Holiday Football Action
By SPORTSBETTING.COM
What is it that stands out the most about the three NFL games this Thursday making up the Thanksgiving Day rotation?
Well, by including a dose of Brett Favre, Peyton Manning or the Dallas Cowboys into each game the NFL has instantly drawn attention to each contest from the glamour club of fans that are always happy to love what everyone else is into at the time. But wait a minute, you say. Where are the Patriots? (Oh, don?t worry Brady Bunch; Billy and his boys are playing Sunday night against the Eagles. There will be plenty of time to listen to John Madden fawn over yet another one of his QB poster boys)
It is a bit of a treat for real football fans getting to see a matchup between the Packers and Lions that actually means something in the grand scheme of divisional playoff races. And while the other two pointspreads indicate slight mismatches, don?t think for a second that the Colts are going to take the Atlanta Falcons for granted in the late game. Indianapolis corrected its two-game losing streak by narrowly defeating the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, but the Jaguars also won, maintaining their second place spot in the AFC South just one game back of the Colts.
Some may look at the latter two Turkey Day games and wonder why the NFL would want to schedule such lopsided opponents to play in such a marquee game, but we have to remember that in last year?s playoffs the New York Jets looked pretty good in their game against New England. It only seemed reasonable to think that Chad Pennington and the coach once dubbed Man-Genius would be sitting better than 2-8 in the standings by the time the stuffing was ready in Week 12.
In Atlanta?s case, remember that when the schedule was drawn up they were supposed to have a QB finally matched with a coach that could design an offensive gameplan to fit his strengths. Oh, it was going to be quite a year for the Falcons before Vick proved that, yes, he really is that stupid.
If you scroll down the list of Sunday?s games and try to pick one that would have looked like a good potential candidate for Thursday night back in the summer when the decision had to be made, a lot of them could have ended up seeming like letdowns now, too.
Seattle at St. Louis? Okay, raise your hand if you were still watching in the fourth quarter between the Hawks and Niners two weeks ago.
Baltimore and San Diego? Even Steve McNair would have a hard time matching the number of interceptions Manning threw against the Chargers on Sunday Night in Week 10 and that?s about the only reason the end of that game was exciting.
At the same time, some of the most intriguing matchups of this weekend would have taken prophetic powers in October to see coming, let alone in June.
Houston vs. Cleveland: The Texans have Andre Johnson back, the Browns are challenging for a playoff spot and both of these clubs are on pace to set new franchise records this season for highest offensive production ever.
Or how about Washington and Tampa? Sure, there were high hopes for these teams coming into the season but there have been high hopes for the Redskins ever since Joe Gibbs took over in 2004 and it hasn?t added up to much. Besides, if you recall, the Bucs were invited to the Thanksgiving Day bash at Dallas last season and were blown out of the water 38-10, their biggest loss of the year. That automatically gets you black-listed for at least two seasons!
No matter who?s on the card this Thursday, it?s time for the playoff races to start heating up and it looks like there could be a few new competitors this year in the post-season dance. In the spirit of the holiday, let?s all be grateful for the games we were given on this Thanksgiving and remember the old saying about ?A bad day watching football beats a good day working,? or something like that.
And here?s something else to remember, let?s call it a little holiday nugget: NFL Coaches in their first year with a team, but who have previous experience at the professional level are 6-2 ATS when hosting non-conference opponents. That applies to the Jets and Cowboys matchup this week and while it is a big number, after New York?s surprising upset last Sunday over the Steelers, you can bet that Wade Philips, Tony Romo and the rest of the Cowboys won?t be caught snoozing this week.
Good luck and enjoy this extended week of football.
Visit SPORTSBETTING.COM to see the lines for the Thanksgiving Day matchups, as well as all the specials and bonuses for the holiday.
By SPORTSBETTING.COM
What is it that stands out the most about the three NFL games this Thursday making up the Thanksgiving Day rotation?
Well, by including a dose of Brett Favre, Peyton Manning or the Dallas Cowboys into each game the NFL has instantly drawn attention to each contest from the glamour club of fans that are always happy to love what everyone else is into at the time. But wait a minute, you say. Where are the Patriots? (Oh, don?t worry Brady Bunch; Billy and his boys are playing Sunday night against the Eagles. There will be plenty of time to listen to John Madden fawn over yet another one of his QB poster boys)
It is a bit of a treat for real football fans getting to see a matchup between the Packers and Lions that actually means something in the grand scheme of divisional playoff races. And while the other two pointspreads indicate slight mismatches, don?t think for a second that the Colts are going to take the Atlanta Falcons for granted in the late game. Indianapolis corrected its two-game losing streak by narrowly defeating the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, but the Jaguars also won, maintaining their second place spot in the AFC South just one game back of the Colts.
Some may look at the latter two Turkey Day games and wonder why the NFL would want to schedule such lopsided opponents to play in such a marquee game, but we have to remember that in last year?s playoffs the New York Jets looked pretty good in their game against New England. It only seemed reasonable to think that Chad Pennington and the coach once dubbed Man-Genius would be sitting better than 2-8 in the standings by the time the stuffing was ready in Week 12.
In Atlanta?s case, remember that when the schedule was drawn up they were supposed to have a QB finally matched with a coach that could design an offensive gameplan to fit his strengths. Oh, it was going to be quite a year for the Falcons before Vick proved that, yes, he really is that stupid.
If you scroll down the list of Sunday?s games and try to pick one that would have looked like a good potential candidate for Thursday night back in the summer when the decision had to be made, a lot of them could have ended up seeming like letdowns now, too.
Seattle at St. Louis? Okay, raise your hand if you were still watching in the fourth quarter between the Hawks and Niners two weeks ago.
Baltimore and San Diego? Even Steve McNair would have a hard time matching the number of interceptions Manning threw against the Chargers on Sunday Night in Week 10 and that?s about the only reason the end of that game was exciting.
At the same time, some of the most intriguing matchups of this weekend would have taken prophetic powers in October to see coming, let alone in June.
Houston vs. Cleveland: The Texans have Andre Johnson back, the Browns are challenging for a playoff spot and both of these clubs are on pace to set new franchise records this season for highest offensive production ever.
Or how about Washington and Tampa? Sure, there were high hopes for these teams coming into the season but there have been high hopes for the Redskins ever since Joe Gibbs took over in 2004 and it hasn?t added up to much. Besides, if you recall, the Bucs were invited to the Thanksgiving Day bash at Dallas last season and were blown out of the water 38-10, their biggest loss of the year. That automatically gets you black-listed for at least two seasons!
No matter who?s on the card this Thursday, it?s time for the playoff races to start heating up and it looks like there could be a few new competitors this year in the post-season dance. In the spirit of the holiday, let?s all be grateful for the games we were given on this Thanksgiving and remember the old saying about ?A bad day watching football beats a good day working,? or something like that.
And here?s something else to remember, let?s call it a little holiday nugget: NFL Coaches in their first year with a team, but who have previous experience at the professional level are 6-2 ATS when hosting non-conference opponents. That applies to the Jets and Cowboys matchup this week and while it is a big number, after New York?s surprising upset last Sunday over the Steelers, you can bet that Wade Philips, Tony Romo and the rest of the Cowboys won?t be caught snoozing this week.
Good luck and enjoy this extended week of football.
Visit SPORTSBETTING.COM to see the lines for the Thanksgiving Day matchups, as well as all the specials and bonuses for the holiday.
