Ah, the last weekend of November. Well into the football season, the weather cooling off. In many households, family comes over to enjoy eating turkey and Thanksgiving football. This is what makes the holiday for some of us.
Two teams every year have the coveted holiday schedule, The Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. While some of the teams complain about playing on Thursdays, there seems to be little complaint about playing on Thanksgiving. Could it be the knowledge of how many fans are watching? Could it be the thrill of the primetime playing? Or could it be the quest to be given one of the ceremonial drumsticks at the end of winning a game. Whichever it is, football fits with this holiday as well as stuffing goes with turkey.
Turkey, family and football, a holiday tradition
In fact, football goes so well with this holiday that just a few years ago a third game was added to the day, thanks to the addition of the NFL network.
This year the first game is the Minnesota Vikings facing the Detroit Lions. Even though the Lions have the home field advantage, historically it hasn’t always helped them. However, this game has the makings of the best of the three if you go by the records of the teams. The Vikings are in first place with an 8-2 record and the Lions are a respectable 6-4 right behind them. Being in the same division both teams could benefit greatly from a win, so this will be a game to enjoy.
The second game is between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys. Neither team is playing as well as they would like. They are both in a position where any further losses can spell the end of their season. The performance of the Cowboys is more surprising given how well they played last year. But with them, home field has made a difference and could be the final push they will need to pull out a win this Thanksgiving.
Prime Time
The last game of turkey day is the New York Giants at the Washington Redskins. To say the Giants are playing below par is an understatement. The question seems to be why, they have a good amount of talent on the team led by a future Hall of Fame quarterback. Could their problem be as simple as not having coach Tom Coughlin? Is it the many dropped passes, the communication? But this is the team that beat the Kansas City Chiefs last week. They held a first-place team to only nine points to pick up just their second win.
On the other side, the Redskins saw a fifteen point lead disappear in barely over five minutes last week. When the games are scheduled before the season starts, especially in prime time viewing times. They expect the games to be a close competition and to mean more heading into the playoff time. However, pride is also a thing and there are six more weeks to play. Playoffs may not be attainable for either team, but if the Giants can somehow salvage a .500 season, that would mean a lot and show they are fixing the problems.
Let’s enjoy the holiday, the games and have a wonderful week 12.
