Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and football are the cornerstones of a good Thanksgiving and this year has an incredible slate of games. Even Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is going to watch.
“We’ll watch, especially Detroit this year with [former Patriots director of pro scouting and current Lions general manager Bob Quinn] out there,” Belichick said on Wednesday. “We’ll see how he’s doing. [Thanksgiving] is a great holiday. It’s about family, friends, good food, and football. I mean, how can it get any better than that? It’s one of the all-time greats. I hope everyone has a good holiday.”
Everyone enjoy however you are spending your Thanksgiving, whether it’s with friends, family, a pet, a book, or just some football- and may you be as happy as Vince Wilfork eating a turkey leg.
Here are the games to watch.
12:30 PM EST on CBS
Vikings at Lions (-3): Both the Vikings and Lions have 6-4 records and are tied for first place in the NFC North. While this game won’t affect the Patriots, it’s pretty clear that Belichick and company will be rooting for ol’ pal Quinn on Thursday. Former Patriots TE Clay Harbor, TE Matthew Mulligan, DT Khyri Thornton, and SS Tavon Wilson also fill out the Detroit roster.
4:30 PM EST on FOX
Washington at Cowboys (-7): The Cowboys boast one of the most exciting offenses in the league and the best record in the NFL at 9-1, while Washington only has one loss (to the Lions) in their past 8 games. This game won’t affect the Patriots, so this really comes down to whether you want the NFC to have a close race for a bye week down the stretch- and so the Patriots will root for Washington.
8:30 PM EST on NBC
Steelers (-3) at Colts: Both teams have 5-5 records and sit in second place in their divisions, but are probably better than the first place teams. Both teams have offenses that can score on every single drive, and also have defenses that are willing to give up points on every drive. This should be an exciting and high scoring affair. The Patriots will probably want the Colts to win to make it more difficult for the Steelers to get a bye week, especially since there’s no chance the Patriots will ever win the “strength of schedule” tiebreaker against any of the AFC West teams.