The end of November is nearly here and in the NFL that means time for Thanksgiving Day NFL games on the schedule in in Week 13 of the season there are three very exciting and important matchups, as the Detroit Lions are playing the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys are laying the Oakland Raiders and the Baltimore Ravens are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers and those games will be on FOX, CBS and NBC on the big turkey holiday.
The first game on the schedule starts up early at 12:30 pm on FOX and has the Detroit Lions hosting the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field in an NFC North divisional matchup that is huge for both teams. Aaron Rodgers was targeting this game as his return from injury, but now it appears that he will not be starting and that puts the Packers in a tough spot after finishing tied with the Minnesota Vikings last week. The next game will be at 4:30 pm on CBS and has the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Oakland Raiders at AT&T Stadium and that game could give Dallas two wins in a matter of days after beating the New York Giants at the last second on Sunday.
The Baltimore Ravens are hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers after playing on Turkey day in 2011 against the San Francisco 49ers and that game will be the late game on NBC starting up at 8:30 pm from M&T Bank Stadium. The Packers are hanging tight in the NFC North division and now things are bottled up at the top after Sunday and the game on Thursday could be crucial for whoever ends up winning the division, as the Packers only have two more division games left including the matchup against Detroit. The game on Sunday against the Vikings ended in a tie and that could play into the final standings, as the Packers now have one less loss than they normally would have by the end of things.
The back half of the schedule is tough for the Packers, as they play three of the next five games on the road and that includes games against the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears. In between those games, which alternates home and away matchups, are the Atlanta Falcons and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Packers likely will make or miss the playoffs based on when Aaron Rodgers can return healthy. The team was looking like one of the best in the NFC after winning four straight games, but the team now has gone winless in four and has lost three of the last four and now they must turn it around after falling to a 5-5-1 record.
The Cowboys now have an edge in the NFC East and the team has gone 4-0 in the division after beating the Giants on Sunday and now they will face the Oakland Raiders before heading to Chicago to play the Bears on Monday night football next week. That game will be tough for Dallas and then the team hosts the Packers before heading to Washington to play the Redskins. The final game of the season is at home against the Eagles and once again, in which could be for the third year in a row, the final game may end up deciding the NFC east division and Dallas could be involved after losing the last two.
