NFL Power Rankings, Week 12

I don't really get the annual complaints about Detroit and Dallas always getting the host team duties on Thanksgiving Day. It doesn't bother me a bit. There has to be a place for tradition somewhere in the ever-changing world of the NFL -- where even the league's rules and penalty codes can be re-configured in the middle of a season -- and Thanksgiving seems as good a place as any to hold fast to doing things the same way they've been done in the past.

In a season in which we've been able to count on precious little, it's kind of comforting to know that we'll be watching the Lions and Cowboys suit up and take the field on Thursday, just like always. Thanksgiving football for me means Chicago's Dave Williams returning the opening kickoff of overtime in Detroit for a game-winner, Leon Lett fumbling away the day for the Cowboys in the snow against Miami, and O.J. Simpson running wild for the Bills against the Lions. And Clint Longley, always Clint Longley, bombing the daylights out of the Redskins in Dallas.

The Lions and Cowboys are just part of the tapestry of the day, but they don't own all of the highlights or create all the Thanksgiving NFL memories. But I like that there's a thread that ties it all together in the mind. Detroit to start off, and then to Dallas. Don't try fixing something that's not broken, NFL. There's plenty of change in the game already. Like those two sets of overtime rules we have in 2010.

And now on to this week's rankings ...

NFL Power Rankings, Week 12