NFL Week 13 Thanksgiving & Black Friday Recap: A Seat at the Table

Thanksgiving, for many decades, has always been about the three "Fs": family, food, and football. When it comes to that latter third, the football is often competitive, as Thanksgiving always kicks off the home stretch of the NFL season. Now it would be wild enough if it was just Thanksgiving, but in 2023, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) became part of the wonderful madness as well. So after feasting on food and football, you sleep it off, then wake up at crazy hours to beat the crowds and shop for the holidays, and then make it home in time for one more game for that day. Beautiful!

So what were the results of the four holiday games? Let's talk about it, shall we?

Packers @ Lions

"It was Week One!"

"Lions are a different team now"

"Wait 'til Thanksgiving!"

That's all I heard from Lions fans for nearly two months. Lions fans spent damn near every week after seeing their team lose in Lambeau making all sorts of excuses and adding that Thanksgiving would be different. They all but guaranteed that the Lions would easily beat the Packers on Turkey Day. Well? What happened? I'll tell you what happened. Jordan Love burned down Ford Field on Turkey Day. Again. Four touchdown passes, no turnovers, never got sacked, and guess what, folks? Fox gave Love his turkey leg! It was a typical high scoring game, and Jared Goff made no mistakes, but he was on the receiving end of the Micah Parsons express.

The Packers won, 31-24, completing the season series sweep over the Lions. We are 8-3-1, and we are a strong threat now. We needed something after dropping back-to-back games at home. Winning three straight (all in the conference and two in the division) definitely does that. As for the Lions, they're in deep trouble. They'e 7-5, still behind the playoff line, 1-3 in the division (including losing two of their three home division games), and have a tough schedule ahead of them. Also, their top receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown, could be out for one or two games after getting injured during the game. The Lions are screwed.

Chiefs @ Cowboys

You know, everyone was talking about "The Chiefs are back" after they beat Indy. Honestly, that "they're back" talk should be saved for the Cowboys. Dallas was just four days removed from their big comeback win over the Eagles, and here they were on Thanksgiving playing against Super Bowl LIX's runners-up. The talk of the Cowboys' comeback win over Philly was CeeDee Lamb's dropped passes. He wasn't dropping anything this time. Seven receptions, 112 yards, and a touchdown. On fantasy, that adds up to a grand total of 24.2 points. George Pickens continued to show out and make the Steelers look like idiots for trading him to Dallas for peanuts. Amazing. For months we mocked Dallas for giving away Parsons for magic beans, but it turned out, Jerry Jones outsmarted the Steelers.

The Cowboys defeated the Chiefs, 31-28. They've won three straight games following their bye week. They beat both Super Bowl LIX participants in just four days. They went from being an afterthought and a punchline (again) at 3-5-1 to being a serious contender at 6-5-1. This team has a real shot at something here. As for the Chiefs, this is a big blow to whatever momentum they may have had after beating Indy. They are 6-6 and will enter the pivotal month of December behind the playoff line. Will KC actually miss the playoffs this year? It's possible. We will definitely see what the final five weeks will tell us.

Bengals @ Ravens

Joe Burrow wasn't supposed to be back for another month. Yet the news broke even before Cincy's game against the Patriots that Burrow was close to returning. Even after Cincy lost that game, they were still set on bringing him back. I didn't know why. The Bengals were further behind in the Wild Card race than they were in the division. They were all but done at 3-8. We all figured that the Ravens would finish them off at home.

Boy, were we wrong.

Entering this game, Burrow was the main story, but you know who ended up being the centerpiece at game's end. Cincy's defense. In a positive light. The Bengals defense, which makes the Packers defense during the Rodgers years look like the 2000 Ravens, absolutely stymied the Ravens, especially Lamar Jackson. They took the ball away five times! The Bengals defense did that! A 32-14 win for Cincy was the result, and with that, not only was Baltimore's five-game winning streak over, but the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves back in first place. And if the Steelers lose on Sunday, then the Bengals will be two games out in the division with five to play. Oh man! And remember, when the Bengals were 4-8 last year, they ended the season winning five straight games.

Bears @ Eagles

You had one job, Eagles! One job! And you needed to do it badly! The doubters were getting louder. The Eagles had been playing so badly for at least a month, but they've been getting away with it. They had back-to-back ugly wins, and then they blew the 21-0 lead against Dallas. The Eagles were five days removed from that choke job. They had the Bears at home. All they had to do was beat the Bears and people can ignore their problems. Instead, the Eagles went out there and played like ass.

So. Much. ASS.

Saquon was getting nothing. Hurts had to do everything, and it resulted in him throwing only his second INT of the year. The Eagles defense blew chunks. A 24-15 win for the Bears. The Bears are still in first place! Good God! Oh, and Eagles, remember what I said about the Cowboys being back? Guess who's in your rear view mirror now? That big cushion the Eagles had in the division is shrinking. It's only 1.5 games separating them from the Cowboys, and Dallas has quite a cushy remaining schedule ahead of them. Philly needs to get their shit together quick.

As for the Bears, well, as the saying goes, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." You'll see next Sunday.

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12 games remain in this week's schedule, as this week has all 32 teams playing. Week 13 will continue with 11 games on Sunday, followed by a Monday game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. For me, my main interest actually ends, because all three main teams in the NFC North picture have already played, but I do look forward to the rest of the week and what it'll bring!