clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Picks and Profits: Thanksgiving Day Edition (Open Thread)

How to bet the Thanksgiving slate and impress your family

Chicago Bears v Detroit Lions Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

A triple dose of the NFL on the best holiday of the year? Let’s grab some grub, avoid that argument with your uncle, and let’s make some money.

One can only hope that your Thanksgiving spread is as large as the first two matchups with the visiting Buffalo Bills playing their second straight game at Ford Field against the suddenly streaking Lions and the Dallas Cowboys hosting the New York Giants. Both favorites are hovering around double digits. I think the smart bet here is to take the underdogs to cover but the favorites to win the moneyline. Plenty of room inside of a double-digit spread for the Lions and Giants to keep it close. These are still Thursday games we’re talking about where players haven’t fully recovered from last Sunday and neither coaching staff has been able to employ full game plans.

While the Lions defense hasn’t put up much of a fight this year, I’ll take the under on the total because 54 is just a big number and I’m not sure the Bills defense will cooperate. As for the Cowboys game, I’ll go the opposite direction, taking over the more modest 45.5 mark as the Cowboys offense could potentially contribute most of those points anyway.

The Thursday Night Football game provides a closer matchup with the Minnesota Vikings hosting the New England Patriots. We’ve got Primetime Kirk! One could absolutely bet the bounce back for the Vikings after they were walloped at home against the Cowboys, but I wonder if Bill Belichick’s defense can’t extend their hot steak against a quarterback with questionable credentials under the spotlight. I think the Patriots steal a win here and keep the score low for the under to hit.

Check out where the rest of our writers are at with these games and hit up the comments below to let us know your picks.

You can find the latest on tonight’s game right here from our partners over at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Find me on Twitter @gridironborn and join me each Sunday morning on 2nd City Gridiron YouTube as we talk lines, props, daily fantasy, and answer all of your burning questions to help you profit.