Three of the top four teams in the current Hookscenter Power Poll were in action on Thanksgiving Day. All three showed why their currently ranked that high as none of the games on Turkey Day were even close. 

Indianapolis righted the ship somewhat with a convincing, 31-13, win over the Falcons in the Thursday night game from Atlanta. Peyton Manning threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns as the Colts improved to 9-2 on the season.

Atlanta raced off to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter but any thoughts the Falcons (3-8) had of pulling off a huge upset were quickly wiped out by Manning. He threw all three of his TD passes in the second quarter, going 23 yards to Reggie Wayne, 8 yards to Dallas Clark and 5 yards to Ben Utecht. 

Anthony Gonzalez returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with a broken thumb. Gonzalez was Manning’s favorite target as he caught six balls for a 105 yards. He hauled in a 35-yard pass that set up Wayne’s TD and a 32-yarder that led to Clark’s score.

Gonzalez’s returned was a boost to the Colts offense still plagued by injures. Perennial Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison missed his fifth consecutive game with an ailing left knee. Indy also was missing two starting linemen, Tony Ugoh and Ryan Diem.

The Colts (9-2) have a 1 1/2-game lead on Jacksonville (7-3) in the AFC South and the weekend off. They will return Monday to begin preparations for the Jaguars’ visit to the RCA Dome next Sunday.

Buffalo (5-5) plays at Jacksonville on Sunday.

Green Bay beat Detroit, 37-26, at Ford Field and Dallas destroyed the New York Jets at home, 34-3, in the other two games played on Thanksgiving Day.

The wins by the Packers (10-1) and Cowboys (10-1) set up next Thursday’s showdown between the two teams at Texas Stadium. The game will be televised on the NFL Network.

If the Indianapolis-New England game earlier this month was hyped as Super Bowl 41 1/2, the Cowboys-Packers clash might as well get billed as Super Bowl 41 3/4. It has all the elements: Famous franchises and marquee quarterbacks, with the chance to force or avoid a late-January trip to Lambeau Field possibly on the line. There’s also the juicy subplot of Romo having grown up in Wisconsin, back when Favre was winning MVPs and leading the Packers to Super Bowls.

“I still root them on, although slowly I’m starting to root against them,” Romo said, adding that he caught a little of Favre’s season-high 381 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-26 victory over Detroit on television before this game kicked off.

“He was good — a little bit too good,” Romo said, laughing. “Hopefully he had his best game of the year today.”

5 Star Pick of the Week (4-3): Green Bay (-3) @ Detroit, Dallas (-14 1/2) vs NY Jets, and Indianapolis (-12) @ Atlanta.

4 Star Picks of the Week (7-13-1): Cleveland (-4 1/2) vs Houston, Seattle (-3) vs St. Louis, and New Orleans (-1) @ Carolina.

Rest of the Week (37-31-2): Chicago (-2 1/2) vs Denver, Cincinnati (+1) vs Tennessee, Jacksonville (-9 1/2) vs Buffalo, Kansas City (-6) vs Oakland, NY Giants (-7 1/2) vs Minnesota, Tampa Bay (-3 1/2) vs Washington, Arizona (-10) vs San Francisco, San Diego (-9 1/2) vs Baltimore, Philadelphia (+23 1/2) vs New England, and Pittsburgh (-14 1/2) vs Miami.

Overall record: 48-47-3.