NFL Thanksgiving Day Preview

Thanksgiving offers the chance for feasts gustatory and visual. So enjoy the turkey, the gravy, the stuffing, the potatoes, the pie and a vast array of beverages. Then sit down and let the NFL fill your eyeballs with its own treats and delights.

Three games dot the Thursday schedule and they should all be competed in robust fashion because they all match division teams (and, strangely, every team playing is from the NFC).

The Chicago Bears (5-6) and Detroit Lions (7-4) kick things off at 12:30 p.m. ET. They’re recently begun heading in different directions not exactly indicated by their records. The Bears, despite a leaky defense, have won two in a row. The Lions, despite a powerful defense, cannot score and have lost their last two. This one will be important down the line in the NFC North.

At 4:30 p.m., the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, both 8-3, will break their tie atop the NFC East. The Cowboys ride running back DeMarco Murray while the Eagles get great mileage from LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles, who can score from anywhere.

The evening matchup puts two bitter rivals from the NFC West together. The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, both 7-4, trail the 9-2 Arizona Cardinals in the division and it’s getting late to fall further behind. Two promises – this one will be physically nasty and Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch won’t offer more than a sentence after the game.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy the food and the football.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .