Thanksgiving Day NFL Picks

Nothing is more fitting for a holiday that involves lots of eating than football on Thanksgiving. It is a family tradition. Whenever you need a break from the in-laws, or your crazy aunt or nosy grandparents, turn on the HDTV and watch something really enjoyable.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving has become a time where the NFL can subject America to the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys every year. For some reason it's tradition, but enough already. The Lions have never been good. The only time I can remember one of their Thanksgiving day games holding any significance was back in 1998 when offical Phil Luckett awarded Detroit a victory after he screwed up the overtime coin toss in a game against the Steelers.

Other than that, Detriot has been pathetic, and even more pathetic this year at 0-11. Can they keep the streak going and break the Buccaneers 1976 record of 0-14? Yes!

The Cowboys, on the other hand, are usually on one extreme or another during their turkey day games. The Boys are either really good and face an inferior opponent, like they did last year against a 4-12 Jets team, or as this year against a 2-9 Seahawks team. Or, the Cowboys themselves can be terrible. And there have been many of those instances over the years.

Can we please allow other teams the opportuntiy to host Thanksgiving Day games? Imagine if we had Pats-Jets and Cowboys -Redskins from Washington? How about Steelers-Browns? or Raiders-Chiefs? It would be so much more entertaining, and every fan could get their teams involved in the national holiday. At least, the Eagles play the Cardinals on Thursday night to, at the very least, give the rest of us the kind of football we want to see on Thanksgiving.

TITANS (10-1) @ LIONS (0-11): Need I say more? The Titans should be moving into this game extremely pissed off after getting destroyed by the Jets on Sunday. The key will be for Titan receivers to actually catch the ball! The Lions, well ... they stink! PICK: TITANS 31, LIONS 17.

SEAHAWKS (2-9)@ COWBOYS (7-4): After ripping apart the 49ers on Sunday, the Cowboys can really get themselves back into the playoff race if they can do similar work to Seattle tomorrow. Tony Romo is back with a vengeance after throwing for over 340 yards and three TD's. It is clear that the Cowboys missed Romo's arm and energy. Now if only they can make up for lost time. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are a mess. Matt Hasselbeck has been banged up all year, and it hasn't helped that Seattle has no running game and can't keep their Pro-Bowl receivers healthy. Not exactly the way Mike Holmgren envisioned his last season as a head coach. PICK: COWBOYS 37, SEAHAWKS 14.

CARDINALS (7-4) @ EAGLES (5-5-1): Finally a game with some storylines. Donovan McNabb is on a shorter leash than the Snoopy balloon, and it is guaranteed that the Philly faithful will wish their QB a happy Thanksgiving with boos and beer bottles. In case you were under a rock this past weekend, McNabb was benched after throwing two more interceptions in the first half of a loss to Baltimore. It has created a huge firestorm in Philly, as many expect McNabb to be on his last wings as an Eagle. A loss to the Cards and McNabb may be finished.

As for Arizona, they have to fly across the country after just three days rest to play this game. They have had all of one and a half days of preperation, so expecting a west coast team to be ready to play on the east coast on Thanksgiving is asking a lot. PICK: EAGLES 24, CARDINALS 20.