There are 22 teams in the NFL that can make at least a decent case to their fans that they’re still somehow in the playoff hunt, and maybe another handful that can at least stretch the definition of “in” with four games remaining in the season.

But the reality is the field isn’t that wide. Most of the division races are all but settled and the wild-card picture is starting to take shape. For more than half of the teams in the NFL this season is shaping up as a disappointment as they come to grips with the reality that they’ve already crushed their own Super Bowl dreams.

NFL Week 14 previews and predictions for every game on the schedule:

The Detroit Lions host their traditional Thanksgiving Day game today, as they will take on the Houston Texans at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS. The opener of the NFL’s turkey day triple-header features a Lions team that’s lost two in a row and is almost in a must-win situation if it wants to keep its playoff hopes alive. On the other side are the Texans, who enter this game with an AFC-best 9-1 mark and a three-game lead over the Colts for first place in the AFC South.

Just like the crazy uncle with the nonstop inappropriate jokes or the aunt with the barely edible green bean casserole, the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys are welcome additions to the holiday family gathering even though they will probably provide an awkward moment or two.

Here are a few of the noteworthy Thanksgiving Day memories from the Lions, whose first Turkey Day game was in 1934, and Cowboys, who first sat at the table in 1966.

NFL football is the greatest reality TV program of all time. The Giants and Colts made sure of that back in 1958. Each NFL fall weekend is a completely new and original experience for every player, fan and coach alike. New stories, new personalities, new winners and new losers. And new statistics.

Here are the most important, most intriguing and most bizarre statistics from Week 11 of NFL play:

A betting preview of every game (against the spread) on Sunday and Monday in Week 11.


Locks of the Week
Some fans in Kansas City plan on wearing funeral black to Arrowhead on Sunday, while Detroit fans may be close to breaking out their brown paper bags from the early 2000s.

NFL Week 11 previews and predictions for every game on the schedule:

Dolphins (4-5) at Bills (3-6)
The home team is 7–3 on Thursday night this year, so there is a chance that Buffalo fans could witness their first win at Ralph Wilson Stadium since Week 2 against the Chiefs.
Bills by 1

Week 10 marks the unofficial start to the second half of the NFL regular season. Eight games remain until the NFL’s postseason, but it’s fewer than that when you take into consideration the start of your fantasy league’s playoffs. Week 10 also means that fantasy owners begin their stretch run without the services of Aaron Rodgers, Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson, Alfred Morris, Larry Fitzgerald, Randall Cobb, the Arizona and Green Bay DSTs, among others.