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Good luck finding someone who has had a worse Thanksgiving than Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Although his team did not even play, Gruden ended up looking like the biggest turkey of the party, as he managed to see two or three men he had exchanged explode on the biggest football scene of the regular season of the year. process.
Khalil Mack, Gruden treated the Bears before the season for a pair of first-round picks, did not put up a monster stats line for Chicago, but it had a big impact on the game (as it always does and has always done) on the way to help the Bears win their third division victory in the last 13 days. Mack spent the season transforming the Bears' defense and making them viable contenders. Gruden has spent the entire season lamenting the lack of hype for the Raiders.
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But Mack's trick is nothing new: Mack has been highlighting fouls throughout the season and the Raiders have been killed. (Watch the Raiders play at the Ravens on Sunday at 1 pm ET on CBS, Post on CBS All Access or fuboTV, try it for free.) But the Bears were specifically chosen by the Raiders for Mack's trade because Oakland thought that they represented the best opportunity to win future high choices. Oops. The Bears are stuck for the playoffs and maybe more (more info on this in a second) and Gruden will eventually get the 20th best place for a generational pass defender.
What's new is the Raiders who look stupid to have treated Amari Cooper. Cooper was sent to Dallas for a first-round pick and, honestly, it seemed like a scam for the Raiders. Thanksgiving did not help the cause of the Raiders: Cooper made the difference for the Cowboys, scoring seven passes for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns and creating a lot of joy in Jerry Jones' penalty area.
I'm confident you can find proof that I killed the Cowboys for giving up a first-round pick in the contract to get Cooper, but Dallas now controls the NFC East (you'll know more about it soon) and you have to – sigh – give credit to Jerry Jones minus hitting a rule of double floor here. At the moment, Cooper likes to be able to hit an entire division by opening the Cowboys offense.
Bruce Irvin, Lucky lucky of Gruden, did not finish Thursday with 12 bags of Drew Brees.
The East is going through Dallas
So about these Cowboys – man, who could have seen that coming? Not me. Maybe Jerry? It was a team of 3-4 that traded against Cooper, who quickly lost to a team of Titans with a lethargic look and who seemed dead in the water. Now, they control their destiny in an NFC Is very confused. Thank the Cowboys for rallying over the last three weeks, with wins in Philly and Atlanta (hard to play in any competition) punctuated by a home win over Thanksgiving against the Redskins.
Washington probably should have covered and Colt McCoy gave them good games before the game, but Dallas was by far the best team. Washington's defensive line came to play and Ezekiel Elliott still managed to pass 100 yards on the ground. That says a lot about how the Cowboy offensive line is currently playing out. If you choose the Redskins or bet on the Redskins, you hold your breath every time Zeke carried the ball, as he seemed capable of a jailbreak by the minute. "When so-and-so rushes X times," the statistics can be misleading, but Brady Quinn repeatedly mentioned on the Pick Six podcast (a daily NFL podcast, subscribe here), the Cowboys have a magic number of 22: when Zeke carries the ball 22 times, the Cowboys take it away.
It could very well be as simple as "when Zeke wins as much fighting as it is because the Cowboys are winning," but I also think there's a lot of balance created by Elliott, which allows Dak Prescott to find his rhythm and hit open receivers.
The next three games of the Cowboys are tough. they draw saints and eagles home before playing colts on the road. They could go 0-3 and Philadelphia or Washington could slip into the divisional debate.
Jason Garrett has been smiling for 18 straight days – the Cowboys winning streak it took to be on the chopping block to be in the extension zone. I always think his hyper-conservative coaching style will cost the Cowboys a lot at some pointbut in a division of the blind, the Cowboys seem to have only one eye and this could make them king.
More star officials
Two points to remember for the NFL for its officials, involving only one game, one that potentially affected the outcome of the Redskins-Cowboys match and most certainly affected the match's game result. On a third run down the red zone with 11 points left and he needed two points, the Redskins sent Jordan Reed a pass that seemed to be complete, setting a goal and a goal.
And then, Reed was completely knocked out by Xavier Woods during a very obvious hit of helmet.
There is no denying this. Woods should have been reported. All observers were in agreement, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were in agreement, the Fox rules analyst, Mike Pereira, agreed and yet no flag had been launched. As a result, the Redskins scored a goal to reduce the lead to eight points and failed to cover after the Cowboys' recovery.
Now, I do not believe that the referees had a real interest in influencing the outcome of the match or the broadcasting of points of the match. But I think, now that the game is becoming more and more legal and banal, the NFL must strive to ensure such things, in which the outcome of the game and the spreading of points in the game are clearly influenced, are judged equitably, otherwise it becomes difficult to believe in the product.
Support right away
The Bears did not dominate the Lions on Thanksgiving the way they The Lions had dominated the Lions two weeks earlier, but in a strange way, it was perhaps the most impressive effort of the season in Chicago.
For starters, Chicago was playing this game on the shortest rest imaginable. They beat the Vikings at home on Sunday at prime time the week before, which means the Bears started at 20:20. ET on Sunday and again at 12:30 ET on Thursdays. For you, math majors, it means that they had 100 hours, 10 minutes between the coup de send. It's a separation as short as possible between games and the Bears have won both games. In fact, the second Lions victory was their third division victory in 13 days. Think about it a little.
Second, the Bears won without their quarterback. Mitchell Trubisky was nursing a painful AC joint that he suffered belatedly against the Vikings, so the Bears sat him down and drove with substitute Daniel Chase. It was a cautious decision for the franchise's long-term vision and the investment in Daniel paid off. He was not dominant or explosive, but he did the job. Daniel looked exactly like what you want for an expensive backup QB.
Finally, their defense is so strong. We all under-sell it, maybe because the defense is not so important anymore in the year of the Rams against Chefs to take our breath away. Or at least, that does not seem to be so important. Every week, someone else plays for the Bears. Eddie Jackson added another touchdown to the defensive game on Thursday, giving him as many touchdowns as Julio Jones for the season.
Jackson's touchdown was the fifth of his career, giving him the most defensive touchdowns in the NFL since 2015. It was written in 2017.
Crushing the Lions does not give us a perfect picture of what the Bears can do against powerful fouls, but since they've lost two consecutive games, the Bears have won five straight games and not allowed anyone to score more 20 points.
This team will play in the playoffs and host a playoff game when they win the North of the NFC. The only question is to know where the bears can go. I am convinced that there is no ceiling, which was an idea that I thought before the Bears entered Detroit with a very short rest period and that they won with Daniel In the center.
Bow to Brees
I wrote it here at length, but there is a very good argument that Drew Brees is the MVP's favorite by a net margin at this point. The Saints are the best football team – I told you that last week and Thanksgiving was just that extra proof – and they get together a lot for the defense even after losing Marcus Davenport. Cam Jordan and Sheldon Rankins are weekly demolition workshops.
Returning to Brees, however: he threw four touchdown passes on Thursday and each was reserved for a free agent. By getting his quarterback dial-up scoring plays to …
* CHECKS NOTES * * GOOGLE USES *
… Dan Arnold, Austin Carr, Keith Kirkwood, and Tommylee Lewis, it's almost as if Sean Payton reminded the world that his quarterback had always been as good as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers and that it was not that bad. he always did what he did with less weapons. These guys all played with several weapons from the Hall of Fame; Brees' best option in his career is either Jimmy Graham, Colston Brands or maybe even Michael Thomas.
If the Saints are seeded # 1 and Brees maintains his pace in yards, touchdowns and interceptions, he will win the trophy. In case people are divided on who to vote for, Brees would get the break-even of all his achievements on Patrick Mahomes.
The next five weeks should be a crowning achievement for a 39-year-old quarterback who will somehow play the best season of his career.
Celebrate the good times
Thanksgiving is always a time of celebration and the NFL – which hilariously kisses the hit parties after running away for years – took a sip on Thursday. Let's review some of the best.
Zeke Elliott lost money in the kettle of the Salvation Army, recalling his Christmas gesture last year, when the fleeing Cowboys jumped into the kettle.
And then, Elliott would pick Dak Prescott and throw his countryman into the box.
Amari Cooper participated in the party by imitating Markelle Fultz's free throw, which should be an insult except Fultz apparently loved the party.
Eddie Jackson made the Bears work.
The Bears defense also paid an incredible tribute to Motown while playing in Detroit.
And perhaps the most impressive of all? Trey Quinn of the Redskins has launched "The Scarn" at the office.
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