Since 1934 the Thanksgiving holiday has featured a Detroit Lions home game. The Dallas Cowboys joined the holiday action in 1966, hosting their own annual Thanksgiving Day game. A third game was added in primetime in 2006, and now in 2023 we get a fourth game on Black Friday.
The best American holiday keeps getting better.
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions (-7.5)
The Lions have been underdogs in 11 of their previous 15 Thanksgiving Day games, but this Lions team is now one of the best in the NFC, and they are the deserved favorite over the Green Bay Packers.
The Lions are 8-2 this season and they are tied for an NFL-best 7-3 against the spread. Meanwhile the Packers have covered in just two of their last seven games, and when they faced Detroit in Green Bay earlier this season, they lost by 14 points.
Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys (-11)
The last time these two teams played, last January, the Commanders won 26-6 and easily covered the spread. It was Week 18, but Dallas wasn’t resting anyone. They weren’t playing a skeleton crew in preparation for the playoffs. They just got their butts kicked, plain and simple.
This Commanders team in theory is better than that team, but this Cowboys team is certainly better. They are playing great football on both sides of the ball, and they have covered double-digit spreads in each of the previous two weeks.
San Francisco 49ers (-6.5) at Seattle Seahawks
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll says that despite the bruised tricep quarterback Geno Smith suffered last week, he will play on Thursday night against the 49ers. And that’s a good thing, because the Seahawks need all hands on deck when playing against the 49ers offense.
No offense looks better than San Francisco’s, and Seattle’s only hope is to score a lot of points themselves. It will be tougher without Kenneth Walker, who is out with an oblique injury. And it will be tough against a pretty good San Francisco front-seven that should harass Smith all game long.
Miami Dolphins (-10) at New York Jets
If you do not want to get into fist fights at Target over a half-price television, the NFL has your back. For the first time ever we get an NFL game on Black Friday, with the Dolphins visiting the New York Jets.
Miami has the offense, the Jets have the defense, and the Jets also have a new quarterback. Head coach Robert Saleh has moved Zach Wilson to third string, and handed over the offense to Tim Boyle, a 29-year-old five-year pro who made three starts for the Lions back in 2021. Trevor Siemian will serve as his backup on Friday.
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