NFL THANKSGIVING: Our Official Predictions For Who Wins
Somehow, through a strange oversight on my part, I chose a non-football loving family to marry into. So, I have to spend Thanksgiving (gag) talking to people. Of course, I'm kidding!
It's great being with family, even if it means missing some totally pointless football.
Now that I've possibly estranged my family, lets make some football picks!
I'm 34-35-4 on the season. All picks come from the Las Vegas Hilton, via Vegas Insider.
REUTERS/Darren Hauck
Green Bay Packers are on the road against the Detroit Lions, who are 6 point favorites.All I can say about this game is ugh. The Lions appear to be a fraudulent team that no one should bet on. The Packers have no quarterback. They're going to start Matt Flynn, who is on his third - yes third - team this year. The last time these teams met, in Green Bay, the Lions only scored 9 points, but Calvin Johnson was out (and Aaron Rodgers was in for the Pack). The Lions have lost 4 of their last 5 against the spread. Same with the Packers. So something has to give here! I'm going to take the points here, just because it's a division game and there's a chance Matt Flynn has enough to hang with the Lions. Although, I could easily see Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson going nuts on the Packers' defense.
The turkey pick: Packers +6
For non-gamblers, just take the final score, add 6 to whatever the Packers have and voila, it should (hopefully) be higher than the Lions' score.
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Oakland Raiders are on the road against the Dallas Cowboys who are 9.5 point favorites.Wow, what a stinky game! Maybe having a family that doesn't care about football isn't that bad after all. Why did the NFL schedule this one for Thanksgiving? So that people could tune out and be good family members? Or is it because they figure people will watch whatever crap it televises? Anyway, this is a lot of points for a Cowboys team that isn't great. The Raiders are obviously a mess in their own right, but they're just good enough to screw up your picks. The Raiders are 7-4 against the spread. The Cowboys, though, are 8-3 against the spread. I'm going to go with the Cowboys, even though I'm not thrilled with the decision. I think Tony Romo and Dez Bryant should be able to light up the Raiders' secondary and rack up enough points to cover this line. But it's a lot of points, I'd understand if you opted for the Raiders here.
The mash potato pick: Cowboys -9.5
That means I think the Cowboys win by (gulp) 10 points or more.
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Pittsburgh Steelers are on the road against the Baltimore Ravens, who are 3 point favorites.I like the Ravens here. They're starting to get it together. The Steelers are also starting to get it together, but they're not as good as the Ravens, I don't think. Joe Flacco should be able to air it out against the Steelers and cover this line.
The gravy pick: Ravens -3.
This means I think the Ravens win by 3 or more.