JetNation SPECIAL – NFL Thanksgiving Day Predictions

by Patrick Stanton
JetNation Senior Columnist

On behalf of all of us here at JetNation.com, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Atlanta Falcons (6-4) @ Detroit Lions (4-6)
One of the best sporting traditions in the country kicks off today as the hapless Lions take on a Michael Vick squad looking to stay alive in the fight for the NFC South. For me, there are nothing like the Thanksgiving Day games when it comes to regular season football and apparently that goes for the Lions as well who are notoriously tough on the 4th Thursday of every November. Everything on paper says the Falcons should win this one easy but as they say, “that’s why they play the game�. Look for the Lions Defense to step up for the home crowd and enable Detroit’s anemic offense to make a game of this. Of course, who’s leading that offense is anyone’s guess as at the time this article, Mooch continues to hide his starter for the day. If Garcia plays look for an upset, but if Harrington plays the only thing upset will be the stomachs of Lions fans everywhere. The Falcons pull this one out in the building they won’t even sniff come February.

Denver Broncos (8-2) @ Dallas Cowboys (7-3)
Seriously, who would have thought we’d see these two teams playing such an important game when the schedule came out? Both teams are riding 3 game winning streaks as they enter into Big D in which some would describe as better then expected seasons. On paper, Dallas’ 5th ranked defense (10th vs. pass, 9th vs. run) should give should give Denver’s offense headaches but grab a hold of something, Jake Plummer is playing mistake free ball. It will be interesting as events unfold today in Dallas to see which one crumbles first, Plummer or the Cowboys defense. While not statistically on par with Dallas’ defense, the Broncos Defense [17th overall, (2nd vs. run, 28 vs. pass)] has had its moments this season and should effectively shut down the Barber/Jones running back tandem and force Bledsoe to beat them with his arm. While Bledsoe has enjoyed a career resurgence as of late, putting the game solely on his shoulders has been a roll of the dice for the past few years. While it should amount to a great game for bloated football fans everywhere, I think Dallas comes back to Earth with the Broncos pulling this one out and getting their 9th win.

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