The Thanksgiving Day NFL game schedule starts up early with the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions and the game after that will be a nice matchup with the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders and that game will be starting up at 4:30 pm on CBS for Turkey Day and the coverage will also be streaming online from NFL.com for the annual holiday tradition of the Boys playing on the holiday at AT&T Stadium.
The Cowboys have some injuries to deal with in the game, as linebacker Sean Lee will be out for the matchup and that is a huge loss for Dallas, as he is their best defensive player and would have been the primary run stopper. Lee and Gavin Escobar are banged up and he is questionable and while Miles Austin and Dez Bryant are on the injury report, they are likely to be fine for the game. Dwayne Harris will also be out with a hamstring injury and that is another significant loss, as he has been huge on special teams and that means Terrance Williams will be the kick returner and he could get some looks at wide receiver as well and he came in for Harris last week against the Giants and was solid and he returned kicks in college so he will be ready. Tony Romo loves his speed and that could be a big factor on Thursday.
Check here for the live coverage of the Cowboys and Raiders on Thanksgiving.
The Cowboys come in after winning a close matchup over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium and that likely ends the playoff hopes for the G-men after starting off 0-6 and then winning four games in a row, but after losing to the Boye they could be done. The Cowboys come into the game averaging nearly 250 yards per game through the air with Tony Romo and the team has a tough go of it heading into the back stretch, as they have a Monday night football game next week against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Romo has been playing very well all season and the Raiders come in playign solid defense against the pass, as ESPN.com reports that if you take away the seven scores from Nick Foles in one game, the team has allowed eight touchdown passes in seven games.
Romo has nearly 3,000 yards this season and he ranks in the top five in passing touchdowns with 23 and he is in the top 10 in yards, completion percentage as well as passer rating and this season he is completing nearly 65 percent of his passes and over the past three games he has been over 60 percent twice and that should play a factor on Thursday. Romo has just four picks in the last five games and in three of the past five weeks he has multiple touchdowns and one of the biggest reasons for his success has been the play of Dez Bryant, who led the team against the Giants with nine catches on 16 targets for 86 yards and he should have a nice matchup against the Raiders.
The Cowboys defense comes in struggling after losing to the Saints a couple weeks ago and the team is giving up nearly 300 yards per game through the air and over 130 on the ground and they will have to watch out for Rashad Jennings in the matchup. The Thanksgiving Day game for the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders starts up at 4:30 pm on CBS on TV from AT&T Stadium and will be the second game of the Turkey Day NFL schedule.