NFL Thanksgiving: 32 Teams to Be Thankful This Holiday Season, Part One

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the season. It's a great time to get together with the family and eat until your stomach explodes. It's also a great time to watch some great football.

As a holiday treat this year, I thought it would be fun to take a look at each of the 32 teams in the NFL and recognize what they should be thankful for this season. Since 32 teams would take forever to read about, I thought I would split it up into three separate parts. I hope you all enjoy and have a happy holiday!

Here we go:

Arizona Cardinals: A former MVP finding his old self

For years, many questioned why Kurt Warner was still in the league. They felt he was too old and wasn't capable of playing the same way as he did back in the day when he was with St. Louis.

I think it's safe to say that Warner looks like his old self this season.

The 7-4 Arizona Cardinals need to win one more game to clinch the NFC West. I will be the first to say that the NFC West is the weakest division in football. The fact that the San Francisco 49ers sit in second place with a 3-8 record is a joke. However, that's not the Cardinal's fault.

Ken Whisenhunt's decisions to start Warner over Matt Leinart has certainly paid off. The 37-year old Warner has posted 3,506 yards passing and 21 touchdowns through 11 games this season. With a dynamic-duo of wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, Warner finally seems like he's back to his old MVP form.

Atlanta Falcons: Dynamic Duo of a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach

Last year, I couldn't imagine what Arthur Blank and the rest of the Falcons franchise felt like. Michael Vick was a player that the Falcons treated like a God. How did he repay them? He thought it would be fun to bet money on dogs fighting each other.

End results: Vick ends up in jail and the Falcons are left without a quarterback. On top of that, the Falcons had to deal with the departure of cornerback DeAngelo Hall and head coach Bobby Petrino in the middle of the season.

Most people thought that the 2008 season would be a rebuilding one for the Atlanta Falcons. Instead, the rookie quarterback and the rookie head coach have their team sitting at 7-4 and the potential to make the playoffs. Blank and the city of Atlanta have to be grateful to have these two on their team this holiday season.

Baltimore Ravens: Flyin' Flacco and a scary defense

Let's be honest, the Ravens are thankful every season for a scary defense. If I ever needed two guys to get my back in a fight, Ed Reed and Ray Lewis would be those two guys. These two guys have helped the Ravens lead a solid defense year after year after year.

The one thing the Ravens have always struggled with is finding a quarterback to lead their offense. Trent Dilfer may have not been the best quarterback in the league when they won the Super Bowl back in 2001.

After drafting Joe Flacco out of Delaware in the 2008 NFL draft, people questioned whether or not Flacco was the right man for the Ravens considering he played for a Divisions I-AA school.

So far, the risk with Flacco has paid off. He may not have the most impressive statistics in the league (1,996 yards passing, 10 touchdowns, and nine interceptions), but he is doing just enough for the Ravens to keep winning. With a 7-4 record coming into this weekend's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, this is one team nobody wants to play against in January.

Buffalo Bills: Finally getting out of their losing funk

After the first seven weeks of the 2008 season, the Buffalo Bills looked like Super Bowl contenders by starting off the season 5-1. Marshawn Lynch seemed unstoppable. Trent Edwards looked extremely comfortable at quarterback. This team seemed like they were going to go to their first Super Bowl since the 1990's.

After that, they went on to lose their next four games in a row to drop their record to 5-5. All of a sudden the Super Bowl-hyped Bills were just trying to find a win in the month of November.

Last week, the Bills snapped their losing streak by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 54-31. The Bills may be in last place in the AFC East, but they are only one game back of the Wild Card and two games back of the division. Every game counts for the Bills in the next couple of weeks, as they have match-ups against the 49ers, Broncos, Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots.

Carolina Panthers: Something old and something new

In 2004, Mushin Muhammad had his best season as a Carolina Panther with over 1,400 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns. When he left the Panthers for the Chicago Bears, he couldn't even record 16 career touchdowns in three seasons with the Bears.

This season, Muhammad returned to the Panthers. Behind him and Steve Smith at wide receiver, the Panthers sit at 8-3 and tied for first place in the NFC South with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The great thing about the dynamic duo of Smith and Muhammad is they have both proved in their careers that they are each capable of being a number one receiver. When teams worry about Smith, the door opens up for Muhammad.

Not only did the Panthers benefit from bringing back an old player back to their team, but their top draft pick has paid off as well.

With the 13th pick in the 2008 draft, the Panthers selected running back Jonathan Stewart out of Oregon. Many people questioned how the Panthers would balance out their running back situation  after drafting DeAngelo Williams a few years ago.

So far, the Panthers seem to have one of the best one-two punches at running back in football. The two running backs have combined for fifteen total touchdowns on the year and have run for a combined 1,400-plus yards on the ground. These two backs have carried the team at times when Jake Delhomme was struggling at quarterback. As long as everybody stays healthy, this team can be dangerous come playoff time.

Chicago Bears: Little Kyle grows up

I will be the first to admit, when the Chicago Bears announced their starting quarterback this season would be Kyle Orton, I laughed. Whenever I think of Orton, I just think how horrendous he played his rookie season. Let's be honest, the only reason the Bears were as good as they were that season was because of their defense.

The first time I realized Orton matured as a quarterback was Week four this season, when the Bears played my Philadelphia Eagles. He led the Bears down the field so quick their first offensive possession that my jaw dropped. This was the same Orton from his rookie season?

Orton's numbers have been decent so far this season, 2,049 yards passing, 11 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Chicago's currently tied for first place in the NFC North with Minnesota with a 6-5 record. After frustration at quarterback the last couple of years with Rex Grossman, it appears the Bears have finally found their man in Orton.

Cincinnati Bengals: One month until this awful season is over

I've said this all season long, but I'm going to say it one more time. The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the best teams in the league on paper. They have a similar offense that led them to the AFC North title and first playoff appearance in fifteen years back in 2005. With Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, and T.J. Houshmanzadeh, most people would expect the Bengals offense to give defenses headaches every Sunday.

Unfortunately, this year has been another season to forget for the Bengals. The common pattern each week for the Bengals has seemed to be play well in the first half and collapse in the second half.

The Bengals started the season off 0-8 before they picked up their first win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After the bye week, they were part of the NFL's first tie since 2002 when they tied the Philadelphia Eagles 13-13.

At 1-9-1, it's safe to say the Bengals will not be going to the playoffs this season. Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown us that he is no Palmer. All the Bengals can do is start looking forward to the draft and next season. Just think, one more month to go boys until the off-season.

Cleveland Browns: Two starting quarterbacks on one roster

There was a lot of hype for the Cleveland Browns coming into the 2008 season. Last season, they were just shy of the playoffs finishing with a 10-6 record. With another season of experience under the belts of Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, and Kellen Winslow, it seemed like the Browns would be playoff contenders this season.

After a slow start, the Browns can fall under the category of performing well too late. At 4-7, the Browns would need a miracle to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.

One issue that should be interesting to monitor in the offseason is the quarterback situation. Last season, Anderson had a career year and received a nice contract as a reward. After struggling for a majority of the season, Romeo Crennel finally decided to give backup Brady Quinn a shot at quarterback.

Even though the Browns lost his first career start against the Broncos, Quinn had a solid game as he passed for two touchdowns and no interceptions. The only reason Quinn won't be playing the rest of this season is because of a broken finger. Crennel stated this week that when training camp rolls around, Quinn will be the starting quarterback.

Most teams are lucky to have one solid quarterback on their roster. The Cleveland Browns are lucky enough to have two quarterbacks on their roster that have shown us they are capable of being full-time starters in the NFL. Even though one of them will most likely be gone next season (Survey says: Anderson), the Browns should just be happy they two solid quarterbacks this season.

Dallas Cowboys: The return of Romo

One thing I have noticed this season about the Dallas Cowboys: they win when Tony Romo plays well. He has clearly shown over the last couple of seasons that he has what it takes to be the leader of the Dallas Cowboys.

When Romo was sidelined for a few weeks with a broken pinkie on his throwing hand, Dallas panicked. They knew he was the leader of their team and his injury would have a major impact on the Cowboys season.

Another thing I noticed about the Dallas Cowboys: Brad Johnson is not the same guy he used to be. I had no idea this guy was still in the league until I heard he was the starting quarterback until Romo returned.

With Romo out, the Cowboys lost three of four games. All of a sudden, a team that many expected to go on to the Super Bowl was looking like they might not even make the playoffs.

I think it's safe to say that nobody is worried anymore.

Since Romo's return, the Cowboys have won their last two games in a row. Romo's finger seems to be getting healthier week after week. The Dallas Cowboys and their fans are all thankful that Romo is finally their starting quarterback again.

This concludes the first part of my article about what each NFL team should be thankful for this holiday season. Make sure you check back over the next few days to catch the next two parts! Happy holidays everybody!