Sportsnaut
The Thanksgiving Day NFL games provided three matchups that many fans and analysts were excited to watch on Thursday. What we got were plenty of surprises and a few statement performances from players and teams, with the Packers, Cowboys and Bengals all pulling out victories.
Let’s dive into our takeaways from the six Thanksgiving Day NFL games, with one for each team.
We’re not suggesting that Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love should win NFL MVP this season or even finish top-three in voting. However, the 27-year-old quarterback keeps demonstrating that he’s emerged as one of the best players in football at his position. Coming into Thanksgiving Day, Love held the fourth-best ESPN QBR (70.0) in the NFL, led all quarterbacks in Adjusted EPA per Play (0.293) and had the third-best Completion Rate over Expectation (5.7).
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You’d have to look beyond the numbers in the last three games, in which Love and this Packers offense had to adjust to life without All-Pro caliber tight end Tucker Kraft. It also didn’t help matters that Green Bay’s receivers had seven drops during that span. On Thanksgiving Day, in a four-touchdown performance with a clutch throw to seal the victory at Ford Field and sweep the Lions, Love looked like an MVP-caliber quarterback with the numbers to back it up.
After the Detroit Lions offense put up 546 total yards and 44 points against the Washington Commanders, it was revealed that head coach Dan Campbell had taken over play-calling duties from John Morton. Hope sprang in Detroit that this offense might finally be recapturing some of its form from the Ben Johnson Era. In the last two games, though, the Lions offense had a 32 percent third-down conversion rate, went 0-for-5 on fourth downs, and its 34-point game last week against New York was largely because of Jahmyr Gibbs.
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The issues didn’t go away on Thanksgiving Day. Detroit is now 0-for-10 on fourth-down attempts in the last two games. Campbell also seemed far too intent on feeding Jahmyr Gibbs (3.4 ypc on 20 carries) with David Montgomery (4.0 ypc) relegated to a secondary role. We’re also not sure how Campbell can justify a 13-play, 67-yard drive that resulted in just 3 points and gave Green Bay the football back with a touchdown lead and only 2:59 remaining. Campbell is still one of the best coaches in the NFL, but play-calling might not be for him, and a new coordinator will be needed in 2026.
This will certainly seem like an overreaction to some. However, a six-loss Kansas City Chiefs team with Andy Reid’s conservative decision-making and poor clock management is really starting to cost a team that no longer has the roster to make up for...
