NFL Thanksgiving Football Rooting Guide For Eagles Fans

Yum.

Happy Thanksgiving! Week 12 of the 2016 NFL season kicks off today. There are a total of three games scheduled for Turkey Day. The early game features the Minnesota Vikings at the Detroit Lions. The afternoon games is an NFC East battle between the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys. Then the Pittsburgh Steelers will be in Indianapolis to play the Colts in the evening.

This Thanksgiving marks the first one since 2013 that the Eagles aren’t playing. With that said, Philadelphia fans still have rooting interests in these games. The Lions beating the Vikings would be good for the Eagles for a couple reasons. Detroit winning the NFC North is ideal for Philadelphia because it renders Detroit’s head-to-head tie-breaker over the Eagles useless. The Eagles are better off if the Vikings are trying to compete for a wild card instead of taking over the division because Philadelphia owns a tie-breaker over Minnesota.

Another obvious reason why the Eagles should want the Vikings to lose is because Philadelphia owns Minnesota’s 2017 first-round pick. The more games the Vikings lose, the better that pick becomes for the Eagles.

It’s a rare situation that Eagles fans find themselves wanting the Cowboys to win, but that’s the case today. A Washington loss helps the Eagles more than a Dallas loss does since Washington is in position for a wild card spot while the Cowboys have already run away with the NFC East lead. A Cowboys win on Thanksgiving also increases the chances of Dallas resting their starters when they play the Eagles in Philadelphia in Week 17.

Here’s who the Birds 24/7 experts are predicting to win. Read on for more information on how to watch the NFL Week 12 games. Use the comment section below as an open thread to discuss Thursday’s games.

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Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

Start time: 12:30 PM ET
TV channel: CBS
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson (Field reporter).
Westwood One: Tom McCarthy, Ross Tucker, Hub Arkush (Field reporter).
SIRIUS: 83 (Min), 82 (Det).
XM: 83 (Min), 82 (Det).

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys

Start time: 4:30 PM ET
TV channel: FOX
Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews (Field reporter).
Westwood One: John Sadak, James Lofton, Scott Kaplan (Field reporter).
SIRIUS: 83 (Was), 82 (Dal).
XM: 83 (Was), 82 (Dal).

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts

Start time: 8:30 PM ET
TV channel: NBC
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya (Field reporter).
Westwood One: Kevin Kugler, Tony Boselli.
SIRIUS: 88 (WW1), 83 (Pit), 82 (Ind).
XM: 88 (WW1), 83 (Pit), 82 (Ind).