Thanksgiving Football Recap
This Thanksgiving, the NFL featured three games with all teams at .500 or better. The first two games were division rivalries with major playoff implications, and the last game was two teams looking to get back on track and improve their chances in the playoff hunt.
In the first game of the day, the Minnesota Vikings visited the Detroit Lions in a critical NFC North matchup. Both teams were 6-4 heading into the game, tied for first in the division. The Lions owned the tiebreaker coming in, having won an overtime matchup just a few weeks ago. The winner would take control of the NFC North and have an edge in the playoff race moving forward. What happened was relatively predictable. With wide receiver Stefon Diggs sidelined with a knee injury, the Vikings offense struggled to move the ball. Sam Bradford was content to take 4 and 5 yard throws the entire game, never pushing it down the field. The Vikings defense was great as usual, and the team held a 13-10 lead late in the 4th quarter. Detroit tied the game with less than 2 minutes remaining, and it appeared the game could be won by a Vikings field goal, or the teams were heading to overtime again. With less than 40 seconds remaining, Bradford threw a critical interception on a great play by Lions cornerback Darius Slay, and the Lions kicked a field goal to win it as time expired. It was their 7th win of the season, and the 7th time they had to come back in the fourth quarter to win. They are the only team to trail in the 4th quarter of every game this year aside from the winless Cleveland Browns. Minnesota continued their slide, and after starting 5-0 are now 6-5 and are on the outside looking in on the playoff hunt.
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In game two, the Washington Redskins visited the Dallas Cowboys in a big NFC East matchup. Dallas, coming in at 9-1, is essentially a lock for the postseason, and have their sights set on home field advantage. The Redskins came in at 6-3-1, and were looking for a big win to vastly improve their chances of a wild card slot, and slow the Cowboys momentum. What happened in this game was relatively predictable as well. Kirk Cousins and the Redskins offense carved up the Cowboys shaky defense to the tune of 505 total yards in the game, but in a classic Rod Marinelli bend but don’t break style of defense, Dallas managed to give up only 26 points with those 505 yards. Tight end Jordan Reed was particularly effective with 10 catches, 95 yards, and 2 touchdowns. The Cowboys high powered offense took advantage, putting up 31 points themselves, and the Cowboys came out on top for their 10th win in a row. Running back Ezekiel Elliott was great as always, putting up 97 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Washington dropped to 6-4-1, but are still in a pretty good position for a wild card berth if they continue to play well. Dallas remains in control of the NFC at 10-1, and control their own destiny moving forward.
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In the final game, the Pittsburgh Steelers visited the Indianapolis Colts, looking to get back on track after a shaky stretch through the middle of the season. The Colts came in at 5-5, looking to get a big win to close in on division leader Houston, who is currently 6-4. Indy was without star quarterback Andrew Luck, so it was going to be a tall task for backup Scott Tolzein to knock off the Steelers. Pittsburgh started fast, and early on it looked like it was going to be a blowout win. After a 14-0 first quarter, the Colts defense buckled down some while Tolzein and the offense continued to battle. With the score 21-7, the Colts had two long sustained drives down to inside the 5 yard line, and went for it on 4th down both times and failed. Had they been successful, this could have been a very close game, but what resulted was a 28-7 Steelers blowout win. The score was not indicative of how hard Indy fought in the game, and just a couple plays ended up swinging the game heavily in Pittsburgh’s favor. The Steelers move to 6-5 and at the moment are on top of their division, while the Colts dropped to 5-6 and will need some luck moving forward to make the playoffs (no pun intended).
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and enjoyed the football. There was some great games with major implications on the playoff run. We'll keep you updated down the finishing stretch of the season. Stay tuned for more current sports stories. Don't forget to follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram @beyondthemetrics, and Twitter @byondthemetrics.
