Ah, Thanksgiving.  Always one of my favorite holidays.  Anytime you can combine food with football it's a good day.  After a pair of dreadful Thanksgiving Day games last year,  the NFL couldn't be much happier with the menu this year.  The Detroit Lions will actually play a meaningful game on turkey day this year with the Packers coming to town.  Packers-Lions on Thanksgiving has always been special but for the first time in years this game carries some extra weight.  The Lions are rapidly sinking in the NFC North and with three wild card-worthy teams in the NFC East, the Lions may find themselves on the outside looking in after this weekend.  Of course the Packers have the chance to not only nail down a likely division title but also they can make a statement with their third big road win in the last five weeks.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys won't have much trouble digesting the New York Jets.  The Jets are coming off their own version of the Super Bowl after Sunday's upset win over Pittsburgh.  Let's face it, the Jets now have only two things to worry about the rest of the way: what pick will they have in the draft and will they come within 40 points of the Patriots.  You know it's bad when Julius Jones has a better chance of scoring a touchdown than Thomas Jones.  Still there's always the chance the Cowboys could be looking ahead to next week's showdown against Green Bay.  More likely though the Cowboys will also use this opportunity to tuneup for next Thursday.

Not to be forgotten is the Indianapolis-Atlanta showdown, which I guess you could call a leftover as that game will only be televised on the ever-elusive NFL Network.  When did Payton Manning become a worse quarterback than his brother Eli?  The Colts benefited greatly from Pittsburgh's loss to New York and this will be a prime opportunity to be on the inside track to the number two seed in the AFC.  Let the feast begin.