Thanksgiving slate features 5 winning football teams
Thanksgiving will be filled with food and winning football teams.
The three-game slate for Thursday turned out better than anyone could've hoped when the schedule was announced. Five of the six teams playing are currently sitting in playoff spots.
The early game that traditionally features the Lions (4-6) is more interesting now that Detroit has won three straight games. The visiting Buffalo Bills (73) are among the NFL's best teams and already won a game in the same stadium after a blizzard forced them out of western New York last week.
Just in time for dinner or dessert, the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) host the New York Giants (7-3) in a battle for second place in the NFC East. The Giants were expected to be jockeying for draft positioning at this point of the season.
Instead, they aim to get back on the winning track after losing to the Lions. The Cowboys are coming off a dominant 40-3 win in Minnesota.
Speaking of the Vikings, they'll look to rebound from that disappointing loss to Dallas in the nightcap against the New England Patriots (6-4).
Minnesota (8-2) has been outscored 64-10 in its two losses.
BILLS AT LIONS >> The Buffalo Bills are back in Detroit and this time, they're facing the suddenly surging Lions on Thanksgiving.
The NFL shifted Buffalo's previous home game against Cleveland to Ford Field after a winter storm dumped several feet of snow across the Buffalo area.
The Bills dug out of their snow-packed home and some needed help from team employees, neighbors and strangers to get out of town before beating the Browns to end a twogame losing streak.
Buffalo (7-3) is tied with Miami atop the AFC East and needs another win to keep pace with the Dolphins while holding off New England and the New York Jets, teams in the division that are only one game back.
“These short weeks are pretty tough in terms of scheduling and guys trying to get their bodies right to play, but it's tough for them as well,” quarterback Josh Allen said.
Detroit (4-6) has won three games in a row for the first time in five years and the last such stretch of success was snapped on Thanksgiving, starting a five-game losing streak on the holiday.
GIANTS AT COWBOYS >> Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys channeled the anger from a collapse one week into the biggest road rout in club history the next.
Now they're thinking about building on all the things that went right while the opponent tries to figure out what went wrong.
The New York Giants visit the Cowboys on Thanksgiving with the NFC East rivals sharing 7-3 records, two games behind division-leading Philadelphia.
Not much else is similar for this pair of playoff contenders, the Cowboys are healthy and appearing primed to get on a roll, the Giants sputtering and dealing with injuries.
Dallas blew a 14-point lead entering the fourth quarter for the first time in franchise history in an overtime loss at Green Bay before one of its most dominant performances in a long time in a 40-3 victory at Minnesota.
Prescott is finding a rhythm after missing five games with a fractured thumb on his throwing hand, surrounded by a mostly healthy roster with plenty of playmakers on defense, too.
The Giants just gave up season highs in points and turnovers (three) in a 31-18 loss to Detroit that dropped them into a tie with the Cowboys.
Since Dallas won 23-16 at New York in Week 3, the Giants would essentially fall two games behind the defending NFC East champions with another loss to them.
This is where the short week could come in handy for New York. It's just the second Thanksgiving meeting out of 122 overall in the storied rivalry.
New York quarterback Daniel Jones has four rushing touchdowns, more than in any of his first three seasons. He probably doesn't want to be reminded of one he didn't get last season.
Jones returns to the field where he was taken off on a cart last year after stumbling and almost falling from a hit by Dallas linebacker Jabril Cox. PATRIOTS AT VIKINGS >> The first regular-season game Kevin O'Connell participated in during his fleeting NFL playing career came in late-game relief for New England in a rare lopsided loss.
The Patriots had a bye the following week, and sure enough coach Bill Belichick had them ready for a bounce-back victory. Even after Tom Brady was lost for the year with a knee injury in the opener, the Patriots finished that 2008 season with an 11-5 record.
The response to the Week 3 blowout was methodical, not maniacal. The message was about controlling what was in their control and simply letting the rest of it go.
The first-year Minnesota Vikings coach has found himself in that very situation this week, following a 40-3 loss to Dallas. The Vikings (8-2) host the Patriots (6-4), still coached by Belichick all these years later, on Thursday night with only four days to regroup.