Thanksgiving football 2013: Lions, Cowboys, Ravens win; Mississippi State takes Egg Bowl

Thanksgiving and NFL football are inextricably bound, seamlessly and seemingly. But the history of the NFL and this holiday is neither as clean nor as simple as the NFL would have us believe. There have been a great many more NFL games played on Thanksgiving than the NFL cares to talk about, for reasons that will be made plain below. It’s not that the NFL and Thanksgiving don’t go well together -- they do, for reasons good and bad. It’s just that not every Thanksgiving game follows the NFL’s narrative. This was written by amateur NFL historians David Roth and Jeff Johnson.

Stram was eventually rescued, but the rowdy crowd forced him to coach on the sidelines wearing a T-shirt that said “Hank Stram’s Privates,” with an arrow pointing downwards.

The SEC and Big 12 hosted two conference games on Thanksgiving with hugely different results. Mississippi State became bowl eligible after a close win in the Egg Bowl, while Texas blew the doors of Texas Tech with their second-highest score of the season.

A lot was on the line at Davis Wade stadium, and a 17-10 overtime win by Mississippi State over Ole Miss ensured the Golden Egg is returning to Starkville for the fourth time in five years. For Whom the Cowbell Toles was awestruck by the Bulldogs defense, which turned the tide of the game with four turnovers.

Both teams lost key defensive players early in the game. Texas linebacker Steve Edmond was taken out by a vicious first-half block, and left the game with an apparent rib injury.

Play was stopped in the first half when Tech defensive back Bruce Jones suffered a head injury after running head-first into Malcolm Brown’s knee. Jones was taken off the field on a backboard, but was moving his extremities while being treated.

The Ravens beat Steelers, 22-20.

• NFL Week 13 expert picks | 3 teams can clinch playoff spot

The Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-6, 3-5 SEC) scored a late field goal to force overtime, then stripped Bo Wallace during an apparent game-tying touchdown run to get a 17-10 upset win over Ole Miss (7-5, 3-5 SEC) in the Egg Bowl.

Ole Miss opened the second half with its first scoring drive, a 17-play, 81-yard march that ended in a 22-yard field goal by Andrew Ritter. Ole Miss held that lead through much of the fourth quarter, but Dak Prescott led the Bulldogs 59 yards in 13 plays for a game-tying field goal with just over three minutes left to play. After an Ole Miss three-and-out, Prescott again moved the Bulldogs into Ole Miss territory, but the drive stalled at the Rebels’ 36 yard line. Facing 4th and 10, Prescott completed an 11-yard pass to De’Runnya Wilson, keeping the Bulldogs’ hopes alive. Prescott ran to the 21, setting up a 38-yard field goal attempt. Evan Sobiesk’s field goal attempt sailed wide right, though, and the game went to overtime.

Le’Veon Bell scored a touchdown to make Thanksgiving football between the Steelers and Ravens moderately interesting. The score’s not interesting, because we started being tryptophanny hours ago. What is interesting is his decision to celebrate via THE CARLTON DANCE

We assumed everybody on the internet knows what The Carlton Dance is, but, um, we were wrong, so, here’s a further explanation:

A botched fake field attempt by the Steelers put the Ravens in great field position, following a somewhat crafty drive by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger that included one of slowest first-down runs in the history of the NFL:

The great field positioning allowed the Ravens to get a 43-yard field goal out of Justin Tucker. The kick brought the Baltimore lead to 10-0 late in the second quarter.

The Red Raiders defender was helped by medical staff from both teams, loaded onto a backboard, and carted to the locker room for further treatment. Fortunately, Jones was moving his arms and legs while being treated on the field.

The Red Raiders trial Texas 20-7 in the second quarter.

Edmond was helped off the field and taken to the Texas locker room for evaluation. The Longhorns radio broadcast is reporting that Edmond is being treated for a shot to his ribs.

The hit was hard enough to shake up Ward, who looked woozy but has returned to the game.

Senior Emmanuel McCray, who started every game at left tackle for Ole Miss in 2012, has entered the game in Tunsil’s absence.

Tunsil, who was considered one of the nation’s top high school prospects when he signed with the Rebels in February, missed time in last week’s loss to Missouri for a similar knee injury. Head coach Hugh Freeze told reporters earlier this week that his offensive tackle was fine for Thursday’s Egg Bowl.

On the next play, Ole Miss opted to keep the freshman in the game. Nkemdiche went for 7 yards on a nearly identical play.

He was tackled by fellow five-star freshman defensive end Chris Jones, a convergence of highly regarded talent that set off alarm bells throughout the recruiting community.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, couldn’t get into rhythm on offense. Just ask Doug Free how dominant the Raiders were.

The Cowboys’ win pushed them to 7-5 on the year and gave them a half-game lead in the NFC East. The Eagles can match their record with a win Dec. 1 vs. Arizona.

Hello. You’ve been watching NFL football and eating poultry all day. You’ve probably been drinking. You’re getting bleary. You were driven further into a stupor by that Selena Gomez thing. Numbers look like letters now. You’re eating more poultry. You plan to continue drinking. All is sloth.

OUTTA NOWHERE TEXAS TECH BOTCHED PUNT TURNS INTO 51-YARD TOUCHDOWN WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP GOOOOOOO

Murray joins some elite company with his performance: Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith accomplished the feat nine times in his Cowboys career. Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill scored three rushing touchdowns in a game twice. Other former Cowboys to accomplish the three scores are Tony Dorsett, Ron Springs and Don Perkins. The team record is four rushing touchdowns in a game, done twice by Smith and once by Hill.

Murray has now scored seven rushing touchdowns this season and has 13 scores on the ground for his career. The Cowboys lead the Raiders early in the fourth quarter by a score of 28-21.

The Cowboys managed to keep the game close, scoring a touchdown with 14 seconds remaining in the half when Murray punched it in from 4 yards.

All in all, the half was uneventful. Both teams relied on the running game and didn’t have a ton of fireworks. Williams’ fumble on the opening kick off was the only turnover of the half.

Dennis Allen has caught more Tony Romo passes than Dez Bryant, so far.

Don’t give Reggie McKenzie any ideas, coach.

The above image actually shows Jennings drilling the cameraman with a knee. But what you’re really here for is the POV GIF, isn’t it? Well here you go, you savages:

Gobble gobble.

435-yards-considerable.

With Matt Flynn starting in place of Rodgers, under pressure all day long and inaccurate and inconsistent when given chances, Green Bay gained just 126 total yards. Despite four turnovers, the Lions gained 561 yards and were able to do something that they rarely get the chance to do:

It’s a rough, rough Thanksgiving for the Green Bay Packers. Hope things get better for you this Turkey Day, guys.

There is “incidental contact” and then there is what Williams did to that referee. Already down 33-10, the Packers were hit with a 15-yard penalty for that infraction by Williams. Clearly frustrated by being down 23 points and outgained by more than 400 yards, we can understand frustration. This is a much different Williams than the one we saw after he intercepted Matthew Stafford in the second quarter when the game was still close.

But a move like that doesn’t just cost you yards, it’ll likely cost Williams a lot of turkey.

Despite three turnovers by Detroit, the Lions lead the Packers 17-10 at halftime.

Bush was able to atone for his early giveaway by rushing for a touchdown in the second quarter that gave his team the lead, and he already has 84 rushing yards and 48 receiving yards at half. That puts the veteran running back at 1,252 total yards from scrimmage this season, which is 130 yards shy of his career-high in that category.

Rodgers said he does not know if his collarbone is fully healed yet, and no recent X-rays have been taken to confirm the status of the injury, but he thinks he will regain the strength and flexibility needed to return in Week 14. The All-Pro quarterback returned to practice on Tuesday and said he felt “good” in regards to the injury.

• NFL Week 13 expert picks | 3 teams can clinch playoff spot

It’s Thanksgiving today, a time for friends, family and second chances. But if you’re an NFL quarterback that’s struggling or just one that’s getting another shot, that doesn’t mean you can start turducken the tough questions.

This week, teams are looking for important wins during playoff races. If these guys also happen to play really well, that’s just gravy. Here’s the QB watch for Week 13:

Texas Tech travels to Texas for a meeting on Thanksgiving in the hopes of putting an end to a pair of four-game losing streaks. The Red Raiders head into Thursday riding a four-game losing streak, and they’ve also lost four straight in their series with the Longhorns.

The Longhorns have had their share of problems on the defensive side in 2013 -- a particularly dreadful effort against BYU in September cost defensive coordinator Manny Diaz his job, for one thing. While the unit has been better over the last month, it showed some of the same old cracks against Oklahoma State on Nov. 16, and the Red Raiders will no doubt put this group to the test once again.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State meet for the 110th time Thursday night and will once more battle for the rights to the Golden Egg trophy. This edition of the Egg Bowl doesn’t have a ton of stakes to it in a big picture sense, but as with any rivalry game, it holds plenty of importance for the fans of the schools involved.

Ole Miss is coming off a failed upset bid against Missouri last weekend, which snapped a four-game Rebels winning streak. Mississippi State, on the other hand, ended a three-game losing streak by beating Arkansas in its last game.