It’s not often that you have a great slate of NFL games on Thanksgiving Day. I like the lineup this year.
It starts with the Buffalo Bills playing in Detroit again, this time against the Lions. The Bills had to play their Sunday home game against the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field because of the blizzard that struck Western New York. The Bills ended a mini-skid with a win over the Browns.
Meanwhile, the Lions, who have been awful for several years, are on a three-game winning streak. They are coming off an impressive win over the New York Giants.
Speaking of the Giants, they will face their NFC East rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas. Both teams are two games behind the division-leading Philadelphia Eagles, so the loser of this game could just about be out of contention for winning the division.
The schedule caps off with the New England Patriots facing the Minnesota Vikings and their quarterback, Kirk “I can’t play well in prime time” Cousins. The Vikings looked awful against the Cowboys on Sunday.
I continue to lead in the Daily Gazette’s U Pick ’Em Football contest. I was 10-4 in Week 11 to go to 102-61-1. My Gazette colleague Adam Shinder was 8-6. He is 96-67-1.
You can play the U Pick ‘Em contest by clicking https://dailygazette.com/football/?contestid=3#registration/login.
Here are my Week 12 picks.
THURSDAY
Buffalo 34, Detroit 28
Dallas 40, N.Y. Giants 10
New England 21, Minnesota 13
SUNDAY
Denver 14, Carolina 10
Tampa Bay 28, Cleveland 14
Baltimore 30, Jacksonville 17
Miami 35, Houston 7
N.Y. Jets 17, Chicago 14
Tennessee 21, Cincinnati 18
Washington 24, Atlanta 17
L.A. Chargers 31, Arizona 10
Seattle 24, Las Vegas 14
Kansas City 35, L.A. Rams 13
San Francisco 28, New Orleans 10
Philadelphia 31, Green Bay 20
MONDAY
Indianapolis 14, Pittsburgh 13
WEEK 12 TV SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
THURSDAY
CBS6 (WRGB) and Paramount+ — Buffalo at Detroit, 12:30 p.m. (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson).
FOX23 (WXXA) — N.Y. Giants at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi).
NBC13 (WNYT) and Peacock — New England at Minnesota, 8:20 p.m. (Mike Tirico, Tony DUngy and Jason Garrett, Melissa Stark).
SUNDAY
FOX23 (WXXA) — Chicago at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. (Joe Davis, Daryl Johnston, Pam Oliver); L.A. Rams at Kansas City, 4:25 p.m. (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi).
CBS6 (WRGB) and Paramount+ — Tennessee at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. (Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn).
DirectTV NFL Sunday Ticket — Baltimore at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. (Andrew Catalon, James Lofton, Amanda Renner); Houston at Miami, 1 p.m. (Spero Dedes, Jay Feely, Aditi Kinkhabwala); Atlanta at Washington, 1 p.m. (Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth, Kristina Pink); Denver at Carolina, 1 p.m. (Chris Myers, Robert Smith, Jen Hale); Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 1 p.m. (Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Shannon Spake); Las Vegas at Seattle, 4:05 p.m. (Greg Gumbel, Adam Archuletta, A.J. Ross); L.A. Chargers at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. (Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins); New Orleans at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m. (Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin).
NBC13 (WNYT) and Peacock — Green Bay at Philadelphia, 8:20 p.m. (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark).
MONDAY
ESPN and ESPN+ — Pittsburgh at Indianapolis, 8:15 p.m. (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters).
