Three games are being shown on Thanksgiving, and none of them has America buzzing with anticipation. I have to admit, though, that I do kind of like watching the Lions on Thanksgiving. Football is not really a sport of tradition, and Lions on Thanksgiving is pretty much the biggest tradition the league has. This year, Detroit takes on the Packers. The Packers are in the midst of the playoff hunt with a 6-4 record, and should not have major problems with the overmatched Lions. Of course the big reason to watch the Lions is to see Rookie sensation Matthew Stafford and WR star-in-the-making Calvin Johnson. Well, bad news. Both could miss Thursday’s game. Stafford suffered a seperated shoulder on Sunday, while Johnson has been dealing with an injured knee. Both are game time decisions. If neither plays, expect a blowout. Packers 34, Lions 13.

The 2nd game will give America a chance to acquaint itself with the phenomena known as Bruce Gradkowski. And by “phenomena”, I mean “QB who is slightly better than train wreck JaMarcus Russell.” That being said, I’d like to see Russell get traded to someone who, you know, isn’t the Raiders. Oakland is a black hole, and I don’t think it is fair t judge any player by his performance there. The league should, quite frankly, terminate the Raider franchise. While I will be rooting for the Raiders and hoping Gradkowski can pull off the miracle, I don’t see any way the Raiders can win this game. Wade Phillips is a moron, but even he’s not so dumb as to run only 14 times against the NFL’s #30th ranked Rush Defense. Cowboys 27, Raiders 10.

A few weeks ago, the night game looked like a dandy. Now it looks like a dud. Two teams in the midst of spectacular free falls try to break them Thursday night. These two teams were a combined 10-0 through the first 5 weeks of the season. They are a combined 2-8 in the past 5 weeks, with the Broncos in the midst of a 4 game losing streak in which they’ve been outscored 117-37. The Broncos were the talk of the league after 6 weeks. Now they look like they probably won’t make the playoffs. Their losses have included a ten point loss to the woeful Redskins and a humiliating 32-3 loss last week to the Chargers at home. I expect the Giants to cruise past the Broncos, who might well finish the season 8-8. This game is of course a rematch of Super Bowl XXI, which the Giants won 39-20. I expect a similar result this time. Giants 35, Broncos 20.

Post your Predictions below in the comments.