Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Week 13 grades!
Grab your family, grab some food and buckle up, because the NFL's best regular-season tradition is here: Thanksgiving football.
The Turkey Day action started with a wild game in Detroit where the Lions escaped with a 23-20 win over the Chicago Bears. The victory ended a seven-game losing streak on Thanksgiving for the Lions while improving their record to 11-1, which now gives them the best start in franchise history.
The second game of the day is be going down in Dallas where two disappointing teams will be facing in off in the Giants and Cowboys. Although the Cowboys have struggled this year, they're likely feeling thankful that the NFL scheduled them to play the Giants on Thanksgiving. Dallas has won seven straight games against the Giants and 14 of the past 15 in the series. The Cowboys are also a perfect 2-0 against the Giants on Thanksgiving with their most recent win coming in 2022.
The Thanksgiving nightcap will be taking place on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field between the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers. The kickoff temperature is expected to be slighly under 30 degrees, which isn't great news for a Dolphins' team that has struggled in cold-weather. Including the playoffs, the Dolphins have lost 11 straight games when the kickoff temperature is under 40 degrees, so they'll be looking to end that streak.
With that in mind, let's get to the Thanksgiving grades, starting with the Lions' dominant win.
Detroit 23-20 over Chicago
| C | |
| Matt Eberflus has been on the hot seat all season and after this loss, that seat is going to be hotter than the oven you cooked your turkey in. The Bears had a chance to win or tie this game in the final minute, but Eberflus totally botched the clock management in the final 30 seconds. On top of that, the Bears didn't look prepared to play during a first half where they fell behind 16-0 while totaling just 53 yards. The Bears did come back from the dead during a wild second half that saw Caleb Williams throw for 222 yards and three touchdowns. The defense also stepped up its game in the second half, holding the Lions to ust 126 yards over the final two quarters. Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore both came up with some huge plays for an offense that has looked completely rejuvenated under Thomas Brown. The problem for the Bears is that they continue to be held back by coaching. This is arguably the fourth game this year that Eberflus cost his team with questionable coaching late in the fourth quarter. | |
| C+ | |
| The Lions had a chance to run away with this game in the first half, but they could't get anything done in the red zone, which allowed the Bears to stay in the game. The Lions only scored on two touchdowns on five trips to the red zone and that's something they're going to have to clean up if they want to hold on to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Lions also took a Thanksgiving nap in the second half, because they appeared to be sleep-walking through the final two quarters. The Lions got several uncharacteristic mistakes from players like Jahmyr Gibbs (who lost a fumble) and Jake Bates (who missed his first field goal of the year). The Lions rushing attack disappeared in the second half with just 50 yards and that's a big reason why the offense slowed down. After his scare, you can bet Dan Campbell will be keeping his foot on the gas in every game going forward. | |
N.Y. Giants (2-9) at Dallas (4-7), 4:30 p.m. ET (Fox)
| TBD | |
| The Giants will be starting their third quarterback of the season with Drew Lock getting the nod under center due to an injury to Tommy DeVito. | |
| TBD | |
| The Cowboys have already beaten the Giants once this season and that also came on a Thursday. Back in Week 4, back in Week 4, Dak Prescott led the Cowboys to a 20-15 win over the Daniel Jones and the Giants, so tonight's game will have a much different look. | |
Miami (5-6) at Green Bay (8-3), 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
| TBD | |
| The Dolphins are playing on Thanksgiving for the eighth time and they've had a lot of success on the holiday, going 5-2 in their previous seven games. | |
| TBD | |
| The Packers have played on Thanksgiving plenty of times before, but this will mark just the third time in franchise history that they've gotten to host a game on Turkey Day. The first home game came in 1923 and then they didn't host another one until 2015. | |