Here at Buffalo Rumblings, we know your holiday is likely packed more than the bird you're about to enjoy. That's why we've decided to just tell you who to root for in today's games as well as the games this weekend. That way you don't have to figure it out for yourself. Enjoy your meals as the staff here at Buffalo Rumblings wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!
- Thursday, 12:00 - Lions (4-6) over Texans (9-1). Last week, we told you to root for a Texans win to keep them out of a muddled AFC wild card race. Looking ahead, they play the Colts twice in their final three games. If you want them to be playing all out in those contests, it may be beneficial if they haven't locked up the No. 1 seed just yet.
- Thursday, 8:20 - Patriots (7-3) over Jets (4-6). If it makes you feel better, you can root against the Jets instead of for the Patriots. The Jets currently own a tiebreaker over Buffalo. If the Bills want to leapfrog the Jets before Week 17, this is a great time for a New York loss.
- Sunday, 1:00 - Raiders (3-7) over Bengals (5-5). One of the teams standing in Buffalo's way with an easy schedule is Cincinnati. Carson Palmer can stick it to his former team and help out our Bills in one fell swoop.
- Sunday, 1:00 - Browns (2-8) over Steelers (6-4). Divisional match-up. Pittsburgh's top two quarterbacks injured. With a win coupled with a Steelers loss, Buffalo would be just a game back of both wild card spots.
- Sunday, 1:00 - Jaguars (1-9) over Titans (4-6). The Titans Week 7 win over Buffalo could come back to haunt the Bills. That is unless the Titans get upset one of these weeks. A week after taking the Texans to the brink, it would be nice if they could knock off Tennessee.
- Sunday, 4:05 - Ravens (8-2) over Chargers (4-6). A San Diego loss can move Buffalo up the standings while a Ravens win puts some distance between them and the Bengals/Steelers in the AFC North. The fewer teams the Bills have to deal with, the better.
The other games on the NFL's Week 12 tilt don't amount to much in the eyes of Bills fans. A Dolphins loss would be nice, but if Buffalo doesn't beat them again later in the year it won't matter. A 49ers win over the Saints makes Buffalo's strength of schedule go up, which is the fifth tie-breaker.
If everything goes Buffalo's way, they would be sitting seventh in the conference with a better AFC record than Cincinnati and a game behind both Pittsburgh and Indianapolis for the fifth and sixth seeds with a tie-breaking win over the Colts in their hand and three straight home games on the slate. Stay tuned.