Cold Turkey
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and fellowship. Since 1920, the National Football League has provided bloated bloats at least one pigskin performance to enjoy on Turkey Day.
This year, a trio of NFL games allows turkey-stuffed viewers to either place a few wagers or fall into a postprandial trance.
The Thanksgiving Classic kicks off with a 12:30 p.m. (ET) meeting between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. The Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders follow with a 4:15 p.m. (ET) gametime while the New York Giants and Denver Broncos wrap up the action at 8:20 p.m. (ET).
Bettors who have backed the favorite in recent Thanksgiving years have come away with some extra Christmas money at the end of the gluttonous day.
Thanksgiving favorites are 10-1 against the spread over the last four seasons. Those 10 favorites defeated their opponents by a margin of 22.4 points.
The only favorite to lose was the Cowboys, who were defeated in overtime 24-21, by the Denver Broncos in 2004.
The favorites on Thursday are the Packers (-11), Cowboys (-13.5) and Giants (-6.5).
Lions need turkey courage
Much of the above “favorite” success can be attributed to the downfall of the Detroit Lions over the past decade.
The Lions will play in their 70th Thanksgiving game on Thursday and hold an overall 35-32-2 record.
Detroit has dropped five Turkey Day games in a row and in that span are 0-5 ATS while getting outscored 179-62. Over the last 10 seasons, the Lions are 3-7 straight up on Thanksgiving and 3-7 ATS.
The courageous-less Lions may have trouble covering the 11-point spread against Green Bay this Thanksgiving with their starting quarterback doubtful and star receiver, Calvin Johnson, questionable.
Every turkey is bigger in Texas
The only thing standing in the way of a date in the BCS National Championship for the Texas Longhorns is Texas A&M.
This Big 12 rivalry, dubbed the Lone Star Showdown, first occurred in 1894 and the Longhorns hold a decisive 74-36-5 winning record.
But in rivalries such as these; records, statistics and conventional wisdom can be thrown out the window.
Both teams are 5-5-1 ATS this season. The Aggies are 5-1 at home in 2009 and hold a 4-1-1 ATS mark at Kyle Field.
Longhorns’ quarterback Colt McCoy led Texas to a 49-9 pounding of the Aggies last year, but did not come away victorious the previous two seasons. A&M defeated the Longhorns 38-30 as 7-point underdogs last year and won 12-7 as 14-point dogs in 2007.
Texas opened as 22.5-point favorites and the spread has been bet down to a current number of 21. The total was released at 62.5 and most shops are still offering that number.
Dynamite on TNT
If football isn’t enough to satiate your Thanksgiving sports appetite, tune into TNT later in the evening for a pair of NBA matchups.
The Magic and Hawks commence the double-header at 8 p.m. (ET). Orlando is coming off a last-second home loss to the Heat, and now travel to Atlanta where the Hawks (11-3, 11-3 ATS) are 7-0 inside the confines of Philips Arena.
Orlando (11-4, 9-5 ATS) is 1-1 straight up and ATS in back-to-back situations this season. The Magic have won and covered the spread in the last three meetings of this series.
The Bulls and Jazz wrap up the NBA action with a late night tipoff scheduled for 10:30 p.m. (ET). Utah has never played on Thanksgiving and faces a roadtrip-weary Bulls team that has lost three in a row.
Chicago (6-7, 4-9 ATS) has dropped three consecutive games ATS while the Jazz (7-7, 6-8 ATS) have failed to cover in two straight.
The Bulls have won three straight against Utah and are 4-0 ATS in their last four games in the series.
The spread opened at 7 in favor of the Jazz with a total of 195.
Notable quotable
"That may slap me in the face, that’s happened before, but I think they have a certain amount of responsibility…to try and be with their kids and that sort of thing. I accommodate them as much as I can and still try to do our job, and that to try to win a game.”
-- Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, in response to giving his players Wednesday off after a loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday.