Must watch game of Week 13: Thanksgiving week edition
Thanksgiving week features some big time matchups that could shape the way the playoff picture pans out, so sit back, relax, go for seconds, and enjoy.
Get your shopping done. Make sure you are stocked up. Don’t burn the turkey and make sure the gravy is plenty thick. You are going to want to have all the boxes checked off your list for the big weekend, because once kick off starts on Thursday afternoon you aren’t going to want to move from the couch.
Miami Dolphins (5-6) vs. Green Bay Packers (8-3), Thursday, Nov. 29 @ 8:20 p.m. ET
The highlight match up of the Thanksgiving slate comes in a primetime clash from Lambeau Field. What could be better than eating your leftovers while watching a Turkey Day battle from the Frozen Tundra. The Miami Dolphins essentially have to win out if they are going to have a chance to make the playoffs after starting the season 2-6. They have straightened the ship over the last three weeks as Tua Tagovailoa has come back from a concussion and looked like the QB he was when this Dolphins offense was the most feared in the league. The Packers are coming off of their best performance of the year against the San Francisco 49ers last week in Lambeau. For the first time this season we saw them play a complete 60 minutes in every facet of the game. Josh Jacobs is easing the load for Jordan Love. Love and his receivers are looking like they are clicking now more than ever while the defense is still dominating despite missing their leader, Jaire Alexander. The spotlight heads to Green Bay for the juiciest of the Turkey Day slate.
Las Vegas Raiders (2-9) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (10-1), Friday, Nov. 30 @ 9:00 p.m. ET
For the second straight year we have Black Friday football. On paper this doesn’t look like too tantalizing of a match up but when you consider that the Raiders handed the Chiefs a loss last Christmas and lost to KC by a just a TD a few weeks ago, you start to look at this game in a whole different way. The Raiders are coming off a BYE and will be looking to play spoiler against a Chiefs team that is hanging on to their one see in the AFC by a thread. The Chiefs scraped by the Panthers in Carolina over the weekend for another narrow win to just barley keep their one game lead over the Buffalo Bills for the top spot in the AFC. When they were undefeated they could afford to just barley edge their opponents, but now that the Bills handed them their first defeat those close calls are looking more and more troublesome in Arrowhead. Now a Raiders team comes into town hoping to add to the Thanksgiving hangover in Kansas City.
Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (4-7), Sunday, Dec. 1 @ 1:00 p.m. ET
The AFC North will be back in the spotlight in the early slate on Sunday afternoon. The Pittsburgh Steelers were stunned in a snowy Thursday night game in Cleveland last week as Russell Wilson suffered his first loss as the Steelers quarterback. He came in and Pittsburgh to three straight wins, scoring 30 ppg in those games, but since then the offense has hit a bit of a stand still. They have scored 17.5 ppg in their last two games and have only scored two TDs in those games. They are going to need to step it up on the offensive end against a Bengals team that will be aiming to run and gun against one of the league’s top defenses. The Bengals are coming off of their BYE week knowing they have no margin for error. They have to win out if they are even going to have the slightest chance at making the postseason and that starts this Sunday against the Steelers. Joe Burrow is putting up MVP type numbers, but the defense can’t stop a nose bleed. They have given up 32.5 points a game in their last four outings. If they are going to have a chance of running the table, they have to sure things up on defense.
Philadelphia Eagles (9-2) vs. Baltimore Ravens (8-4), Sunday, Dec. 1 @ 4:25 p.m. ET
Ohhhh this is going to be a good one. The battle of the birds from Baltimore. Two Super Bowl contenders. Two of the best running backs in the game. Two MVP candidates at quarterback. One mouthwatering match up from M&T Bank Stadium. The Eagles have rattled off seven straight wins and are looking like one of the top teams in the NFL thanks to their offseason acquisition Saquon Barkley who is now leading the NFL in rushing after his 255 yard night against the Rams on Sunday night. The defense is ferocious. Barkley has lightened the weight off Jalen Hurts’ shoulders and now Hurts is hurting teams with both his arm and his legs like he was back in their run to the Super Bowl a few years ago. Just one of their seven straight wins has been against a +.500 team, and this week they are going to be put to the test against a Ravens team that is looking stay in the division race. They are a favorite to challenge the Chiefs in the AFC this season, but have lost four games already and may be going into the postseason as a Wild Card if they can’t straighten the shit for the rest of the season. The final stretch starts this weekend, and what better way to start it than with a battle of the birds.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Dec. 1 @ 8:20 p.m. ET
Two teams that were supposed to be contending for the Super Bowl, and potentially meet on Super Sunday will square off on Sunday night from Orchard Park. Not much has gone to plan for the San Francisco 49ers who come into Week 13 at the bottom of the NFC West following their loss in Green Bay last week. They have dealt with injuries since Day 1 when Christian McCaffery was ruled out with an achilles injury, and would end up missing half of the season. Then it was Brandon Aiyuk who suffered a season ending injury, and last week it was Brock Purdy and Nick Bosa who were absent for Kyle Shanahan’s team. Even for the few quarters that this team has been at full strength, they haven’t looked like the Niners of the last few years. Purdy has been throwing in practice this week, but is still questionable for the game against a Bills team aiming for the one seed in the AFC. Josh Allen is having an MVP season with a new cast of characters at Highmark Stadium. The Bills are coming off of their BYE week trailing the conference leading Chiefs by just one game, and have the tie break against KC after their head to head win over the defending champs a couple weeks ago. The Niners need to turn things around against a Bills team that is looking to keep the train rolling.