SI:AM | A Tasty Thanksgiving Slate

Plus, Japan pulls off an upset.

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. I’m Josh Rosenblat. We’re so thankful for your continued readership and support. We’ll be off tomorrow but back in your inbox Friday morning with a preview of the USMNT’s match against England. Enjoy the holiday.

In today’s SI:AM:

🇯🇵 Japan pulls off comeback vs. Germany

👑 “Light the beam!”

⛳ “Autism is my superpower”

🏈 Top five catches in NFL history

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Three games worth watching tomorrow

I’m not sure Tom Brady was wrong last month when he expressed his opinion on the state of play in the NFL this season. “I think there’s a lot of bad football from what I watch,” Brady said at a press conference. “Poor quality of football, that’s what I see.”

But the league schedule-makers were either prescient or got really lucky with their three Thanksgiving Day game selections this year. Each game features a bona fide Super Bowl contender and five of the six teams would have a playoff spot if the season ended today. Let’s run through them all.

Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions, 12:30 p.m ET, CBS

The Lions are riding into their traditional holiday home game on a high, having won three in a row for the first time since 2017. The offense has been impressive, putting up 31 points in back-to-back contests.

The Bills have the firepower to match and need to win to keep pace with the Dolphins in the AFC East race. But they’ve had a wild week, to say the least. Just a few days ago, Buffalo played a home game at Detroit’s Ford Field because of the massive winter storm that blanketed Western New York in snow. It returned to Buffalo after a daylong trip and now is heading back to Detroit on a short week.

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys, 4:30 p.m ET, Fox

Coming off an impressive dismantling of the Vikings, the Cowboys come into this one looking to keep their high-level play going. Dak Prescott has been impressive since his return from injury, while Tony Pollard has emerged as a star. Dallas has moved all the way up to No. 2 in Conor Orr’s NFL power rankings. He writes:

If we’re looking seriously at deep playoff run potential, Dallas has all the necessary components (run game, quarterback efficiency, pass rush stars and an aggressive, shape-shifting secondary) to succeed.

The Giants, on the other hand, are not nearly the same squad that we saw rattle off six wins in seven games to open the season. Injuries have decimated this team, which is about to enter a brutal closing stretch to the schedule.

New England Patriots vs. Minnesota Vikings, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

Riding high after an epic overtime win against the Bills in Week 10, reality hit the Vikings hard Sunday with a 40–3 home loss to the Cowboys. Minnesota is still sitting comfortably atop the NFC North at 8–2 and has its sights set on taking the top seed in the conference.

It’s been a surprisingly drama-filled season for the Patriots, at least by their standard. But with the Mac Jones–Bailey Zappe quarterback controversy in the rearview mirror for now, they’ve pulled out three wins in a row to move them back into the competitive AFC East race. Will this stout but young defense be able to hold down the Vikings’ star skill-position players?

The best of Sports Illustrated

Jeffery A. Salter/Sports Illustrated

Today’s Daily Cover is a story by Mark Bechtel on SI’s SportsKid of the Year, Carter Bonas, a golfer, entrepreneur and advocate who calls his autism his “superpower.”

The Kings—yes, the Kings—are the NBA’s must-watch team of the moment, Chris Herring writes. … Pat Forde’s biggest takeaway from last night’s CFP rankings: the list of contenders has been whittled down. … Chris Mannix was at Ben Simmons’s return to Philly. He is making progress, but the Nets were outplayed by the shorthanded Sixers. … Saturday’s clash between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan could be one of the last with this much at stake, Michael Rosenberg writes. … The clash between the bitter rivals is the event of the week, with tickets averaging more than $1,000. … Though dramatic, the level of soccer played so far at this World Cup hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. Jonathan Wilson explains why. … Here are this week’s spreads and odds for SI Sportsbook’s Perfect 10 contest.

Around the sports world

Japan used two second-half goals to take down Germany in another World Cup upset. … Manchester United announced yesterday that the club and Cristiano Ronaldo were parting ways by “mutual agreement, with immediate effect.” … The Cardinals fired an assistant coach before Monday night’s loss to the 49ers for allegedly groping a woman in Mexico City over the weekend, according to ESPN. … Celebrities including Tom Brady and Stephen Curry are reportedly under investigation for their promotions of now collapsed cyrptocurrency platform FTX. … Bryson DeChambeau’s 2020 diet is worth checking out, and he says he regrets it. … France has lost its star left back to a torn ACL.

The top five...

… NFL catches ever, according to Albert Breer’s “blue-ribbon panel of four former receivers.”

5. The Immaculate Reception

4. Justin Jefferson’s one-handed snatch against the Bills

3. Odell Beckham Jr.’s iconic reach-back grab from 2014

2. David Tyree’s helmet catch

1. Julian Edelman’s desperation attempt to help complete the 28–3 Super Bowl LI comeback

SIQ

The NFL tradition of football on Thanksgiving will be renewed tomorrow with three games (Lions-Bills, Cowboys-Giants and Vikings-Patriots). What is the only NFL franchise that has not appeared in a Thanksgiving game?

• Bengals
• Buccaneers
• Panthers
• Jaguars

Yesterday’s SIQ: What was Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley’s original top choice for the team’s name?

• Black Knights
• Silver Knights
• Desert Knights
• Knight Hawks

Answer: Black Knights. Foley, who attended the United States Military Academy and until 2021 was the executive chairman of Black Knight Financial Services, really wanted to use the West Point athletic department’s nickname for his hockey team. Getting that approved, though, turned out to be a challenge.

“The community response was not that positive,” Foley told SI’s Alex Prewitt in 2016. “The Blackhawks never said anything, but I knew there would be a complication with the Blackhawks, because they’ve got the word Black in their name. And then it’s trademarked by Army, and they were a little concerned about it. So I finally gave up. I just said, ‘Forget it, I’ll go in a different direction.’

“That’s when we started looking at all different types of names. We went through the Nighthawks, Deserthawks, Redhawks, then we had a bunch of other names we fooled around with, then we went back to the Knights idea. I wanted to have this culture around the name that I could create a warrior spirit, a team and warrior spirit. I believe I can do that with the name Knights.”

Foley trademarked three possible names—Golden Knights, Silver Knights and Desert Knights—and then kept his mouth shut about what the choice would be. He said when the name was announced that he had told his wife but not his kids.

—Dan Gartland

From the Vault: Nov. 23, 1970

George Long/Sports Illustrated

Like Tom Brady, George Blanda also played quarterback well into his 40s, but that’s where the similarities end. Even ignoring Brady’s unrivaled list of accomplishments, Blanda’s career followed a much different path. He didn’t become a starting quarterback until 1953, his fifth season in the NFL. (He even played linebacker as a rookie.) After losing the starting job, the Bears wanted him to focus solely on kicking. Blanda bristled at the move and spent the ’59 season in retirement. When the AFL launched in 1960, though, Blanda joined the Oilers and led Houston to an AFL championship as the main man under center.

A decade later, at 43, Blanda was still playing pro football, though mostly as a kicker. But when Raiders quarterback Daryle Lamonica went down with injuries in games against the Steelers and Broncos, it was Blanda who was called upon to be the hero. On both occasions, he led Oakland to comeback victories.

Like Brady, Blanda’s skills didn’t diminish with age. Unlike Brady, he wasn’t terribly careful about what he put in his body. From Tex Maule’s cover story:

​​Dave Grayson, the Raiders’ veteran All-Pro safety, spends a lot of time defending against Blanda’s throws in practice. Late this summer, when Blanda was put on waivers by the Raiders in a ploy to avoid losing a younger player, some experts speculated that he had lost his arm. “He’s throwing better than he has in the last three years,” says Grayson. “Some quarterbacks you can anticipate. They throw the ball about the same way every time, and once it’s in the air you can make your move. But not George. You can’t read him. One time he’ll drill it, the next time he’ll loft it a little, then he’ll float it. He’s tough.” In the locker room following the game Blanda, naked, puffing on a cigarette, claimed he doesn’t even bother to read defenses. “If I watched them,” he said, “I couldn’t see my receiver.”

Blanda’s clutch performances earned him the respect of media members, who nearly named him the 1970 MVP. (Niners quarterback John Brodie narrowly won the award, with 33 votes to Blanda’s 27.) Blanda played another five seasons in the NFL. In his final season in ’75, he had 19 teammates who weren’t born when he made his pro debut.

—Dan Gartland

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.

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