Day of beatings and surprises on Thanksgiving Day
From now on, defeats begin to cost more because generally more divisional duels are played than at any other time of the year.
This day was no exception, with three divisional duels in the National Conference that were marked by two defeats and one surprise.
In the first game of the day, the Detroit Lions were big favorites to beat the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field, but they were behind on the scoreboard from the first series of the game and did not really show the combative spirit of other weeks.
In fact, Green Bay took a 23-6 lead in the first half after capitalizing on three turnovers by Detroit quarterback Jared Goff.
The Packers will hardly be able to get a wild card spot in the NFC playoffs, but at least this season they have already ensured that they will not be swept by two of their three rivals in the NFC North.
For the Lions, this is a wake-up call that they cannot stop from now on because the dream of going far in the playoffs can disappear very quickly.
In the afternoon it was the turn of the Dallas Cowboys, another traditional protagonist of Thanksgiving Day, who had no problems beating the Washington Commanders 45-10 at home in a game between rivals from the NFC East.
Dak Prescott had a great performance with four touchdown passes to four different players: Brandin Cooks, CeeDee Lamb, KaVontae Turpin and Rico Dowdle. However, the big star of the night was cornerback DaRon Bland.
The defensive back intercepted a pass from Sam Howell in the fourth quarter and returned the ball 63 yards to the end zone to make history in the NFL and for the franchise.
Bland became the first player in NFL history to return five interceptions for touchdowns in a single season and became the Cowboys franchise’s all-time leader in that department.
Finally, the San Francisco 49ers dominated the Seattle Seahawks in the night game to move away from the top of the NFC West.
The Niners began the game showing off their offensive power with a Deebo Samuel touchdown and held a 24-3 halftime lead before Seattle responded with a defensive touchdown in the third quarter with an interception returned to the end zone by Jordyn Brooks.
Aside from that stellar play by Brooks, the Seahawks were only able to produce six points with their offense and were never a real threat to the 49ers, who ended up winning 31-13.
On Friday the Miami Dolphins will try to continue the trend of victories of the favorites when they visit the New York Jets in the first game in history to be played on Black Friday, a victory will give them consolation as the leader of the AFC East and even with a combination of results could finish Week 12 as the AFC’s No. 1 seed.