Thanksgiving is many things.
It's about spending time with family. It's about preparing recipes that have been passed down through generations. It's about avoiding an awkward conversation with your uncle, who truly believes his business will take off this year. Then you need to enter the first floor.
And of course it's about football.
There will be three NFL games this Thanksgiving, plus a second “Black Friday” game on Amazon Prime, and of course, the remaining Week 13 NFL games.
Here are some upsets you might want to tell that uncle as a potential plan B if the business really doesn't take off.
Arizona Cardinals (+4) vs. Minnesota Vikings — Mark Schofield
of arizona cardinals teeth SB Nation, Certified fun.
They are finding ways to get creative and explosive in the passing game out of a larger talent package. Kyler Murray is coming off his best year in recent memory, and their defense could cause havoc on the other side of the football.
Sam Darnold is prone to making mistakes from time to time in the chaos.
Miami Dolphins (+3.5) vs. Green Bay Packers — Matt Warren
dolphin Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 0-7 in the NFL in games with temperatures below 40 degrees. The Hawaii-born QB played college baseball at Alabama and doesn't have much experience in the cold, but he had some thoughts about it this week.
“Yeah, I mean, I'm excited to kill the story. So let's go. Let's do it,” he told reporters after the team's win Sunday.
The temperature at kickoff was 33 degrees and is expected to cool Thursday night with overnight lows in the teens. So why would I choose the Dolphins?
Tua is not the reason the Dolphins struggled in 2024, at least in the games he actually played. According to Pro Football Focus, he has a 74% success rate, a 1.7% interception rate and a 52.2% completion percentage. His QB rating is 106.2. When he put on the suit, he looked solid.
of packers The defense, on the other hand, benefits greatly from turnovers, leading the league in opposing drives at 17.9%. Tagovailoa has four interceptions this year, three in one game. He protects the ball, and if he can do that Thursday, the Dolphins have a great chance of finishing first.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love is the exact opposite of Tua, recording an interception in every game in 2024 until last weekend. He ranks second in the league behind Geno Smith with 11 picks and has the second-highest interception rate behind Will Revis.
Both teams have had fairly extensive injury reports in a short week, so that will no doubt be a factor as well.
Pittsburgh Steelers (+3) vs. Cincinnati Bengals — JP Acosta
how steelers I will continue to do this, but I will continue to believe in their demonic magic until it no longer works. I think the Steelers offense played well considering the fact that they played in a snowstorm on Thursday, and being able to get some explosives in the run game will help make the offense more dynamic. Given their ability to get explosives and their need to do it on the ground, they have the perfect ability to do it against a Bengals run defense that is still giving up a lot on the ground. Since Week 6, he has moved up to 17th in run percentage against them, but is still 26th in EPA per carry allowed. They've gotten better at not giving up singles and doubles, but the home run ball is still with them. If the Steelers can get explosives on the ground in combination with George Pickens' Chaos Machine, the Steelers can win this game. Add in the variable of TJ Watt and the Steelers are a good pick here.
Carolina Panthers (+6.5) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — James Deiter
It feels like dirty home runs like this keep picking the Panthers against the spread, but I don't know how the line keeps coming up like this. Last week I told you guys we were going to play Carolina +11 vs. the Chiefs, and it worked, so here we go again.
I don't necessarily think the Panthers will win, but rather I think the Panthers can keep this game close. Everything is starting to fall into place for Bryce Young and the Carolina offense, but Adam Thielen's return to the lineup adds another layer of ripples. he should One of Young's favorite targets, Jalen Coker, who missed the game against the Chiefs due to a quadriceps adjustment, is also in the mix.
On average, the Bucks are allowing just 3.3 points more this season. Many of their wins were close. I think this could either lead to the Panthers winning the W or losing by a narrow margin.
