{"id":6694,"date":"2016-11-23T15:55:24","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T20:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=6694"},"modified":"2022-02-02T18:49:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T23:49:23","slug":"top-matchups-thanksgiving-day-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/11\/23\/top-matchups-thanksgiving-day-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Positional Matchups for Thanksgiving Day Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving<\/strong>\u00a0Day<\/strong> football is sacred. It’s a break from family gossip, your aunt digging into your dating life, and trying to explain to your grandma how to use the iPhone she clearly has no need for. We get an excuse to get away, avoid doing dishes, sit on the couch and fall asleep with a beer in your hand. If you’re lucky, maybe you have a family member that knows a thing or two about football to talk to. And if you’re not that person, here’s something to make your dad a bit more proud of you.<\/p>\n

This Thanksgiving Day we are surprisingly blessed with three games on Thursday that all have playoff implications. The schedule makers may not have seen that coming – particularly with the early Minnesota-Detroit<\/strong> game – but they got this week right. Here is a look at some of the more intriguing positional matchups within every game on Thanksgiving day.<\/p>\n

Top Positional Matchups for Thanksgiving Day Football<\/strong><\/h2>\n

12:30pm (ET): Minnesota Vikings<\/strong> vs. Detroit Lions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Theo Riddick<\/a><\/span><\/strong> vs. Anthony Barr<\/a><\/span><\/strong> and Eric Kendricks<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

When healthy this season, Riddick has been a matchup problem for just about every defense. Riddick has four games this year with seven or more receptions and has had double digit carries in six of the eight games he has played in. While not the stereotypical between-the-tackles running back, Barr and Kendricks will be seeing plenty of coverage on Riddick when he gets out of the backfield.<\/p>\n

This game will really test their coverage skills. Minnesota is the only defense able to keep Riddick under four catches, when he had one in their first matchup. However, he racked up 70 yards on the ground in that matchup, his season high. Riddick is one of the most fun to watch backs in the league, and it will be interesting as to how Minnesota tries to slow Riddick down, in their second matchup.<\/p>\n

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#Lions<\/a> Theo Riddick uses a beautiful move to get past Dannell Ellerbe pic.twitter.com\/JHXadB8SPj<\/a><\/p>\n

— The Sports Daily (@SportsDailyBlog) December 22, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n