On behalf of all of us at Razzball, let me start by wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully you enjoyed the day filled with family, food, and football. As it has been since 2006, we got 3 games on Thanksgiving including the traditional Cowboys and Lions games. The NFL laid these games out perfectly for us as we got a boring bread and butter appetizer game between Detroit and Chicago to kick off the day. After that, we were treated to the turkey main course which was a Dallas and Las Vegas game that had an exciting second half and even went into overtime. The Thanksgiving slate finished with a sloppy pie a la mode game between Buffalo and New Orleans. Let’s recap the appetizer, main course, and dessert games.
Appetizer: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
I compared this game to the bread and butter appetizer on Thanksgiving because it was not exciting, but it wet our whistle and got us started for a day filled with football. Let’s be honest, we didn’t expect this game to be a high scoring affair between Andy Dalton and Jared Goff. The game did give us some excitement though with 4 lead changes and ultimately a game winning field goal as time expired. Cairo Santos hit his 3rd field goal of the game to win it for Chicago with the final score of 16-14.
Andy Dalton had a decent game, throwing 39 times and completing 24 passes for 317 yards. He did throw an interception to go along with a touchdown pass that he threw to Jimmy Graham in the 2nd quarter. With Chicago trailing 14-13 with about 8 minutes to go, Dalton led the Bears on a nice 18 play drive all the way to the Detroit 10-yard line to set up the game winning field goal.
Jared Goff was efficient, completing 21 of 25 passes for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns. He got the scoring started in the 1st quarter with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds. His second touchdown pass was a 3rd quarter pass to TJ Hockenson for a 17-yard touchdown that gave the Lions a 14-13 lead. Unfortunately for Detroit, they couldn’t hold the lead and remain winless.
David Montgomery had a pedestrian game with 17 carries for 46 yards. He added 3 receptions for an additional 28 yards. On the other side, D’Andre Swift went down with a shoulder injury in the 2nd quarter and didn’t return to the game. Jamaal Williams took over and had 15 carries for 65 yards while reeling in all 5 of his targets for 18 yards receiving.
Darnell Mooney led the Chicago receivers with 123 receiving yards on 5 receptions. He was second on the team in targets with 8. Cole Kmet led the team in targets and receptions. He was targeted 11 times and caught 8 of them for 65 yards.
Josh Reynolds was the Lions leading receiver. He caught 3 of his 5 targets for 70 yards and the touchdown. He will likely be a popular waiver wire pickup in fantasy leagues as he is looking to have an increased role in a wide receiver room starving for a playmaker.
Main Course: Las Vegas Raiders at Dallas Cowboys
This game was the turkey main course of the Thanksgiving slate. Vegas and Dallas combined for 69 points in a game that gave us 7 touchdowns and overtime. Dak Prescott and Derek Carr traded blows and both threw for over 370 yards in this shootout. Greg Zuerlein hit a 45-yard field goal to send the game to overtime, but in the extra period, the game ended with another game winning field goal with Daniel Carlson hitting a 29-yarder to give the Raiders a 36-33 win. Carlson had an incredible game finishing 5 for 5 on field goals and 3 for 3 on extra points.
Derek Carr was 24 for 39 in this game, throwing for 373 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown pass was the first score of the game as he connected with DeSean Jackson for a 56-yard touchdown in the 1st quarter. Jackson had a 100-yard game thanks to that big play and finished with 3 catches for 102 yards.
Hunter Renfrow led the Raiders with 8 receptions on 9 targets which he took for 134 yards. Darren Waller only had 2 catches for 33 yards and left the game in the first half with a knee injury. Zay Jones chipped in with 5 catches for 59 yards and drew a big pass interference call in overtime to set up the game winning field goal. Josh Jacobs had a nice game for Vegas as he carried 22 times for 87 yards and a touchdown. He added 2 catches for 25 yards to give him 112 total yards on the game.
After a slow start, Dak Prescott finished going 32 of 47 for 375 yards and 2 touchdowns. He hit backup tight end Sean McKeon for a 10-yard touchdown in the 1st quarter and then connected with his main tight end Dalton Schultz for a 32-yard touchdown that tied the game at 30 late in the 4th quarter. Playing without his 2 leading receivers Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb, Prescott did all he could to keep Dallas in this game.
Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson were the leading receivers for Dallas. Wilson led the team in targets with 10, and in receptions with 7. His 104 receiving yards finished just behind Gallup’s 106 yards that he accumulated with his 5 catches and 8 targets. Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard split the carries for Dallas. Elliot finished with 9 carries for 25 yards and a short touchdown. He was also targeted 8 times in the passing game and caught 6 passes for 24 yards. Pollard had 10 carries for 36 yards and caught all 4 of his targets for 32 yards receiving. Pollard had the play of the game on special teams when he took a 3rd quarter kickoff 100 yards for a kick return touchdown.
Dessert: Buffalo Bills at New Orleans Saints
The 3-game Thanksgiving slate finished up with Buffalo and New Orleans being the apple pie at the end of the meal. The first half was sloppy, like the vanilla ice cream melting over the warm apple pie, and the teams went into the half with a score of 10-0 after Josh Allen threw his second interception right before the half. The second half was a different story as Allen rebounded nicely to lead Buffalo to a 31-6 victory in the night cap.
After his 2 first half interceptions, Allen was lights out in the 2nd half and finished the night going 23 for 28 yards and 4 touchdowns before letting Mitch Trubisky close the game out in the 4th quarter. He did get the scoring started in this game with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox in the 1st quarter and Knox found the endzone again in the 3rd quarter for his 2nd touchdown of the night. Stefon Diggs also had a 3rd quarter touchdown reception and Matt Breida added a 23-yard catch and run touchdown in the 4th.
Matt Breida and Devin Singletary shared the backfield for Buffalo with Zack Moss being a healthy scratch. Breida looks to be a guy who will be the most popular waiver add in fantasy football this week as it looks like he is establishing himself as a playmaker in the backfield. Brieda finished the night with 9 carries for 26 yards and 2 catches for 29 yards and the receiving touchdown. Singletary led the team on the ground with 15 carries for 44 yards and 1 reception for 4 yards.
As usual, Stefon Diggs led the Buffalo receiving corps with 7 catches on 9 targets for 74 yards and a touchdown. Knox caught the 2 touchdowns on 3 receptions for 32 yards and Cole Beasley played his usual reliable role catching all of his 5 targets for 46 yards.
Trevor Siemian had a rough night against a good Buffalo defense. He went 17 for 29 for 163 yards. He threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His lone touchdown was a 11-yard pass to tight end Nick Vannett in the 4th quarter. It will be interesting to see if New Orleans pivots over to Taysom Hill when he fully heals from his foot injury.
With both Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram missing this game with injuries, Tony Jones got to lead the Saints backfield but couldn’t do much with the opportunity. He finished the night with 16 carries for a measly 27 yards. Ty Montgomery mixed in, mostly as a pass catching option, and went 6 for 14 on the ground and added 5 catches for an additional 31 yards receiving.
The New Orleans receivers had a quiet night. Tre’Quan Smith had 4 catches for 31 yards and Marquez Calloway only had 2 receptions for 24 yards. Lil’Jordan Humphrey led the team with47 receiving yards on 3 receptions. This team is badly missing Michael Thomas.
That will do it for the week 12 special Thanksgiving Thursday Wrap Up. Make sure you head over to Razzball.com and check out Rudy Gamble’s Pigskinator as you get ready to set the rest of your week 12 lineup. You are always invited to follow me on Twitter @FantasyCoachJB and ask me any questions you may have. Happy Thanksgiving once again and good luck in your upcoming matchups!
