Thanksgiving, the day the citizens of our great country celebrate the theft of Native American land, and the emergence of a nation. If only the Dallas Cowboys could play the Washington Redskins every fourth Thursday in November and this ironic festival would be absolutely perfect. Regardless, with two teams all but out of the race for an NFC East Title, Week 13 will set the stage for a photo-finish in Week 17 when Philadelphia takes on Dallas.

New York Giants(4-7) @ Washington Redskins(3-8)

RG3-8 versus the automatic interception in a battle for well, nothing. The winning team in this match will most likely end up with a  worse draft pick, which is really all these two beacons of mediocrity before them. Eli Manning and the Giants need all the offensive line help they can get, not to mention that burnt Turkey of a defense.  Mike Shanahan has stated that everyone on the Redskins is playing, or coaching, for his job and this sentiment appears accurate; especially in the eyes of the fans. Only a Thanksgiving miracle could keep Shanahan’s job in Washington, and perhaps just his franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III sits on a hotter seat than the Redskins’ head coach. It may be too early to start a Kirk Cousins watch, but doomsday could be near for the former Baylor quarterback. Distasteful name aside, things are not going well for Washington.

Prediction: Giants 24 Redskins 17

Eli Manning will keep his Giants away from the kids’ table at Thanksgiving dinner, and banish Griffin III’s Redskins to the “what could have been” file. Washington’s personnel is in shambles, its season lost, and its head coach and quarterback at each other’s throats; a perfect analogy for the original Thanksgiving. The Giants will add another nail in Mike Shanahan’s coffin on Sunday, and continue Tom Coughlin’s quest for an 8-8 season.

Arizona Cardinals(7-4) @ Philadelphia Eagles(6-5)

Now down to what really matters, two teams vying for playoff spots will rumble in South Philadelphia on Sunday in what promises to be a very entertaining match up. Carson Palmer ‘s Arizona Cardinals are one of the biggest surprises of the 2013 season, and enter this contest having won four in a row and six of their last eight. A team many wrote off in the preseason is ahead of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West, and a win in this game would seal Philadelphia’s fate to division title or bust by destroying the latter’s hope of a wild card berth.

Nick Foles has full control of the Philadelphia Eagles playoff aspirations, and due to his own play, the hopes and dreams of Philadelphia’s fandom are at a premium. Foles enters this showdown with Arizona boasting 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions on the year, a ratio he will be luck to leave Lincoln Financial Field with due to the talent on the opposing defense. Darnell Dockett and Patrick Peterson lead a Cardinals defense that ranks 2nd against the run and 17th against the pass. If anyone can best a tough Arizona front seven it would be the NFL’s leading rusher LeSean McCoy ; but this will be an uphill battle for Philadelphia’s finest.

Prediction: Cardinals 31 Philadelphia Eagles 30

While the Eagles offense has soared to new highest just in time for turkey day, the Cardinals defense may be more than Philadelphia bargained for. As good as Chip Kelly’s offense has been, the Eagles secondary still ranks dead last in the NFL. Up against Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald and the 13th ranked passing offense in football, Philadelphia may not have enough in the tank to hold off the surging Cardinals. The Eagles fill fall at home in a close one, and face a difficult battle back into the NFC wild card race.If Philadelphia cannot find a way to get an upset win agaisnt Arizona, Plymouth Rock will have landed on them.

Oakland Raiders(4-7) @ Dallas Cowboys(6-5)

Fresh off a comeback win against the New York Giants, the Cowboys are riding some serious momentum into a Thanksgiving Day clash with the Oakland Raiders. In a game pitting a secondary allowing 258.1 yards per game against a team passing for over 246 yards per contest, something has got to give. That something? A check-mark in the Raiders loss column. One cannot expect a team to go into the house that Jerry Jones built in prime time and beat Tony Romo and the Cowboys. Though the Cowboys rank 29th in rushing yardage, 31st in passing yards allowed, and 30th against the run, Oakland is just not a high-enough caliber team to beat a team tied for the NFC East lead.

Raiders’ starting rusher Darren McFadden is nearing a return, but reports indicate that he will be in a timeshare with Rashad Jennings when he is finally cleared to play. Matt McGloin has overtaken Terrelle Pryor as the team’s starting quarterback, and Denarius Moore is likely to miss Thursday’s tilt in Dallas as well. While Dallas is clearly vulnerable on defense, the turmoil on Oakland’s offense should be enough to power Dallas to victory on Thanksgiving.

Prediction: Cowboys 27 Raiders 20

While this game has all the makings of a blowout, the Raiders are a scrappy team and should give Dallas a good fight. Despite the Cowboys’ tradition of playing-down to their opponents, I expect a motivated Jason Garrett to keep his team in check, and offset whatever damage Monte Kiffin does to the Cowboys hopes of victory on defense. A healthy McFadden may have made the difference in this match up of mediocrity, but without run-DMC, the Raiders are in for a Thanksgiving they would like to forget.