Going Back for Thirds...The Thanksgiving Day Picks

First, there was the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

Then came the Madden Curse and the Super Bowl Loser curse.

Could there be such a thing as the NBC Flex Schedule curse?

When NBC signed on to broadcast NFL games, they petitioned to have the ability to choose a desirable game to show to a national audience. This means, no more pre-planned Browns at Cardinals on Sunday night.

But the flex scheduling may have upset the Football Gods. When NBC selected this weekend’s game, it was slated as a match-up between the undefeated Indianapolis Colts, chasing the ’72 Dolphins and NFL immortality, and the Philadelphia Eagles, led by superstar quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is putting up MVP-caliber numbers.

Oops.

Now NBC will televise the once-defeated Colts who suddenly don’t even look like the best team in the AFC let alone NFL history, and an Eagles offense piloted by either Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley.

If such a curse exists, I implore NBC to flex their corporate muscle and put the Dallas Cowboys on a Sunday night in the very near future.

As for tomorrow’s games, I have a tradition by which I always pick the Lions and whoever is playing Dallas. No sense in changing now.

Thursday, November 23rd. 2006

The Match-up: Miami (-3.0) @ Detroit
The Skinny: Surprisingly, Joey Harrington’s return to Detroit is receiving very little fanfare. Should be just like his Lions playing career.
Straight Up: Detroit
Against the Spread: Detroit

The Match-up: Tampa Bay (+11.0) @ Dallas
The Skinny: Maybe Tony Homo will get food poisoning and miss the game, relegating him to back-up status.
Straight Up: Tampa Bay
Against the Spread: Tampa Bay

The Match-up: Denver (-1.0) @ Kansas City
The Skinny: I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong in thinking the Broncos wouldn’t cough up a big lead like they did against San Diego last week. Either the Chargers are really that good, or Denver’s defense might have been exposed. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
Straight Up: Kansas City
Against the Spread: Kansas City