Turkey, Sausage Stuffing, Beer and Cowboys – Give Thanks!!

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.  Being a 24 year old man, the night before Thanksgiving is a big bar night.  Everyone comes back to their respective home towns, and you see people  you have not seen since the year before.  The old high school friends, the girls that you barely noticed in high school that come back from college transformed into a Megan Fox clone and the girl you dated that you are excited to reacquaint with only to realize she gained the dreaded college fifty.

What a night and once again it is upon us.  If you happen to get a girl home with you gentlemen, do not worry about her staying around in the morning.  It is the only time of the year that you are guaranteed her leaving before you realize (not that there is anything wrong with you ladies staying around).  I LOVE Thanksgiving.  A holiday that allows you to gorge yourself with Turkey and Sausage Stuffing.  A holiday,  where drinking a boat load of beer and watching football all day, is the annual tradition.  Best of all we get to watch our Cowboys.  This year the Cowboys once again play an inferior opponent.

The Oakland Raiders come in to Cowboys Stadium off a big win against the Bengals.  Maybe this game will not be as easy as it seemed when the schedule came out?  I find that hard to believe.  The Cowboys are tailor-made to beat the Raiders convincingly.  Expect the offense to get back on track this week.

Witten Likely Game-Time Decision

Witten has a sprained foot that might keep him out of tomorrow’s game.  I would expect him to play.  He has only missed one game in his career and it was in his rookie year in 2003.  We all know Witten to be one of the toughest players in the league, but holding him out of this game might not be such a bad idea.  The Cowboys should handle the Raiders without him, and the Giants are lurking the following week.  Knowing Witten, he is going to push the coaches to let him play, and he will likely get his wish.

Former OLB Ellis Returns to Big D

Greg Ellis was a team leader and a great player for the Cowboys for a number of years.  His return should bring back some emotions for him and for some current Cowboys players and coaches.  He is having another solid season this time for the Raiders.  Through 11 weeks, he has 5.0 sacks.  Having only played in nine games, that number is pretty good for the 34 year old.  He will be lined up against the newly-inserted right tackle, Doug Free.  When asked, Ellis expects Free to receive help.

“They’re not going to allow a lot of one-on-one situations between Doug and myself,” Ellis said. “That’d be great. I like playing that kind of football. It brings the best out of people. But if it turns into a passing game, I anticipate they’re going to do a lot of chipping, sliding the protection and that kind of thing.”

I’d expect Ellis to come up with a sack or two.  He will be motivated to play extremely well this week, and being the veteran he is I would expect him to do just that.

NFL Picks (Special Thanksgiving Version)

2-2 last week.  HOME team in CAPS

COWBOYS -13.5 v. Raiders

As stated earlier, the Cowboys have been dominant on Thanksgiving games the past three years.  Expect that to continue this week.  The Raiders will have trouble scoring points against the surging Cowboys defense.  Romo and Co. will bounce back this week.  Watch out for a Felix Jones coming out party.  Cowboys 40 – 10

Packers -11 @ LIONS

I want to pick the Lions in this game, but it appears both Stafford and Johnson are not going to play due to injuries.  If either play, then I like the Lions (to cover) in this game.  I think the franchise will be in good shape going forward with their young kids on offense.  Assuming they don’t play: Packers 31 – 17

Giants -6.5 @ BRONCOS

I understand the road team is at a big disadvantage in these games, but the Broncos are in a tail-spin.  They have struggled the past four weeks.  The Giants are coming off a big overtime win against the Falcons.  It seems the Eli Manning and his receivers are on the same page.  Also, the Broncos stud safety, Brian Dawkins, might miss this game.  I hope I am wrong but I think the Giants win going away.  Giants 25 – 14

Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Eli Manning, Felix Jones, Greg Ellis, Jason Witten, Megan Fox, NFL, Tony Romo, Wade Phillips