Thursday Night Football debuted on Thanksgiving 14 years ago, as the slate expanded from two games to three. Today we're back to two, with the Ravens-Steelers showdown moved to Sunday. This means JuJu Smith-Schuster will have more time to recover. As for Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins, I had thought they'd still be out given the rules surrounding COVID-positive tests. But some in the Twittersphere are insisting they might be able to suit up, so if anyone can confirm or refute my understanding of the rules, feel free to speak up.
As for today's matchups, the Lions had scored 20+ in every game this season before last week's embarrassing shutout loss. In fact, they had scored 20+ in 15 straight with Stafford under center. Beyond Patrick Mahomes, I can't think of any other QB with a longer current streak. Kenny Golladay is out again, as is Danny Amendola. But D'Andre Swift is questionable as of writing this (after midnight Wednesday night); if he's a go, Detroit's sputtering office should hit 20+ again vs. a vulnerable Houston defense. Marvin Jones and T.J. Hockenson are seemingly obvious starts, Matthew Stafford is a fantastic rebound candidate, and the undrafted Marvin Hall is a decent Hail Mary for flex-needy managers--or for those desperate for a reason to watch the game to avoid family conversation.
As for the Texans, possessing one of the league's worst rushing attacks--and now probably *the* worst with Duke Johnson serving as the bellcow--Deshaun Watson is carrying this offense like no other quarterback. Will Fuller and Brandin Cooks have to be viewed as must-start WRs with Randall Cobb and Kenny Stills out, while Keke Coutee is a Marvin Hall-like Hail Mary. And I'm not ready to endorse Jordan Akins in this three-man TE rotation featuring Pharaoh Brown and Darren Fells. Akins' Week 11 output was by far his best since Week 2. While has clearly has upside, his floor is too low to make him a confident top-16 streamer.
In game #2, who would have thought in August that Andy Dalton would start nearly as many games as Joe Burrow. But that's where we're headed if Dalton keeps the job through December, and he surely has the weapons to do it. There are many non-top-16 QBs worth starting this week, and Dalton (consensus 26th-ranked fantasy quarterback) is one of them. Dump-offs to Zeke Elliott and Tony Pollard, mixed with controlled passes to any of his four playmaking receivers, should keep fantasy managers content if they don't have a top-12 option handy. Zeke, Amari Cooper, and CeeDee Lamb should be fine. Michael Gallup and Dalton Schultz are more TD-dependent, though I'm banking on 24+ points for Dallas, so the odds are half-decent that one of them will score.
For Washington, Alex Smith is earning admiration for coming back from a catastrophic injury. That said, he remains a sub-par QB on a sub-par team, and not even a matchup with the Cowboys can change that. Antonio Gibson and Terry McLaurin are the same must-start guys they've been most of the year. J.D. McKissic and Steven Sims are solid dart throws. But I'd be shocked if Smith wasn't today's worst fantasy QB.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.