Let the Thanksgiving Debate Begin

source: aiellosports.com

For years, NFL fans across the country have been pleading their case for the Detroit Lions to be banished from their traditional game on Thanksgiving afternoon. Now, at 2-6, the Lions may not be the number one choice of viewers, but they are a game ahead of the team they share the spotlight with come Turkey Day -- The Dallas Cowboys.

As the Cowboys endure a painful defeat to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, they prepare to enter Week 10 of the season at 1-7, facing off against the NFC East-leading New York Giants. So realistically, the Boys from Big D could enter their fourth straight primetime matchup against the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints with one win and eight losses.

So is it the Lions or now the Cowboys who are going to ruin our Thanksgiving football?


The Lions may have just two wins, but for a franchise that has been plagued by poor drafting, economic woes, an uninterested fan base and pathetic football, it is step steps in the right direction from a winless season just two years ago.

Head coach Jim Schwartz is a disciple of Jeff Fisher, one of the most well-respected leaders the game has seen. And like his mentor, Schwartz brings a sense of professionalism and subtle swag to his team that we are not used to seeing out of the woeful Lions.

In recent weeks, we have seen the Lions beat the Washington Redskins in convincing fashion, and take a                                          Super Bowl-caliber New York Jets team into overtime.


                                                               These are not your mother's Lions.

The Lions may not contend for an NFC North Division title in 2010, but honestly nobody expected them to. In my opinion, the team has four or five more wins in them this season, including a Nov. 21 matchup in Arlington against those Cowboys. But regardless of their record at the end of the season, it is obvious the Lions are in the midst of turning around their franchise, and the team is learning how to win football games. Matthew Stafford is going to be a great quarterback; Jahvid Best has shown flashes of brilliance and Calvin Johnson is a freak athlete. And their defense, led by rookies Alphonso Smith and Ndamukong Suh, is going to be great for a long time (as long as we keep the big fellow lining up against centers and not for extra points).

source: dallasnews.com

The same cannot be said for the men from Big D. Jerry Jones' team was expected to make a run at the Super Bowl this season. For a team loaded with big names -- Tony Romo, Felix Jones, Jason Witten, Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, DeMarcus Ware -- they sure are the league's biggest choke job.

But you didn't need me to tell you that, though.


They have a lame-duck coach in Wade Phillips, a backup quarterback in Jon Kitna and one win with half of the season gone by. Still, the NFL continues to stick to their guns and schedule the Cowboys in the national spotlight -- it's like they're trying to prove just how awful they are.

My point is that for the last decade, I've had to suffer through Joey Harrington and the has-been version of Daunte Culpepper and even Kitna leading the Lions out every year on Thanksgiving, and never once has the NFL juggled the possibility of flex scheduling to try and consider what the fans want to see -- like a game that could be competitive in the second quarterback is so much to ask for?

But the tides have turned -- the Cowboys are now the reason that fans are crying out via Twitter to salvage decency in the NFL and force flex scheduling for Thanksgiving afternoon. Nobody wants to see a 1-7, or theoretically a 2-8 team, go out and put forth a half-ass effort in front of a national audience. We've been saying it for years about Detroit, and it's all of a sudden reappeared with the struggles in Big D.

To change or not to change -- that becomes the question. Should we continue we "tradition," despite the Lions' and Cowboys' struggles? Or should we base the Thanksgiving games around appeal.

There's nothing that goes better with turkey than stuffing, milk with apple pie and Thanksgiving with football. I just want a reason to care about the game.