The NFL certainly gave its fans a treat on Thanksgiving Day with the matinee between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, delivering a controversial ending that made anyone watching wonder how a team could screw up a late set. like the Bears. The ending created one of the most memorable Thanksgiving games in NFL history, for all the wrong reasons.
The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants haven’t moved on from what happened Thursday afternoon, but the Cowboys are trying to get back into the playoff race. The Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers also have a thriller for the cup. The Thanksgiving games have not disappointed so far, thanks to the Lions and Bears making a lot of noise, all because of what happened in 43 seconds.
There are a lot of overreactions to Thanksgiving games; Let’s give Matt Eberflus credit for bringing Thursday’s batch to life. Which are exaggerated reactions and which are reality?
Caleb Williams is as responsible as Matt Eberflus for the Bears’ clock management
Overreaction or reality: overreaction
There is reason to blame Williams for not calling a timeout during the Bears’ inept clock management in the final 30 seconds of Thursday’s loss. After being sacked by Za’Darius Smith with 32 seconds left, Williams was in no rush to get the Bears offense back on the line, killing at least 12 seconds before realizing how much time was left on the clock.
Then, when Williams realized there were 18 seconds left (and no timeout had been called on the bench), he looked toward the bench and made the play. At that point there were 14 seconds left on the clock, a timeout that Williams or Bears coach Matt Eberflus should have called at that point. Williams was still setting up the play with nine seconds left and no timeout was called. Remember, a 59-yard field goal by Cairo Santos was still in play.
The ball was not captured until there were five seconds left. Williams and Eberflus wasted 27 seconds before executing a play, which ended just one step short of the end zone. Game over, Lions win.
While Williams is partly to blame for the clock management, it is up to his head coach with three years of head coaching experience to call a timeout and not put his rookie quarterback in that situation. At the end of the day, this falls on Eberflus and the way he failed to control the ending of that game. Eberflus left Williams on an island, blaming his quarterback for something the head coach should have controlled himself.
The Lions are lucky to still have first place in the NFC
Overreaction or reality: Reality
The Lions still hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC, controlling their own destiny in the conference after Thursday’s win over the Bears. No matter what the Eagles do on Sunday, the Lions will have first place in the conference by a full game (and the conference record tiebreaker as they have one conference loss to the Eagles’ two).
Things could have gotten really murky if the Lions had lost to the Bears, and there was a good chance that would happen. The Bears were at the Lions’ 13-yard line with 40 seconds left and looked set to score the winning touchdown, not kick a tying field goal. Even though Teven Jenkins took a holding penalty to back the Bears to the Lions’ 35-yard line, they still had enough time to get the yardage needed for an easier Cairo Santos field attempt. Then clock management chaos ensued, leaving the Lions free from what appeared to be a late-game collapse.
The Lions should have put this game away in the first half, going 1-for-3 in the red zone and kicking two field goals. Detroit only led 16-0 at halftime despite scoring on all four possessions and outscoring Chicago 279-53. The Lions still held the lead at the end, but a missed 45-yard field goal by Jake Bates in the fourth quarter also gave the Bears life. Detroit finished 2 of 5 in the red zone in a game the Lions dominated.
At the end of the day, a win is a win. The Lions are 11-1, but dodged a bullet and a major collapse in the process. They still control first place in the NFC.
The Cowboys are going to try to make the playoffs.
Overreaction or reality: overreaction
Don’t look now, but the Cowboys have won two games in five days to get to 5-7. Heading into last weekend, the Cowboys’ playoff chances were slim to none at 3-7, then they followed up with wins over the Commanders and Giants to get back into the playoff conversation.
Are the Cowboys really a threat to make the playoffs? The win over the Commanders was impressive, but Dallas was facing a shaky Washington team heading into that game. The Giants are one of the worst teams in American football, a team the Cowboys should (and did) beat.
Dallas still has Cooper Rush at quarterback and whatever is going on with CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys defense is significantly better with Micah Parsons on the field, but making the playoffs is still a bit difficult. The Cowboys needed a first down with less than two minutes left to finish off the Giants as well.
The Cowboys play the Bengals (4-7) and Panthers (3-8), before finishing with the Buccaneers (5-6), Eagles (9-2) and Commanders (7-5). The bottom three teams will play deep playoff games each week against a Cowboys team with a lot of injuries and trouble running the ball against good teams.
Dallas needs to finish 9-8 to at least have a shot at making the playoffs, so the Cowboys have to win four of the next five. The Giants are also not on the schedule, but the next two games are certainly winnable.
Giants should get Tommy DeVito back at quarterback
Overreaction or reality: overreaction
The Giants’ offense actually had a pulse with Drew Lock at quarterback, and this was because Lock didn’t know he was going to be a starter for most of a short week. Facing the Cowboys on the road, the Giants scored 20 points and Lock ran for touchdowns (he was an inch away from rushing for two). Lock also completed 21 of 32 for 178 yards and an interception, a better performance than DeVito gave the Giants on Sunday.
With Lock, the Giants offense had a lead for the first time since Week 5! The offense scored two touchdowns in 11 possessions, but there were some positives to take from Lock’s performance (even with a stretch where New York had 33 yards on 19 plays).
Lock improved as the game went on, as did the Giants’ offense. This was much better than what New York saw with DeVito last week. The Giants may not want to win games, but Lock gives them the best chance to be competent. Lock should have another week as the starting quarterback.
