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Good morning to everyone but especially …
THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS, DALLAS COWBOYS AND GREEN BAY PACKERS
Forget the midseason swoon: The 49ers are absolutely back, and they look terrifying. San Francisco battered Seattle into submission in a 31-13 win, the Niners’ third straight.
- Christian McCaffrey led the way with 139 yards from scrimmage and a pair of rushing touchdowns. He’s up to 11 on the season, a franchise record … with six more games to play.
- Deebo Samuel added 94 yards from scrimmage and a score on the ground, and Brandon Aiyuk hauled in a touchdown from Brock Purdy.
- The defense wreaked havoc with six sacks and an interception of Geno Smith. The Seahawks did not have an offensive touchdown for the second time this season.
I really like this 49ers team. It’s balanced, star-laden and dominant. This was its seventh double-digit win this year, tied for most in the NFL with …
… the Cowboys, who cooked the Commanders‘ defense and ate up their offense. And then they ate for real. Dak Prescott threw for four touchdowns — the last of which he celebrated by literally eating a turkey wing — as Dallas rolled Washington, 45-10.
If Prescott’s feast wasn’t enough, DaRon Bland put the icing on the cake pie with his fifth — yes, fifth — pick six of the year, setting an NFL record.
- The 45 points were the Cowboys’ third-most on Thanksgiving. Prescott’s 10th career game with four touchdowns passing tied Tony Romo, who was on the call for CBS, for the franchise record.
- Over his past five games, Prescott is averaging over 320 yards passing and has thrown 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
- The Cowboys earned an “A” in our weekly grades, and John Breech says they’re “looking more and more like a legit Super Bowl contender every week.”
- Oh yeah, Dolly Parton rocked the halftime show.
In the early game, Jordan Love posted a second consecutive turnover-free performance for the first time since Weeks 1 and 2 and tied a career-best with three touchdowns in a 29-22 win over the Lions. Love was one of Turkey Day’s biggest winners, writes Cody Benjamin. It’s the first time the Packers have won consecutive games this year. At 5-6, Green Bay is still hanging around in the NFC playoff picture.
Love set the tone for the day on the first play — a 53-yard completion to Christian Watson — and never slowed down. He threw touchdowns to Watson, Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft. The running game was also strong, and the defense impressed. As for the Lions … we’ll get to that.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for …
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THE DETROIT LIONS
It was all bad in Detroit: The offense. The defense. The decision making. The halftime show. All. Really. Bad.
One of the league’s boldest and most creative teams produced a stinker.
- The Lions went 1 of 5 on fourth down, including a failed fake punt on their own 23-yard line that led to Green Bay’s final touchdown.
- Goff was sacked three times and lost three fumbles, bringing his turnover total to six over the past two games. He had just five turnovers through the first nine games of season.
- The defense is regressing at an alarming rate. After allowing 100+ yards rushing once over its first nine games, it has allowed 184 and 109 in its last two games, respectively. The Packers’ 7 yards per play was the second-highest the Lions have allowed this season.
The Lions have now lost seven straight Thanksgiving games. This latest iteration brings real questions. Every quarterback goes through rough patches, but Goff’s is particularly concerning because he doesn’t make it up with any sort of playmaking out of the pocket. That gets exposed when the offensive line struggles, and struggle it did: The Lions allowed pressure on 54% of Goff’s dropbacks, their worst rate since 2007. Add in a leaky secondary and risks that don’t pay off, and you get another sad Thanksgiving in Detroit.
Not so honorable mentions
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