Turkey Day is upon us and with that, one of my favourite days of the football season. It’s not the most glamourous day on the football calendar, but it’s a novelty to have a game kicking off at 5:30pm on a Thursday. As you can tell, I’m very easily amused. Unfortunately for us, it happens to be two of the worst teams in the league, kicking us off. The spiralling Bears, led by back-up QB Andy Dalton, against the winless Lions, led by their back-up QB Tim Boyle. Did you know that Tim Boyle threw one TD and thirteen INTs during him time at UCONN and is somehow starting another game in the NFL? Wild.

Regardless, it will be an enjoyable evening and I’ll be sure to have a cheeky punt or two. On a side note, do you reckon somewhere in Dublin will deliver a full Thanksgiving dinner on Deliveroo?

Here we go…

Bears:

• Current Record: 3-7 (1-4 away).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 287.9 (31st) // Passing – 155.8 (32nd) // Rushing – 132.1 (6th).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 343.9 (11th) // Passing – 221.1 (11th) // Rushing – 122.8 (24th).
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 16.3 (29th) // PPG Allowed – 24.0 (21st).
• Turnover Differential: -4 (24th).
• Injury Report (Out): Justin Fields – QB, Khalil Mack – LB.
• Bears have won 6 of their last 7 games vs Lions.
• Bears have lost their last five games.

Lions:

• Current Record: 0-9-1 (0-4 home).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 312.0 (27th) // Passing – 197.8 (30th) // Rushing – 114.2 (16th).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 376.7 (27th) // Passing – 236.2 (13th) // Rushing – 140.5 (31st).
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 16.0 (30th) // PPG Allowed – 27.3 (30th).
• Turnover differential: -1 (19th).
• Injury Report (Out): Quintez Cephus – WR, Frank Ragnow – C.
• Jared Goff has not been ruled out yet, but even if he does play, he will be banged up with an oblique injury.
• The Lions have scored fewer than 20 points in nine straight games.
• DeAndre Swift is averaging +130 rushing yards over the last two games. They have played the Browns and the Steelers.

Where do I start with this clash of the titans…? The Bears are in complete freefall, losing their last five games and to make matters worse, rumour has it that Head Coach Matt Nagy has lost the dressing room. Fans were letting him have it last week against the Ravens, singing ‘Fire Matt Nagy’ loud and proud. The Bears are also dealing with major injury setbacks, as Justin Fields and Khalil Mack are both out. Mack is out for the rest of the season. On the plus side, they did beat the Lions 24-14 in October. I would expect this to be a much closer content, however. The only team in the NFL without a victory do seem to be improving, having tied with the Steelers, along with only losing to the Browns by three points, in the last two weeks. DeAndre Swift has played a massive role in their recent ‘success’, pounding the rock for 136 yards and one touchdown against the Browns and 130 yards against the Steelers.

Swift’s recent uptake in form should be worrying for the Bears. Currently, the 24th ranked defence against the run, they haven’t had much success slowing down opposition running backs. Tim Boyle will likely be under centre for the Lions, so you would expect Head Coach, Dan Campbell to lean heavily on Swift and Jamaal Williams. This game will not be glamourous, but we could see a nice display of the ground game from both teams. Selections for this game are as follows:

Raiders:

• Current Record: 5-5 (2-2 away).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 373.3 (10th) // Passing – 289.6 (3rd) // Rushing – 83.7 (28th).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 352.9 (16th) // Passing – 220.8 (10th) // Rushing – 132.1 (29th).
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 22.3 (18th) // PPG Allowed – 26.2 (25th).
• Turnover Differential: 0 (17th).
• Injury Report (Out): Alec Ingold – FB, Gerald McCoy – DT, Richie Incognito – G, Trayvon Mullen – CB.

Cowboys:

• Current Record: 7-3 (4-1 home).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 418.1 (1st) // Passing – 284.3 (5th) // Rushing – 133.8 (5th).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 355.6 (18th) // Passing – 251.9 (20th) // Rushing – 103.9 (10th)
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 29.3 (3rd) // PPG Allowed – 21.4 (8th)
• Turnover differential: +4 (8th)
• Injury Report (Out): Amari Cooper – WR, Nahshon Wright – CB, Kelvin Joseph – CB, Blake Jarwin – TE.
• Optimism that All-Pro left-tackle, Tyron Smith will play on Thursday.

I think we all really wish this game was the one on at 5:30. This game actually has a bit of juice. The Raiders are still well within playoff contention and the Cowboys do not want to drop another a game after losing two of the last three. Last week against the Bengals, the Raiders got dismantled, losing 32-13 at home. Joe Mixon ran up and down that ridiculous Vegas stadium like a young gazelle, rushing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders are currently the 29th ranked rushing defence and now face arguably the best running back duo in the league, in Zeke and Pollard. Zeke is a little banged up with a dodgy knee, but he should look to put up big yards against the weak Vegas run defence. I like both Dallas running backs to have big days. Feeding Zeke on Turkey Day is pretty fitting.

On the other side of the ball, the Raiders have been struggling big time over the last three games. In general, they are 18th in points scored PPG with 22.3, but over the last three they have been averaging 14.3. They are seriously missing Ruggs and running back, Josh Jacobs has been struggling with every injury under the sun. Looking at the positives, if there is one way to get at the Cowboys, it’s through the air, and Carr has been slinging it in 2021. I’m sure Carr will look to lean on Waller as Dallas have not been defending tight-ends well this season, but it’s hard to see it being enough. Dallas have been stingy in giving up points, ranking 8th overall and they should win this comfortably. They are 6-1 against the spread in their last seven games at home.

Bills:

• Current Record: 6-4 (3-2 away).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 391.7 (5th) // Passing – 272.9 (7th) // Rushing – 118.8 (12th).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 283.7 (1st) // Passing – 181.8 (2nd) // Rushing – 101.9 (9th).
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 29.5 (2nd) // PPG Allowed – 17.6 (2nd).
• Turnover Differential: +10 (2nd).
• Injury Report (Out): Spencer Brown – OT
• Bills have lost three of their last five. Allen has five INTS in that stretch.

Saints:

• Current Record: 5-5 (2-2 home).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 321.3 (24th) // Passing – 203.4 (26th) // Rushing – 117.9 (13th).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 342.0 (10th) // Passing – 252.2 (22nd) // Rushing – 89.8 (3rd)
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 25.1 (14th) // PPG Allowed – 21.8 (10th)
• Turnover differential: +3 (10th)
• Injury Report (Out): C.J. Gardner-Johnson – S, Landon Young – OT, Adam Trautman – TE, Alvin Kamara – RB.

This is another very interesting game. The Bills and Josh Allen have been struggling over the last five games, losing three of them. Last week against the Colts, they got blown out by Jonathan Taylor and the Colts. Taylor is now being discussed as an MVP candidate after his five-touchdown performance. The Bills will look to get right against a banged-up Saints team, who could be missing eleven of their starters. Josh Allen has been sloppy to say the least in the Bills’ poor three game stretch, throwing four touchdowns to five interceptions. But his connection to best bud, Stefon Diggs was solid against the Colts, with the star wide-out hauling in two touchdowns. However, its bad news for Diggs this week, as he faces star corner back, Marshon Lattimore. I would envisage Allen seeking out the supporting cast this week, so look for Cole Beasley, Emmanuel Sanders and Dawson Knox to pick up the slack.

The Saints have been in big trouble since losing QB, Jameis Winston to a season ending ACL. The loss of Kamara for the last two weeks to a knee injury also hasn’t done them any favours. Back-up QB, Trevor Sieman has had some solid-ish performances, but he faces the number two passing defence this week. The Bills have only been giving up 181.8 yards per game. To be fair to the Saints, their defence has also been playing well, particularly against the run. Although, they did get carved up by the Philly run game last week. They have been keeping their losses at home, close. Only losing by an average of 4 points, along with beating the Packers and Bucs. It is just very hard to see them keeping it within the handicap here, with all the injuries. Kamara is out and Mark Ingram is questionable, amongst others. If they were playing I would go with the Saints +6, but I think the Bills will squeeze this one out. But hey, what the hell do I know about Saints’ games?

J.

CURRENT RECORD: 45-58 (last week was 3-10!! Lol) #wedontquit