Thanksgiving week is supposed to be about settling in, relaxing, maybe eating too much and watching football until you can’t see straight. Instead, the NFL (and college landscape) said, “Nah, let’s get weird.”
From Denver’s Jekyll-and-Hyde act to the NFC West turning into a fever dream to Lane Kiffin hopping on a private jet and detonating Ole Miss Twitter – this week brought pure, unfiltered chaos. Let’s dive in.
Broncos at Commanders
Let’s start with Denver, because nobody in the league has a wider gap between their ceiling and their basement.
The Broncos walked into Sunday tied with the Patriots for the best record in football at 10-2, and looked absolutely nothing like a 10-2 team. Blame the tryptophan, blame the travel, blame the belief that “Hey, we’re playing a 3-8 team with their starting QB in the press box, we’ll be fine.” Human nature is undefeated.
Bo Nix? The best way to describe him is: infuriatingly talented but also occasionally possessed by the ghost of Bad Jameis. One series he’s ripping the ball like a future All-Pro, the next he’s throwing it directly to Bobby Wagner like the world’s saddest game of catch. The man grabbed his helmet after that interception the way I grab mine after betting the wrong side of a Hard Rock Bet parlay.
And yet – Denver keeps winning.
Mariota gave Denver everything he had – nearly 300 yards, the legs, the arm strength, the professionalism. A true high-end backup. But Denver escaped because even on a down night, they’re just more talented. They also escaped because Washington went for two in overtime and didn’t get it.
Denver can win the AFC. They can also lose on Wild Card Weekend to someone like the Texans in a 15-13 rock fight. Both realities are 100% on the table.
That’s life with Bo Nix. And with Sean Payton, who still refuses to run the ball when the game is screaming for it. Thirteen carries for RJ Harvey isn’t going to cut it, even if he’s only getting three yards a pop. Sometimes you run because it stabilizes the building.
49ers at Browns
I was expecting biblical weather in Cleveland – snow, wind, sleet, maybe a flying car or two. Instead, we got cold, a little wind… and a Browns team submitting one of the most noncompetitive performances of the Kevin Stefanski era.
The Niners didn’t even play particularly well offensively. Missing half their roster, relying on guys who were probably selling insurance last month, and still winning 26-8 tells you everything about Cleveland’s organizational dysfunction.
The Browns have elite players – Myles Garrett might be the best pass rusher of this generation and he smoked Trent Williams on an inside move – but from muffed punts to fourth-down miscues to tight ends coughing up the ball, this was amateur hour.
Meanwhile, the Niners are quietly 9-4 despite injuries that would collapse a normal franchise. They’ve beaten the Rams and Seahawks on the road, they get a bye before facing the Titans, and suddenly they’re sitting at the same win total as L.A. and Seattle.
A month ago, if I told you the entire NFC West would be tied at nine wins after Thanksgiving, you’d ask me what edibles I took. But here we are.
Rams at Panthers
Speaking of weird: the Rams cooked a disaster stew in Carolina.
Stafford played his worst game of the year. Pick six, another interception, a fumble that almost turned into a scoop-and-score – the full meltdown sampler.
This Panthers team doesn’t make sense. They were 6-6 after a poor showing against the 49ers, and then they beat the Rams. They also look terrible half the time. Predict their games at your own risk.
Seahawks at Vikings
Seattle didn’t beat the Vikings – the Vikings beat the Vikings by not having a quarterback.
Their rookie emergency starter looked like he found out five minutes before kickoff that he won a contest to play QB1 for a day. Seattle could’ve won by starting a garden gnome at quarterback and handing it off 60 times.
Still counts. They’re 9-3.
This division is pure lunacy.
Steelers at Bills
Mike Tomlin is catching heat, and the Steelers are unraveling at warp speed. But let’s be clear: this isn’t a Tomlin problem – it’s a roster-construction problem.
This team looks like it was built via Madden’s “Trade Override” setting. Adding older stars with big names doesn’t work in real life. And asking a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, playing with a cast on his hand, to save this mess is unfair bordering on offensive.
Buffalo was missing BOTH offensive tackles – and Pittsburgh still couldn’t make them uncomfortable. If that was Myles Garrett, he’d have nine sacks.
T.J. Watt said the defense was terrible. He’s right. They’re not talented enough in the trenches, and they haven’t drafted well enough in years.
Tomlin probably needs a reset year the way Mike Vrabel just had one. But the Rooney family? Stability is part of their DNA. The question is whether patience is masking a roster that’s simply not good.
The Lane Kiffin Firestorm
And now for dessert: Lane Kiffin is the biggest villain in college football.
That’s not an insult – college football needs villains. Give me chaos. Give me drama. Give me message-board meltdowns.
Lane gave Ole Miss its best roster in decades, made the playoff, then hopped on a private jet to LSU. He reinvented himself publicly this year – sobriety, family, health, hot yoga, the whole E60 makeover – and positioned himself as The New Lane™.
And it worked.
But LSU isn’t Ole Miss. The expectations will be suffocating. The pressure will be unrelenting. And the SEC will root against him with a fervor normally reserved for traffic court judges.
When LSU returns to Ole Miss next year? That atmosphere might violate local fire codes.
This is going to be spectacular theater.
Monday Night Prediction: Giants at Patriots
Hard Rock Bet brings us the lines, and you know what? I like underdogs in primetime.
The Giants have played tough under Mike Kafka. They could easily be 2-0 0ver their last two. Jaxson Dart returning gives them a spark. They’re not good – but they’re annoying, and annoying dogs cover.
Seven points is too many.
The Pick: Giants +7
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