PORT JEFF, NY – hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Damn the leftovers, here’s what we’ve got: St. Johns Flops in Vegas, Giants Fire Bowen, Thanksgiving Football
St. John’s stumbled in Vegas after sky-high preseason expectations, as the Red Storm came crashing back to reality with tough losses to Iowa State and Auburn. These defeats will likely drop them out of the top 25 and make their path to the NCAA tournament much harder, especially with the Big East not as strong as usual this year.
The Giants fired Shane Bowen, and for one of my favorite sports teams, that’s some welcome news. They finally parted ways with arguably the worst defensive coordinator in franchise history, who managed to blow not one, not two, but five fourth-quarter leads. On the bright side, interim head coach Mike Kafka has shown flashes of brilliance in his first two games, and even in tough losses, the Giants under Kafka have displayed resilience and at least looked competent.
For the first time in a while, all three Thanksgiving football games brought their own intrigue and were genuinely entertaining. In game one, the Packers traveled to Detroit and beat the Lions, with both teams desperately needing a win, making for great TV. The Lions have surprisingly struggled in recent weeks, and with the injury to Amon-Ra St. Brown, things could go from bad to worse.
In what was called the most-watched NFL Thanksgiving game ever, the Chiefs-Cowboys matchup delivered big. It kicked off with an opening-drive interception from Dak, setting up the Chiefs for a touchdown. The Boys from Dallas kept riding the momentum from their previous win over the Eagles, improving to 6-5-1 and staying firmly in the playoff conversation.
In Joe Burrow’s first game back in over two months, the Cincinnati Bengals shocked the Baltimore Ravens with a 32-14 win. Lamar Jackson still seemed a bit off as he works through several lingering injuries. While it’s a longshot, if the Steelers lose to the Bills on Sunday, both Baltimore and Pittsburgh would sit at 6-6, with the Bengals at 4-8 and plenty of football still ahead.
