Thanksgiving Pigskin Preview

Green Bay at Detroit: The Lions, coming off a dramatic comeback victory over the Cleveland Browns, welcome their long time rival to Ford Field for a Thanksgiving showdown. The Packers are looking for a win to remain in the NFC playoff picture, while the Lions are simply looking to put back back to wins together for the first time since 2007. It is going to be a tough task for the home team in this one. For starters, the Lions secondary is all banged up and they will be forced to start safety Marvin White, who was signed only a month ago after being cut by the Cowboys. Starting alongside him will be rookie Louis Delmas who is nursing injuries of his own. Add that to the fact that starting QB Matthew Stafford is nursing an injury to his non throwing shoulder after separating it at the end of last weeks game, and things look even worse. It is hard to imagine the Lions secondary being able to stop Aaron Rogers and company in this one, but it may be closer than the most people think.

Oakland at Dallas: The Raiders travel to Jerry's World after an improbable victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Cowboys come off a very uninspiring defeat of the Washington Redskins. The Raiders offense seems to have found some rhythm behind new starting QB Bruce Gradkowski, probably because his throws are actually to his receivers. If the Raiders defense can put some pressure on Tony Romo, he will make plenty of mistakes and make this game closer than it should be. I'll take the Raiders and the upset as Romo will again prove that he is not a top flight NFL QB.

New York Giants at Denver: Boy how the Broncos have come back down to Earth. The team that had everyone talking about how wrong they were to start the season is now proving everyone right. The Denver defense is still playing very well, but the lack of offense is catching up to them. As opponents have had a chance to watch tape of Kyle Orton, the lack of any ability to throw the ball deep has become evident. Teams are now taking away the short stuff and forcing Orton to throw the ball down the field more. The Giants snapped their four game losing streak with an overtime win against the Falcons last week, but they have been struggling themselves of late. The Broncos defense should be able to keep this game close through the first half, but the offense will not be able to keep us as the game wears on. Look for the Giants to win this game by two scores.

Quick Hits From the NFL

What was Bill Belichick thinking? My gut reaction is that he wasn't thinking at all. Going for it on 4th and 2 from your own 28 with a six point lead and less than 2 minutes left seems crazy. Add to that the fact that the Colts had no timeouts left and a 70 yard drive seems even less possible. After thinking about it, however, you can see where he was coming from. The Colts previous 2 possessions were longer than 70 yards and took less than 2 minutes. Belichick clearly had more confidence in his offense gaining 2 yards than in his defense stopping Peyton Manning. I still would have kicked it away, but I can see where he is coming from.

At what point can we give up on Tony Romo. He clearly is not a top level NFL Quarterback. Time after time he fools everyone into thinking he has taken the next step and then he comes back to Earth. The Cowboys have not won a playoff game in over a decade and I don't think Romo changes that. He is simply too careless with the football and way too laid back to be an effective leader.

The Cincinnati Bengals have now swept their season series with both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The offense is firing on all cylinders, but the defense has been the key. Both corners are plating shutdown defense, allowing Mike Zimmer to be his aggressive in his scheme. Credit linebackers Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga with bringing a hard nosed attitude and giving the whole defensive unit their swagger. They have to be considered one of the top teams in the AFC.