Thursday Night – New York Giants at Washington Redskins

This isn’t your typical Thursday Night Football action, it’s Thanksgiving Day football. That takes everything to a new level. Out of the 3 games being played on Turkey Day, this NFC East battle is the best of the bunch. Any time two division rivals meet this late in the season playoff implications are on the line on top of bragging rights. And, if neither of these teams is truly contending for the division crown, a wild card spot will be on the line anyway.

Keys to the Game

Giants

New York needs to get Kirk Cousins on the ground and keep him there. Taking Cousins out of the picture (not literally) will make this a much easier game for the Giants to win. Washington’s offense will sputter to a stop without Cousins leading the way. The Giants have all the talent in the front seven in order to bring pressure off the edge and up the middle and they’ll still be okay in the secondary when Cousins is able to get the ball out. As long as OBJ doesn’t blow up and commit a bunch of personal fouls, this will be New York’s game to lose.

Redskins

Washington needs to get under the Giants’ skin and irritate them. Josh Norman will handle that with Odell Beckham, but it can be done with Eli Manning, too. If you annoy him and get him out of his rhythm, he’ll start throwing ducks all over the field and turn into “Bad Eli”. We’ve seen it before and we’ll see it again. If Washington can get Eli to be a little reckless with the football, they can capitalize with a few INTs or fumbles and put some more crooked numbers on the board.