We have now quietly seen a nice turnaround from what we experienced a few weeks ago, and it looks like everything is starting to trend in the right direction. That also means it’s an unfortunate time for a drastic change in schedule.
As usual, we have three games on Thanksgiving. There’s also a Friday matchup. And we have all 32 teams in play between now and Monday night. It is a lot compared to what we have just seen, but it is really also a return to normalcy. And to what we will expect in the coming weeks as each team moves past its respective bye week.
But, as always, I want to start this week by expressing my thanks to you, reader, for always being part of this journey with me.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Below are predictions for each game against the spread. Spreads have been taken from various websites and are subject to change. The spread in parenthesis denotes the selected team. Spread is listed as advertised number and odds at either DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, or Fanatics Sportsbook (formerly PointsBet). All efforts were made to provide picks at -110 or better, with some stretching to a -125 if no reasonable advertised spread was found.
*Confidence Picks – 2024 Season: 39-39 (Last Week: 4-2)
(2023 Season: 63-61-4) (2022 Season: 54-54-5) (2021 Season: 55-50) (2020 Season: 53-42-3) (2019 Season: 57-43-3) (2018 Season: 63-48-4) (2017 Season: 53-48-4) (2016 Season: 53-67-3) (2015 Season: 69-45-2) (2014 Season: 61-46-2) (10-Year Total: 581-504-30)
All Picks Against Spread – 2024 Season: 94-84-1 (Last Week: 9-4)
(2023 Season: 142-135-8) (2022 Season: 143-132-9) (2021 Season: 158-126-2) (2020 Season: 132-128-7) (2019 Season: 142-118-7) (2018 Season: 137-118-12) (2017 Season: 137-119-11) (2016 Season: 123-136-8) (2015 Season: 143-117-7) (2014 Season: 149-114-4) (10-Year Total: 1406-1243-75)
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
What a strange season the Chicago Bears have had so far. They are definitely not great which is actually a disappointment given how much talent they had coming into the season, but they also refuse to be terrible. They hang around “bad” long enough to be cast aside and then compete feverishly. That type of inconsistency will usually point people to look at the other end of a given matchup.
In this case, they will look at the 10-1 Detroit Lions, winners of eight consecutive games, and focus on their potential in a Thanksgiving afternoon game.
The reality is that we absolutely know the potential for the Lions. It’s to win in a big way. So, will it happen?