Turkey Day football action featured three games, most of which did not showcase the game in its best light.
The NY Giants came into their Thursday night game against Washington with just two wins on the season and didn't leave with a third, although Washington did all it could in the early going to give the Giants a shot.
In a first half that featured more punts than points, the two teams looked as though they'd dug into their turkey dinners before the game, engaging in a sloppy display that produced just six points and a 3-3 tie, with both teams combing to punt the ball away nine different times after failing to make a first down.
If you were able to stay awake long enough to make it to the third quarter you may have been rewarded, assuming you're a Washington fan, by seeing quarterback Kirk Cousins break the logjam by connecting with Jamison Crowder on a 15-yard touchdown pass and ultimately coming away with a 20-10 win. Washington hangs on to its playoff hopes as a result by improving to 4-5 while the Giants improve their draft position for next year, falling to 2-9.
In the mid-afternoon contest, the Los Angeles Chargers dug into their stuffing after beating the stuffing out of the Dallas Cowboys in a 28-6 embarrassment on the home turf of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' Dallas palace. Philip Rivers threw for 434 yards and three touchdowns in torching the Dallas defense and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was picked off twice, unable to get anything going without his star teammate Ezekiel Elliott in the fold. Elliott was out for a third game of his six-game league-imposed suspension connected to an alleged domestic violence incident. The Cowboys have lost three straight without Elliott and are now 5-6 in what's looking like a lost season one year following their best in the NFC record. Jones, meanwhile, remains embroiled in an off-the-field spat with league commissioner Roger Goodell, with Jones still angry that Goodell didn't do more to crack down on player protests during the National Anthem, but perhaps Jones should spend less time grumbling about players exercising their first amendment rights and more concentrating on putting together a winning team that doesn't depend on one player facing domestic violence charges for its success.
The first game of the day was easily the best of the three, and if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings you're probably cautiously optimistic about your team's chances of perhaps finally winning its first Superbowl in franchise history. The Vikings are now 9-2 on the year after beating the Lions in Detroit 30-23. Veteran quarterback Case Keenum threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the win. Keenum is becoming quite the story, a journeyman quarterback who's essentially the third string signal caller in the Viking's system, filling in as both San Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater are out with injuries. Minnesota built up a 20-3 lead over Detroit and held off a late charge to come away with the win. The Vikings have been to the superbowl four times in their history, most notably in the era when Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton was slinging the ball around, but they've never won the big game. The Philadelphia Eagles seem to be the front runners in the NFC this season, but the Vikings may pose a challenge to that team, also without a superbowl trophy in its history, when the playoffs come calling.
No NHL games on the docket yesterday, but the Boston Bruins will host the defending Stanley cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in a matinee this afternoon. The B's are coming off a successful road trip in which they've won three in a row. The Penguins are just really good, despite the fact that they're sitting in just fourth place right now in the Metropolitan division.
The Women's world Cup of Skiing returns to Killington tomorrow, after a hugely successful run last year, there's expected to be even greater spectator presence at this year's even, which begins tomorrow with the first Giant Slalom Run set for 10am at the Superstar Trail, and the second Giant slalom kicking off at 1pm. And race officials say the courses for Saturday and Sunday's giant slalom events have been lengthened with additional split intervals added, modifications that are expected to bring even more speed and excitement to the races this year.
