{"id":93104,"date":"2018-11-22T04:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-22T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=93104"},"modified":"2018-11-21T18:29:05","modified_gmt":"2018-11-22T02:29:05","slug":"thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving Football Puts NFL Rivals to the Test After Short Turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beyond the food and spending time with their families, many people also enjoy Thanksgiving for the shortened three-day work week that precedes the holiday. For NFL teams that have to play on Thursday, however, that short week is much more of a challenge than a benefit.<\/p>\n

\"Thanksgiving
Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys will look to fight their way back into the NFC East divisional race when they host the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving. (Image: David Maialetti\/Philadelphia Inquirer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three sets of divisional rivals will square off this Thanksgiving, with little time to rest or prepare for games that could prove critical for all six teams involved.<\/p>\n

Lions Battle Surging Bears<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Detroit Lions always host a game on Thanksgiving, though they have a losing record overall on the holiday thanks to long periods where the team has struggled \u2013 not to mention some imposing opponents over the years. That\u2019s once again the case this week, when they\u2019ll be taking on a Chicago Bears squad that has won its last four games to take command of the NFC North division.<\/p>\n

If one thing is working in Detroit\u2019s favor, it\u2019s the fact that the Bears played a Sunday night game, shaving a few more hours off their already short prep time. But according to Chicago coach Matt Nagy, his team should still be ready to go by Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe No. 1 thing is to make sure these guys are taken care of, see where they\u2019re at physically and then mentally,\u201d Nagy told reporters. \u201cWe want to work smarter, not harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The red-hot Bears are the Vegas favorite heading into Thanksgiving, with William Hill posting Chicago as a three-point favorite over the Lions.<\/p>\n

Smith Injury Weighs on Redskins<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A similar dynamic could have been on tap for the second game of the day, as the NFC East leading Washington Redskins<\/a> are facing the Dallas Cowboys, who have been up and down this season. But with the Cowboys now riding a two-game winning streak, and the Redskins reeling after the loss of starting quarterback Alex Smith, the script has flipped, and it\u2019s Dallas that comes into the game as a seven-point favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all sick and heartbroken over Alex,\u201d Redskins head coach Jay Gruden told the Washington Post<\/em>. \u201cHe\u2019s such a great guy and leader and teammate and a great joy to coach, but when something like this happens you have to move on, and we are going to move on. [Backup quarterback Colt McCoy] is going to do just fine, and I know the players will respond to him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The final game of the day is also expected to be the least competitive, as the New Orleans Saints<\/a> host the Atlanta Falcons. At 9-1, the Saints have emerged as one of the Super Bowl favorites, and come into their Thanksgiving matchup with Atlanta as a 13-point favorite in the contest.<\/p>\n

The Saints have already beaten the Falcons once this season, earning a 43-37 overtime victory in Atlanta on Sept. 23. Even if the game doesn\u2019t remain close, fans can expect another entertaining, high-scoring affair this time around, with both teams capable of putting up plenty of points. According to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, his team\u2019s only chance at victory is to match New Orleans score for score.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job for us is to score every time we get into the red zone,\u201d Ryan told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/em>. \u201cWhen we get our chances, we have to convert, and we\u2019ve been doing a good job of that for most of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beyond the food and spending time with their families, many people also enjoy Thanksgiving for the shortened three-day work week that precedes the holiday. For NFL teams that have to play on Thursday, however, that short week is much more of a challenge than a benefit. Three sets of divisional rivals will square off this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":93105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThanksgiving Football Matchups Put NFL Divisional Rivals to the Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thanksgiving should provide plenty of exciting action for NFL fans, as three sets of rivals will be meeting in games that could shape divisional races in the NFC.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thanksgiving Football Matchups Put NFL Divisional Rivals to the Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanksgiving should provide plenty of exciting action for NFL fans, as three sets of rivals will be meeting in games that could shape divisional races in the NFC.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-22T12:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-22T02:29:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Cowboys-Thanksgiving.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"934\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/\",\"name\":\"Thanksgiving Football Matchups Put NFL Divisional Rivals to the Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Cowboys-Thanksgiving.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-22T12:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-22T02:29:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Thanksgiving should provide plenty of exciting action for NFL fans, as three sets of rivals will be meeting in games that could shape divisional races in the NFC.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/thanksgiving-football-matchups-put-nfl-divisional-rivals-to-the-test\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Cowboys-Thanksgiving.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Cowboys-Thanksgiving.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":934,\"caption\":\"Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys will look to fight their way back into the NFC East divisional race when they host the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving. 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