Thanksgiving football has become one of the biggest traditions in American households. Each year, the NFL gives us three primetime matchups to enjoy while enjoying our turkey and mashed potatoes.
This year, the matchups were between the Lions and Bears, Giants and Cowboys and Packers and Dolphins. Each of these matchups ended up being extremely entertaining, although for different reasons.
Thanksgiving game one- Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears
The Lions are one of the two teams who have games on Thanksgiving every year. For most of their history, they have been known as a team who struggles on the holiday. However, with their increased success since last season, they were able to pull off a 23-20 victory vs. the Bears.
The Lions established their dominance vs. the Bears in the first half, getting off to a 16-0 lead at halftime. Although the Lions are generally known for their offense, this lead was largely due to their defense. The Lions only had one touchdown, a three yard TD pass from Jared Goff to Sam Laporta. The rest of the Lions points came from field goals.
The third quarter didn’t go much better for the Bears. Despite scoring a touchdown they were still down 23-7 after the end of the third quarter. The Bears didn’t come alive until the fourth quarter, where they would score two touchdowns to get the game to within three. The Bears had a chance to at least tie the game. The Bears had the ball with a few seconds left. Caleb Williams took way too long to start the play, and the coach didn’t call a timeout. Williams threw a pass going for a TD but it didn’t work. The coach was fired for this blunder the next day.
Thanksgiving game two- Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants
The Cowboys are the other Thanksgiving staple team. This matchup was originally supposed to be Dak Prescott vs. Daniel Jones. However, Prescott is injured for the rest of the season and Jones was released for poor performance. The matchup ended up being Cooper Rush vs. Drew Lock. Lock was announced as the starter just a few hours before gametime. Tommy Devito had started the previous game for the Giants with mediocre results, but was benched due to a forearm injruy.
The Cowboys established their dominance in the second and third quarters, going on a 24 to three run to take a 27-10 lead with one more quarter to go. The Giants got some scoring going in the fourth quarter. Graham Gano hit a 47 yard field goal and Drew Lock had a rushing touchdown. However, it was too little too late as the Giants ended up losing the game 27-20. They became the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs.
Photo via North Jersey.com
Thanksgiving game three- Green Bay Packers vs. Miami Dolphins
The last matchup of the Thanksgiving slate gives us two teams who don’t get to appear in the game every season. In the preseason this looked like a great matchup, I even picked it as my matchup of the week. However, the Dolphins haven’t been nearly as good as expected. This ironically ended up being the worst matchup of the Thanksgiving schedule.
The Packers got off to a comfortable 24-3 lead at halftime. Wide receiver Jayden Reed caught two passes from Jordan Love for touchdowns in the half. The Packers are one of the best teams at defending the run, while they’re about average at defending the pass. The Dolphins tried to exploit this, but QB Tua Tagovailia just isn’t good enough to take over a game purely with his passing.
He didn’t have a terrible game. He had two touchdowns in the second half that helped get the game closer. However, it took him far too long to get going. Josh Jacobs, who has been pretty good for the Packers this season, had an off game on Thanksgiving. He had 19 rushing attempts for just 43 yards. However, he did leave the night with one highlight. Love passed to him about half way through the fourth quarter. Jacobs, through some nice swift movements, was able to get 49 yards. In total he had 74 yards from receiving. This was his only notable play, but a very good highlight at that.
For more on sports and pop culture visit the Respect My Region home page.
