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Happy Thanksgiving!

After you have listened to Alice’s Restaurant a couple of times to get in the holiday spirit, settle back and count the rest of your blessings.

Food, family, the NFL. These are the three pillars of the day.

Hope you like turkey. Hope you like your family. We know you love the NFL. Here’s a quick guide to the day’s programming. Enjoy every bit and every bite.

• Chicago Bears (5-6) at Detroit Lions (3-7-1), 12:30 p.m. ET, Fox. Two things lend this game credence – it’s a traditional matchup of ancient franchises (this is the 180th meeting) and it’s on TV. That’s it. Watch this one on an empty stomach, as quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky (Bears) and Jeff Driskel (Lions) will likely cause at least mild gastric distress.

• Buffalo Bills (8-3) at Dallas Cowboys (6-5), 4:30 p.m., CBS. The Bills play terrific defense. The Cowboys can’t beat anyone good (4-0 in the withered NFC East). Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has a coach (Jason Garrett) in the final year of his contract and the team is underperforming its talent.

• New Orleans Saints (9-2) at Atlanta Falcons (3-8), 8:20 p.m., NBC. The Saints enjoy the services of numerous offensive weapons – QB Drew Brees, WR Michael Thomas, RB Alvin Kamara. The Falcons are not the sturdiest team on defense and they’ve lost four of their five home games.

Have a wonderful holiday. Weekend TV blog follows on Friday – plenty more NFL and lots of college football rivalry games ahead.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman