Is there a secret Super Bowl preview hiding on Thanksgiving Weekend? NFL Week 13 preview

It’s Thanksgiving weekend and there’s one matchup on the Week 13 slate that could be a secret Super Bowl preview: which one is it?

There are few things better than Thanksgiving Week football – the cold, the score bugs, the turkey legs – and with three mammoth games to be wolfed down alongside plenty of turkey, stuffing and whatever Americans believe pass as ‘pies’ (sweet potato? Pumpkin? What an absurd, unserious culture) fans are in for a treat as the USA settles in for a holiday weekend.

But as the playoff picture takes shape, Aussie NFL fans also get a Black Friday divisional game for their Saturday morning and a tasty slate in the traditional timeslots that’s crammed with gems like one of John Madden’s famous turducken.

Just like a turducken, the deeper you dig, the better this week looks.

Including a game on Monday that could be a secret Super Bowl preview hiding in plain sight, with two of the top five favourites going head-to-head.

First, however, is the fun three-game Thanksgiving slate.

In good news for their fans, this year looks like it could be the first time in a long time that the 10-1 Detroit Lions won’t ruin Thanksgiving like an uncle with a few too many tins under his belt. The current Super Bowl favourites are also big home favourites as they take on NFC North division foes Chicago in the first game of Thanksgiving.

Two reeling division rivals match up in the midafternoon game (aka the Thanksgiving Nap Game) as the Cowboys host the Giants. With Dallas having pulled off a miracle win last week over Washington, Jerry Jones and co. will want to give fans something to cheer for, considering they’ve lost every home game this season.

In fact, remarkably, Dallas hasn’t won a home game in 2024, the only team in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL to do so.

Despite being the NFL’s most valuable franchise since 2007 and the most valuable sports franchise in the world since 2016, the $10 billion Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a home game since December of 2023.⁠
⁠
(h/t @junior_miller) pic.twitter.com/5yXl9oi3su

— Boardroom (@boardroom) November 27, 2024

The Giants, meanwhile, are in free-fall, having released quarterback Daniel ‘Danny Dimes’ Jones (who has since signed with the Vikings) and turned to third-stringer Tommy ‘Cutlets’ DeVito. DeVito is now battling an injury, so New York may be forced to play QB Drew Lock against the Cowboys, who themselves will be starting backup Cooper Rush.

It doesn’t exactly scream ‘Thanksgiving classic’ does it?

Finally, the Miami Dolphins will find themselves firmly out water as they visit Green Bay to take on the Packers – the first time Miami has featured on Thanksgiving since 2011.

It’s a long-held belief that the Dolphins can’t win in the cold and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is keen to dispel the idea. That’s despite the fact that Miami is 3-7 in cold weather after the beginning of November in the seasons coach Mike McDaniels has been in charge.

It’s a tough ask for Miami: they haven’t beaten Green Bay since 2014 and haven’t won at Lambeau Field since 2010.

Black Friday (Saturday in Australia) then offers up a fascinating division game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, with Vegas needing a new QB after Gardner Minshew was injured last week.

Patrick Mahomes and company will be looking for a big win after barely scraping by on the road against the Panthers in Charlotte last week.

The rest of the Thanksgiving turducken weekend slate has some interesting games, with the Seahawks and Geno Smith visiting Aaron ‘I don’t need no doctors’ Rodgers and the Jets, the Steelers visiting the Bengals and the Cardinals trying to hold on to a division lead up against the Vikings.

But the best matchup sees the NFC East-leading Eagles taking on the Ravens in a battle of the rushing QBs and the two pre-eminent running backs in the NFL in Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry.

So with that slate ahead - including a clash between two favourites to make it to the big game - the current Super Bowl odds might change somewhat by the end of the week: the Lions are still favourites, ahead of the Chiefs, Ravens, Bills and Eagles.

As for other trends, following a Week 12 that delivered a couple of big upsets, but mainly went chalk – favourites are still winning at over a 53% clip across the season, while total point over-unders remain slanted towards the over, which are hitting at 53.4% for the year.

With playoff spots at a premium – essentially 11 teams are all but out of the race – it means that this Thanksgiving Week 13 is shaping up as a season-defining round.

As for the Aussie NFL players, Jordan Mailiata of the Eagles has been excellent since returning from injury, Baltimore’s Daniel Faalele has been doing work in opening up gaps for Derrick Henry, while the Aussie punters – Michael Dickson, Matthew Hayball and Tory Taylor – are all having excellent seasons. Unfortunately Mitch Wishnowsky is dealing with a back injury for the Niners and is on IR.

Either way, Aussie NFL fans have a terrific Week 13 slate to dig into, so watch the NFL Straya breakdown above to see who should win and why.

Will Detroit give their fans a happy Thanksgiving for once?

Can Dallas finally win a home game in 2024?

Could the Ravens-Eagles game be a Super Bowl preview?

Find out with NFL Straya’s NFL Week 13 preview and in the breakdown above.

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NFL WEEK 13 SCHEDULE

FRIDAY 4.30am AEDT

Chicago @ Detroit

FRIDAY 8.30am AEDT

NY Giants @ Dallas

FRIDAY 12.20pm AEDT

Miami @ Green Bay

SATURDAY 7am AEDT

LV Raiders @ Kansas City

MONDAY 5am AEDT

LA Chargers @ Atlanta

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati

Indianapolis @ New England

Seattle @ NY Jets

Arizona @ Minnesota

Tennessee @ Washington

Houston @ Jacksonville

MONDAY 8.05am AEDT

LA Rams @ New Orleans

Tampa Bay @ Carolina

MONDAY 8.25am AEDT

Philadelphia @ Baltimore

MONDAY 12.20pm AEDT

San Francisco @ Buffalo

TUESDAY 12.15pm AEDT

Cleveland @ Denver

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Originally published as Is there a secret Super Bowl preview hiding on Thanksgiving Weekend? NFL Week 13 preview