New England vs Detroit – Thanksgiving 2010 Football Schedule

The Thanksgiving 2010 football schedule has three games to watch while you mow down on turkey, stuffing and pie. The first game on the schedule features the New England Patriots at Ford Field to take on Thanksgiving football regulars, the Detroit Lions. Tons of nervous Patriots fans worry about this game being a classic trap game; it’s a road game, on a short week against a bad team but one with an excellent record against the spread. Let’s look over the lines and the teams to see if Pats fans have a serious worry about falling into the tryptophan trap.

The NFL odds makers have set the visiting Patriots as -7-point favorites. The game total is set at 50½ points.

Thanksgiving 2010 Football Schedule

Game 1 Odds
November 25, 2010

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New England Patriots -7 -105
Detroit Lions +7 -115

Game Total 50½

Location: Ford Field – Detroit MI
Game Time: 12:30pm
TV: CBS

The fear of a letdown against an inferior opponent is fresh in Pats fans minds after the squad was embarrassed against the Cleveland Browns in week 9. The Browns, more specifically Peyton Hillis ran all over that Patriots’ defense in a 34-14 Browns win.

Of course the Patriots bounced back and beat two of the top teams in the league, first a 39-26 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers and then last week, a 31-28 victory over rival Indianapolis.

Tom Brady has looked sharp, despite playing with a couple of rookie tight ends and no Patriots receiving averaging more than 54 yards a game.

The Patriots are the highest scoring team in the league and it’s out of necessity as their defense is allowing opponents 24.2 points per game.

No strangers to Thursday football, the Thanksgiving 2010 football schedule once again includes the Detroit Lions, however there has been a lot of chatter about the awful Lions continually being a Thanksgiving feature. One thing I will say on the topic, is watching the Lions over the past couple of decades makes me thankful, I’m not a Lions fan. Although this year the Lions are a feisty group.

The Lions were expected to surprise many teams this season but an early injury to quarterback Matthew Stafford has all but assured the team will end the year with a high draft pick.

Despite missing Stafford, wide receiver Calvin Johnson is having a fantastic season. Johnson has 55 catches for 725 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Defensively, the Lions are causing trouble for opposing quarterbacks. First round draft pick, Ndamukong Suh leads the team with seven sacks and is a terror when he breaks into the backfield.

Still it hasn’t helped the Lions with their win loss record, although for bettors, the Lions have being paying well. The Lions are 7-3 against the spread.

The first game on the Thanksgiving 2010 football schedule should go the Pats way. Lately the Lions haven’t looked like the team that was outperforming expectations in the first nine games. In the last two, it seems they’ve run out of gas. Take the Patriots -7

NFL Betting Pick: New England Patriots -7