Well, folks, it's Thanksgiving, and for me, that usually means two things: food and football. Like any good Pittsburgher worth his salt, I usually spend the morning of Thanksgiving on a middle school soccer field with a bunch of other dudes who are probably too old to still be tackling each other in subzero climes. After that, I come home and vegetate in front of the TV, watching the Lions get shellacked again by the Packers or whoever. Then I eat far too much turkey and cranberry sauce, followed by more vegetation, this time while watching the Cowboys get shellacked by whoever. It's a grand tradition, and one I'm proud to participate in year after year.

This year will be a little different, as my work is keeping me in New York City for Thanksgiving. Instead of eating my mom's turkey and mashed potatoes, I'll be having a prix-fixe dinner at a restaurant with my girlfriend; instead of playing in a Turkey Bowl, I'll be playing Super Smash Bros. while jogging in place, or something. But you'd better believe that I'll be heading to a bar somewhere to watch some football when it's all said and done. It's just not Thanksgiving unless you get to watch guys twice your size send each other to the hospital for three hours, is it?

And luckily, we've got some great games on the docket this year. In this special Thursday football preview, I'll be breaking down each of the three Thanksgiving games, which - combined - feature only one team with a losing record (the 5-6 Bears, who are down but nowhere near out).

It's a far cry from my high school days, when the pre-check out our game projections.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

With the Cowboys arguably the best they've been in years, owners of an 8-3 record despite a defense that projected to be one of the worst in the league during the preseason, this one's looking like a hell of a game, especially since the head on over to our game projections to take a look at the outcome predicted by our advanced metrics.

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers

Finally, in the prime-time slot we've got the defending Super Bowl champions taking on their prime division rivals. Both teams sport a solid 7-4 record, but it's impossible not to feel somehow like both Seattle and San Francisco have disappointed somewhat in 2014, isn't it?

For the Seahawks, that may be because three of their four losses came within the first six games of the season, and sometimes it can be hard to shake that initial impression of a team. Since then, though, they've gone 4-1, notching a huge win against the dominant Cardinals last week. The rest of the year will be pretty brutal for Seattle, with matchups against the Eagles, 49ers, Cardinals, and surprisingly stout Rams to close it out, but it seems like this is a team that could be hitting its stride just in time. Check out our game projections to see what our metrics think of this one, but to be frank, this is the type of game that makes people say "That's why they play the game."