with the lead.
They’re the 20th team in the Super Bowl era to lead each of their first 10 games by at least seven points.
Despite having that kind of cushion each game, the Vikings are still only 5-5 on the season.
The other 19 teams to do it combined for an .816 winning percentage, with only the 2015 Giants, the 1987 Dolphins and 1967 Giants failing to post a winning record. Those three teams were also 5-5.
The Vikings can become the 17th team to do it in the first 11 games this week against the 49ers.
TD club
Jonathan Taylor and Austin Ekeler had days to remember on Sunday.
Taylor scored five touchdowns for the Colts, while Ekeler got into the end zone four times for the Chargers, marking the seventh time since 1950 that multiple players scored at least four touchdowns on the same day.
The last time it happened was back on Nov. 18, 2007, when Hall of Fame wide receivers Randy Moss and Terrell Owens did it.
Taylor is on an eight-game streak of games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown run, matching a single-season record set by Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006.
Three-time Pro Bowl running back Lydell Mitchell also had an eight-game streak over two seasons while playing for the Baltimore Colts in the 1975 and 1976 seasons.
Ekeler was the ninth player in the Super Bowl era to have at least two touchdown catches and two touchdown runs in the same game.
The most recent to do it before Ekeler was Maurice Jones-Drew for the Jaguars against the Buccaneers in 2011.