Winners and losers from the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day games

The highs and lows from all three games on Turkey Day.

Thanksgiving has belonged to the NFL since 1920, and turkey wouldn’t quite taste the same without a muted television flashing images of the Detroit Lions getting scored on somewhere in the background. This year’s holiday brought a three-course meal to accompany your nine-courser, doling out heaping helping of Bears-Lions, Washington-Cowboys, and Falcons-Saints.

Injuries to players like Mitchell Trubisky, Marvin Jones, and Kerryon Johnson robbed the early game in Detroit of three offensive powerhouses. A devastating Alex Smith broken leg robbed Washington of its starting quarterback and forced Colt McCoy into a starring role. And a fiery rivalry between 2017 playoff teams lost some of its heat thanks to the Saints’ borderline-absurd dominance this fall and the Falcons’ fall from contender to sub-.500 franchise.

But while this year’s Thanksgiving slate looked worse for the wear on paper, it still offered opportunities for players to shine while America digests.

Cowboys 31, Washington 23

Winner: Donations to the Salvation Army

Two years ago, Ezekiel Elliott channeled Terrell Owens when he celebrated a touchdown by jumping in the Salvation Army kettle that sits in the Dallas Cowboys’ end zone during the holiday season. He was flagged for the celebration, so this time, he tried something different. On the Cowboys’ first drive, Elliott made a sick cut to take the ball 16 yards to the house and to top it off, he dropped $21 — to match his jersey number — into the bucket:

In the fourth quarter, Dak Prescott turned a sack into a zig-zagging touchdown run to pad the Cowboys’ lead. After he scored, Elliott picked Prescott up and put him in the kettle. Apparently Prescott is considered a prop, because that move earned Dallas a 15-yard penalty:

Washington used the good field position to answer with a touchdown drive of its own.

In 2016, Elliott’s celebration led to a huge spike in donations to the Salvation Army. Hopefully the same thing happens this time around:

Loser: Dak Prescott got turned into a sandwich

The Cowboys were on the cusp of scoring near the goal line when Dak Prescott took a painful sack from Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith. Prescott was running away from Kerrigan and got blindsided by Smith as he turned around.

Someone get Dak Prescott some ice and a turkey leg ASAP.

Winner: Trey Quinn was Mr. Relevant

Trey Quinn was the last pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, making this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, but he came up in a big way against the Cowboys. Early in the third quarter, Quinn had a 30-yard punt return to set Washington up at the Cowboys’ 25-yard line.

Three plays later, Quinn caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Colt McCoy to give Washington a 13-10 lead — the first touchdown of Quinn’s career.

Loser: Markelle Fultz gets trolled

The Sixers’ No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft has been dealing with a hitchy jump shot for more than a year. His unorthodox free-throw shooting in particular has gone viral.

Amari Cooper decided to have a little fun at Fultz’s expense after his first touchdown of the game:

Now watch Fultz, who would like a fresh start, get traded to the Mavs. But it seems like he took Cooper’s celebration well:

Winner: Amari Cooper breaks out

Amari Cooper’s 2018 season has been riddled with inconsistency, but he showcased his skills on Thanksgiving. Cooper had a 40-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter to put Dallas ahead 17-13.

Cooper came through in the clutch again for the Cowboys with a 90-yard run and catch touchdown toward the end of the third quarter.

According to NFL Research, that was the longest reception of Cooper’s career and the longest completion in Dak Prescott’s career.

Cooper finished with eight catches for 180 yards and the two touchdowns.

Loser: Colt McCoy giving the ball away

Colt McCoy threw three interceptions in his first game as a starter this season. The last one essentially ended Washington’s chance to come back and win the game.

McCoy ended up with two touchdowns and threw for 268 yards. Really, he was fine except for the turnovers ... but they ended up killing drives and were a huge reason Washington lost.

We’ll see if McCoy can bounce back in two weeks against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.

Bears 23, Lions 16

Winner: The Bears defense’s Motown celebration

This came right after Kyle Fuller picked off Matthew Stafford with just over a minute left in the game. It’s easily the best of the year. By far.

Winner: Former linebacker Nick Bellore’s fourth career catch bailed out the Lions

Detroit decided to go for it on fourth-and-inches deep in Chicago territory, and it looked like a massive mistake when Matthew Stafford’s play-action pass caromed off a defender at the line of scrimmage.

Enter Bellore, the veteran linebacker-turned-fullback, who happened to be the right man in the right place to make all the difference.

The rarely used Bellore dove underneath Stafford’s tipped pass to keep Detroit’s drive alive, making just his second catch of the season and the fourth catch of his career in the process. Two plays later, LeGarrette Blount would break a 0-0 tie by crashing into the end zone and adding a little excitement to what had been a fairly unwatchable game.

Loser: Anyone who left the Thanksgiving table early to watch this game.

Here’s how Thursday’s first game started:

Eeeergh.

Winner: Chase Daniel was pretty good!

He wasn’t the dynamo Mitchell Trubisky was when he chewed up the Lions’ defense 11 days earlier, but Daniel was an entirety competent starter Thursday. A 230-yard, two touchdown performance served as proof he was actually worth the eight-figure contracts he’d signed to be a backup in both Kansas City and Philadelphia.

But Daniel also took his share of damage in his third career start. He drew a pair of 15-yard personal fouls for late hits or roughing penalties and generally spent his time in the pocket getting knocked around like the Vandal Empire in 533. He finished his day with FOUR sacks and is probably a little relieved Mitchell Trubisky is slated to return next week.

Loser: Michael Roberts’ quest to kill the Lions

The Lions faced third-and-1 from the Chicago 2-yard line when Matthew Stafford dropped back and rifled a pass up the middle to open tight end Michael Roberts. Roberts, uh, did this:

And things somehow got worse from there! Two drives later, a pass intended for Roberts would land in Eddie Jackson’s hands, resulting in a tie-breaking pick-six. When the Lions drove deep into Chicago territory with a chance to tie the game, the burly tight end couldn’t get on the same page with Stafford, leading to a Kyle Fuller interception that effectively ended this game.