FanPost

Previewing Turkey Day Games, and Knowing MCM's Turkey Day Plans

Obviously this upcoming Thursday we have this holiday called Thanksgiving. It is a time to gather with friends and family and stuff as much food down your throat as possible before you succumb to Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea. It's also a time to gather round the television and watch some football.

This year has a particularly interesting slate of 3 games, and the good news is if you don't have NFL Network like me or anyone in my family for that matter, none of these games are on NFL Network. Diving into the games:

Game 1: Houston Texans @ Detroit Lions,

Time/TV: Noon ET, CBS

Line: Texans by 3

Preview: This game should obviously interest us as Titans fans because we want nothing more than to see the Texans lose. What a fabulous start to the weekend that would be. Last week, the Texans narrowly escaped Chad Henne and the Jacksonville Jaguars. I'm not sure if that's respectable that they won, or if it's pathetic that they should have lost to the Jaguars. Either way, they still won, so Jacksonville still proves to be useless. Matt Schaub had a career day, passing for 527 yards and 5 TD's, while Andre Johnson racked up 273 yards receiving. Going into this matchup vs the Lions, the fact that their defense was shredded by the Jaguars should be very enticing to the Detroit Lions offense, particularly Calvin Johnson, who will be begging for the ball in this one, especially if Johnathan Joseph can't go for Houston (that was a very long run-on sentence). Speaking of the Lions, they fought hard against the Packers on Sunday but couldn't close the deal. I think Detroit comes out firing and scores first in this one, and it should be a very exciting football game to start us out. I don't see Detroit winning, but it would be great if they did. GO LIONS!

Prediction: Texans 34, Lions 24

Game 2: Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys

Time/TV: 4:15 ET, FOX

Line: Cowboys by 3

Preview: Neither of these 2 teams are out of it for the NFC East title, so this will be a very competitive and hard fought game. Dallas (5-5) only trails the Giants (6-4) by 1 game for the NFC East lead, and Washington (4-6) trails by 2. Do the math, Dallas wins and they tie the Giants, Washington wins and they trail by a game (going into Sunday at least). Giants have the Packers this week, so there is a very real possibility that they will be stuck on 6 wins after this weekend and have very little breathing room in the division. A lot of people (ESPN, mostly) will be thinking Dallas is going to win because they are the Cowboys, and that's fine and dandy, but the Cowboys barely beat the Cleveland Browns at home on Sunday, while the Redskins demolished the hapless Philadelphia Eagles. Expect RG3 to have another impressive outing, with Romo and the Cowboys likewise scoring themselves. NFC East matchups are always fun to watch, so you should have some interest in this one. I think Washington will pull the upset (if you even call it an upset).

Prediction: Redskins 27, Cowboys 24

Game 3: New England Patriots @ New York Jets

Time/TV: 8:20 ET, NBC

Line: Patriots by 7

Preview: Oh boy. It's this game again. Patriots vs Jets, Rex Ryan vs Bill Belichick, Tom Brady vs whoever the Jets QB is. Not a whole lot riding on this game in the AFC East, because everyone except the Patriots is floundering at 4-6 going into this weekend. A Jets win pulls them within 2 games of the Patriots, but you have to think the Patriots are going to pull it out once again. I think this game is intriguing because the Patriots will be without TE Rob Gronkowski, but I can't see the Jets putting it all together for an entire game and winning. It will be competitive early on, probably something like 14-14 at halftime. But I expect the Patriots to roll in the end. If you need a game that won't give you a stress/food-induced heart attack, this should be the game for you.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Jets 17

The 2nd half of this fanpost is just simply me asking my fellow MCMers what you'll be up to this holiday. Me personally, I will be traveling a few hours to visit family and have a merry time. We always have a backyard family football game as well, so I'll probably be missing a good portion of the Texans-Lions game or the start of Cowboys-Redskins. That's alright though. Nothing beats backyard football with your family. You get to be the Jake Locker and WSS. Or you get to be the Blaine Gabbert and just suck and the rest of your family ridicules your lack of skill. I hope it's the former for you all.

Safe travels to yee, MCM, wherever yee may be going. Happy Thanksgiving.