Bye weeks are officially over as several teams prepare to make a final push for the playoffs in the home stretch of the NFL regular season.
All thirty-two teams will be active in Week 12 for the first time since the start of October now that the bye weeks of the NFL have ended. Six teams will be preparing to face off on Thanksgiving Day, while the rest will play on Sunday and Monday as usual. Week 12 will feature eight separate divisional matchups, so fans are sure to be in for a great week of football.
The Thanksgiving slate of games kicks off with an NFC North matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. The Vikings currently hold a two-game lead over the Lions in the division, however, Detroit defeated Minnesota 14-7 when they played in Week 4 and defeated them 16-13 last Thanksgiving Day.
The next Thanksgiving Day game will be between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Chargers. The Cowboys have looked completely lost for the last two weeks without running back Ezekiel Elliott, being outscored 64-16 in those games. Dallas is now 5-5 and at a severe risk of missing the playoffs entirely.
And for the final game of Thanksgiving, that will occur between NFC East rival New York Giants and Washington Redskins. The Giants are coming off of just their second win of the season in Week 11, whereas Washington is coming off of a devastating overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints.
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Thanksgiving doesn’t have all the great matchups though. Sunday features key games such as the 8-2 Saints taking on the 7-3 Los Angeles Rams, and the Arizona Cardinals hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sunday will also feature six division games, including the Denver Broncos taking on the Oakland Raiders, the Atlanta Falcons hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Seattle Seahawks playing the San Francisco 49ers. It is sure to be a great week of football, so make sure you tune in!