My NFL Thanksgiving Day Picks

"You see when the defense is showing a single high safety, you want to put the duck into the chicken into the turkey."

Thanksgiving is less than 24 hours away, which means that you're less than 12 hours away from swaying on a stool at your hometown watering hole and debating if you can steal a make out from your high school ex-girlfriend by buying her a shot, all while "Glory Days" plays in the background.  I love the holidays.

Featuring three playoff contenders and the surprisingly surging Dolphins, I expect tomorrow's afternoon games to be the most entertaining Thanksgiving slate we've had since 1998, when Jerome Bettis called tails and Randy Moss caught three balls against the Cowboys for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

Packers at Lions - I laughed when I read that over 55,000 Lions fans have signed a petition to prevent Nickelback from performing their halftime show.  My favorite quote: “I'd rather see Rebecca Black unleash her newest single ‘Thursday’ at halftime than have to listen to Nickelback.”  I once voiced my theory  that Nickelback isn't that bad of a band, yet people hate them because it's the "cool" thing to do.  At which point my friends branded me a huge Nickelback fan.

Pick - Packers

ATS - Lions (+6) 

Cowboys at Dolphins - Something tells me that the Leon Lett household may not tune in for this one.  I wish Fox would sign John Madden to a one-day contract every Thanksgiving, just so I can once again hear him break down a Turducken recipe as if it were a Cover 2 defense.

Pick - Cowboys

ATS - Dolphins (+7) 

49ers at Ravens - San Francisco can already clinch the NFC West with a win and a Seattle loss this week.  I've said that I think the 49ers are a force to be reckoned with, and have been for a while.  But they are flying cross-country on a short week to play a dangerous team in a game that really doesn't matter much to them.
Pick - Ravens

ATS - Ravens (-3)

Come back Friday for the rest of my Week 12 picks, along with a post about my swanky/depressing night in MetLife Stadium this past Sunday.  I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Happy football.

Odds courtesy of USA Today.
Image found here.