The first Thanksgiving Day NFL contest will see the Green Bay Packers travel to take on the Detroit Lions. The game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. kickoff and will be televised nationally on FOX. The Packers, winners of all 10 games to this point in the season, are currently favored by 6.5 points over the Lions with the total being set at 55.5 points. The Lions have hosted the Thanksgiving game for what seems like forever. Green Bay enters the contest as the NFL's lone undefeated team and the first unbeaten to play on Thanksgiving in nearly 50 years.
Free Analysis: We've all seen what Green Bay has been able to do this season to every team on the schedule. Aaron Rodgers has proven himself to be quite worthy as an MVP candidate to this point in the year and the Packers are rolling right now. In fact, the last team to beat Green Bay was Detroit last season when Rodgers was knocked out of the contest with concussion-like symptoms. I'd say he's rebounded just fine from that. The past 8-10 years many have complained about the Lions hosting the annual turkey day contest, but this season has proven to be different. It's was really bad the past three seasons, as Detroit entered its nationally-televised Thanksgiving game with a combined record of 4-27. The Lions are 7-3 this season and currently tied with the Chicago Bears for second place in the NFC North, behind Green Bay. It will be an interesting matchup of strengths and weaknesses. The glaring need for the Lions to this point in the season has been the inability to run the football effectively. While they aren't the worst team in the league at running the football, they aren't very good either, especially for how much they like to throw the ball. Green Bay's secondary has been shaky this season despite Charles Woodson continuing to have a very good year. It's probably safe to say that this game will see Green Bay stretched out the most defensively. Detroit ranks eighth in the league in passing and that should test what the Packers can provide in the secondary. When Green Bay has the football, Rodgers can mix and match what he wants to do. However, another first will happen in this game. Detroit's front seven will be lightyears ahead of any other squad Rodgers has seen and that should allow the Lion secondary to play strong. Detroit's secondary came in as the big question mark on the defense but they haven't played terribly this season, ranking 8th in the league in pass defense. The winner of the passing game SHOULD win this contest.
Free Pick: I like the Lions getting points at home because I think they can end the Packers reign as the only unbeaten team. Rodgers has had success against Detroit in his career but this is a different type of game. The city of Detroit really gear up for the Thanksgiving game and I'm expecting a full onslaught by the Lions in this game. Matt Stafford should be able to have success against a banged-up Packer secondary and if Detroit can run the ball at all, they have a real good shot at winning this game. Also, the total at 55.5 doesn't seem high enough. There could be a lot of points scored in this contest.
Betting Strategies - NFL Totals
Host Marco D'Angelo and Pregame Pro Stephen Nover discuss how to make bets on the overs and unders in the 2011 NFL season.