2025 NFL Turkey Leg Award: MVP picks for all three Thanksgiving games
Football fans have a full schedule on Thursday for U.S. Thanksgiving with three games on tap.
Up first is the Lions hosting the Packers, followed by Chiefs vs. Cowboys in Dallas. The night game is Cincinnati visiting Baltimore.
Dating back to 1989, the NFL has given a turkey leg to the MVP of each Thanksgiving game, so we’re diving in with some picks.
Here’s our picks for turkey leg MVP in all three Thursday games.
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Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions
I’m anticipating the Lions win this game with a strong performance from a top tier running back. However, it’s not Jahmyr Gibbs. I’ve got David Montgomery circled.
Gibbs has put up video game stats over the last several weeks, but this is a short week and I expect Detroit to give him more rest after he went off for 410 yards from scrimmage over the last two weeks.
That should put the ball in a rested Montgomery’s hands. Montgomery has taken a bit of a backseat to Gibbs, with less than 10 carries in each of the last two games. Detroit will lean heavier on Montgomery in a short week and he’ll be poised to take advantage against a Packers defence that is weaker against the run than the pass.
MVP pick: David Montgomery Over 38.5 rushing yards
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys
I’m using a similar strategy from my Lions-Packers pick and taking Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb for MVP against the Chiefs over teammate George Pickens.
Pickens has been a monster with 290 receiving yards over the last two weeks, so I expect Kansas City to focus heavily on him.
That opens the door for Lamb to exploit the Chiefs’ mediocre passing defence. Lamb’s passing yards total is 77.5 this week, a number he’s cleared in five of seven games this season.
MVP pick: CeeDee Lamb Over 77.5 receiving yards
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens
The story of this game might be the return of Bengals QB Joe Burrow, but it’s tough to know what you’ll get after a long injury layoff. I’ll put my focus on Baltimore because I expect a big game out of tight end Mark Andrews.
Cincinnati easily has the worst defence in the league and they are atrocious against the run. They’re particularly bad at defending tight ends, allowing a league-high 87.4 yards per game against the position. That’s 17 more yards than the next closest team.
I don’t expect Andrews to hit the century mark in receiving yards like Hunter Henry did against the Bengals last week, but 50+ is a very reasonable target.
MVP pick: Mark Andres 50+ receiving yards
