![](\"http:\/\/www.osga.com\/images\/thanksgiving-football.jpg\")
The Lions actually play a holiday home game with much more than a prize turkey and covering the spread at stake.\u00c2\u00a0 And \u00e2\u20ac\u0153America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is tied for first place in the NFC East playing a Miami Dolphins squad riding a three game winning streak. Too bad they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Out of Luck\u00e2\u20ac\u009d disappointing their fans.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The Brothers Harbaugh will make league history in the finale.\u00c2\u00a0 Who would ever predict the Ravens and 49ers possibly have a longshot chance of meeting again in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Super Bowl?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Green Bay -6.5 \/56 at Detroit (12:30 PM ET on FOX)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n With a strong wild card slot on the line, Ford Field will be rocking and giving Lions fans something truly meaningful to root for.\u00c2\u00a0 Combine that with some recent nasty Packer beatings on Thanksgiving, no one in blue will have to look hard for any incentive. Lion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s backers likely threw in the towel last Sunday, being down 24-7 to the Panthers as a 6 point favorite, only to celebrate while crushing Carolina in the second half to cover.\u00c2\u00a0 You won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see that happen very often.\u00c2\u00a0 An inspirational finish in College Football but a red flag in the pros.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n As for the point total, Mr. Linesmaker doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put up 56 to 57 points by accident.\u00c2\u00a0 The highest number of the NFL season thus far.\u00c2\u00a0 This surely won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a 20-17 game.\u00c2\u00a0 The drama might be deciding the total in the final two minutes but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect any easy cover going under.<\/p>\n PICK:<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 A very slight nod to the PACKERS -6.\u00c2\u00a0 A more confident play OVER 56<\/p>\n Miami at Dallas -7 \/ 44 (4:15 PM ET on CBS)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n No truth to the rumor Leon Lett will toss the opening kick-off coin to commemorate the 18th anniversary of the NFL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Top Ten blunders of all time.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still regurgitating pumpkin pie remembering my Cowboys bet as Leon came crashing down in the snow after the blocked field goal. The Fins converted another chance, a win and a cover over the Boys.\u00c2\u00a0 That held up in Cowpokes lure until Tony Romo botched the snap in the Seahawks playoff game.<\/p>\n OK, can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 The Dolphins are going nowhere this year despite three wins over bad teams and the Cowboys are in first place after three wins over bad teams.\u00c2\u00a0 So what does that mean and who is going to cover? While Romo has looked sharp at times, the Cowboys still have a bunch of key injured players and a few playing hurt on both sides of the ball.\u00c2\u00a0 Third round pick DeMarco Murray could be a real find to complement their passing offense.\u00c2\u00a0 When healthy, the Cowboys can compete with anyone.\u00c2\u00a0 Will they ever find a decent kicking game in their history?\u00c2\u00a0 An area they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve overlooked for thirty years.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n A bizarre situation for the Dolphins, who in reality would be helping themselves by losing to acquire the starting quarterback they desperately need.\u00c2\u00a0 Keep winning and they lose out, selecting perhaps the second or third college QB choice available.<\/p>\n The reality is no professional football players slacks it, especially with a national TV audience watching.\u00c2\u00a0 Miami has been playing proud defense in November but look for that trend to falter here.\u00c2\u00a0 The Cowboys at home offer much more of a challenge than the Chiefs, Redskins and Bills.\u00c2\u00a0 Starting quarterback Matt Moore is an average back-up, who has might have earned a permanent back-up job for next year with Chad Henne hurt.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n PICK: <\/strong> Cowboys \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 7\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco at Baltimore -3 \/ 39 (8:20 PM ET on NFL Network)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Shame on the evil NFL that only paid subscribers will have the privilege of watching the Harbaugh brothers lead their teams onto the field.\u00c2\u00a0 On a quiet holiday evening, we would have likely seen one of the largest TV audiences ever for a regular season game.<\/p>\n As the Packers may prove this year, you can \u00e2\u20ac\u0153win em\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 all\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but surely you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cover em\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 all\u00e2\u20ac\u009d according to wagering logic and statistics.\u00c2\u00a0 The 49ers haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lost a game to the spread this year and this may be their greatest challenge in Baltimore.\u00c2\u00a0 Along with the Steelers, the Ravens are known as the league\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s toughest team at home and need this game to keep pace in their division.<\/p>\n The big intangible is which Joe Flacco will show up?\u00c2\u00a0 The guy who looked dazed a month ago in Jacksonville or the hero known to fire up pin-point bombs on occasion.\u00c2\u00a0 Fortunately, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had reliable Ray Rice to bail out a mediocre at best season thus far.\u00c2\u00a0 On defense, the Ravens are the NFL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s BEST but likely minus Hall Of Famer Ray Lewis again on Thursday night.\u00c2\u00a0 Look for Ray to be screaming at his teammates all night from the sidelines.<\/p>\n Kudos to Alex Smith of the Niners.\u00c2\u00a0 No doubt Jim Harbaugh has been the difference in bringing out his confidence and ability this season.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Also wondering when RB Frank Gore will get his due, the NFL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most underrated player.<\/p>\n San Francisco\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s success and likely cemented number two playoff spot bye is more due to their defense, which was coming around last year.\u00c2\u00a0 Give some credit to departed coach Mike Singletary plus super tackler Patrick Willis, a great leader and motivator.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps for the first time in their existence the 49ers have a Pro Bowl kicker in David Akers, a great acquisition from the Eagles.<\/p>\n This adds up to a game too tough to call.\u00c2\u00a0 Without red zone turnovers look for a very low scoring game and a much better Under opportunity.<\/p>\n PICK:<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 UNDER 39<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Lions actually play a holiday home game with much more than a prize turkey and covering the spread at stake. Glenn Green brings insights and free picks for all three NFL games on Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[65,42],"class_list":["post-991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bets-and-more","tag-nfl","tag-sportsbooks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":997,"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions\/997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osga.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nOn the field it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a different story.\u00c2\u00a0 So hard to bet against the Pack at full strength until they have a number one playoff spot locked-up.\u00c2\u00a0 While playing their worst game of the season last week against Tampa Bay, Aaron Rodgers still effortlessly lit up the Bucs defense.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a division game, a big national television game and therefore Green Bay shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fall asleep while pursuing a secondary goal of an undefeated season.<\/p>\n
\nA very competitive game and a very difficult case ATS to make either way.<\/p>\n