NFL Thanksgiving 2020 schedule, odds, lines: Lions, Cowboys and Steelers all likely favored at home to kick off Week 12

No question that the marquee date of any NFL regular season is Thanksgiving in the United States as those three games draw huge television ratings and betting action at the sportsbooks because of the holiday. This year, the matchups are Houston Texans at Detroit Lions, Washington Football Team at Dallas Cowboys, and Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers. Two pretty bad matchups and one very good one. William Hill sportsbook has early NFL odds on two of the three.

Of course, Detroit always hosts the early game on Thanksgiving and its matchup vs. Houston (12:30 p.m. ET on CBS) is off the board because of the status of Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The former No. 1 overall pick was diagnosed with a partial tear in his throwing-hand thumb this week. However, Stafford plans to play through that Sunday at Carolina. Obviously, oddsmakers are playing it cautious with him.

Stafford's backup is journeyman Chase Daniel. Should the Lions win Sunday in Charlotte, and they are favored to, they could get over .500 with a victory vs. Houston. Detroit will certainly be favored if Stafford plays against the Texans, who host New England on Sunday.

Per usual, the Cowboys host the mid-afternoon game on the holiday and opened as 1.5-point favorites against Washington (4:30 p.m. ET on FOX). That spread could change depending on what Washington does at home Sunday vs. Cincinnati and on what Dallas does at Minnesota; the Cowboys entered that an NFL-worst 1-8 against the spread this season. If Washington wins and Dallas loses big, the Cowboys probably will be Thanksgiving dogs.

When Dallas visited Maryland in Week 7, the Cowboys were -1 but were routed 25-3 as Dallas lost QB Andy Dalton – he will be back Sunday – during the game to a concussion on a dirty hit by Washington's Jon Bostic, who was fined.

The Thanksgiving night game has no set teams or location, and the Steelers opened at -3 against the visiting Ravens (8:20 p.m. ET on NBC). Weather might be a factor at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh figures to still be unbeaten as it visits one-win Jacksonville on Sunday, while Baltimore has a much tougher test at home vs. Tennessee.

In Week 8, the Steelers were 4-point dogs in Baltimore but won 28-24, and another victory on Thanksgiving would just about wrap up the AFC North title for Mike Tomlin's club. Pittsburgh is currently a heavy -900 favorite at William Hill to win the North.

Who wins every NFL game this week? And which teams cover more than 50 percent of the time? Get picks here from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and ranked in the Top 10 on NFLPickWatch three of the past four years on straight-up NFL picks.