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Thursday's football action features some pretty fantastic games -- the Vikings/Lions and Giants/Redskins are outstanding divisional matchups regardless of record between the two teams. But the real gem of the 2017 Thanksgiving NFL slate will be on CBS midday, as the resurgent Chargers visit the polarizing Cowboys. 

Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are on the call at 4:30 p.m. ET -- sign up for a free CBS All-Access trial here and stream the game online -- and you can join "The NFL Today" in setting the Thanksgiving table at 4 p.m. ET only on CBS. 

One of "The NFL Today" crew, former Bengals quarterback and longtime NFL analyst Boomer Esiason (Boomer is low-key one of the busiest guys in sports, with his WFAN radio show, "The NFL Today" and "Inside the NFL" on Showtime) joined the CBSSports.com Pick Six Podcast to preview the game. 

More specifically, Boomer explained why the Cowboys and their young quarterback Dak Prescott are scuffling over their past few games. 

"If you ask me about the Cowboys and the playoffs, right now they don't look like a playoff team and the reason I say that is because right now it looks like Dak is a little bit all over the place, they don't have the running presence they used to have and without Sean Lee's presence on that defense, it is like a lost defense," Esiason explained. "And they're playing a team, the Chargers, that is getting better each and every week. They pass rush like none other in the NFL with Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa. So it could be a long afternoon for Dak. I know that it's a Thursday, it's a short week -- most road teams don't usually play that well, but I think in this case, because of all the question marks around the Cowboys, this game should at least be competitive and it wouldn't surprise me if it came down to a fourth-quarter possession or two."

Boomer believes that the Chargers, who are still just 4-6, have the best chance of making a legitimate playoff run in a watered-down AFC that features a 5-5 Ravens team as the No. 6 seed. 

"I would have to say the Chargers are the best out of all those [.500 or worse AFC playoff candidates]. Because of the pass rush and because of Melvin Gordon and Philip Rivers," Esiason said. "They can run the ball, they can throw the ball and they can certainly get after the opposing passer. So when you throw in Travis Benjamin and Keenan Allen, Hunter Henry and Antonio Gates, you have a team that is legit. Remember they got off to a bad start in a new stadium that really wasn't a home field advantage. They've been kind of a vagabond team this year, but yet they're still kind of a high-quality team this year. So that's why I say when they go on the road this week, it's not who you play but when you play them and what kind of condition does that team happen to be in?"

"I just think the Chargers are catching the Cowboys at the absolute right time, just like the Philadelphia Eagles did [in Week 11]. So if they go out there and play like they did [against the Eagles], they'll get chewed up. There's no question about that -- I think the Chargers have a little pump in their step right now, especially because of what this defense has been able to do in the pass rush situation."

The Chargers are slight favorites -- in Dallas no less! -- which means this game should indeed be a good one. Philip Rivers has never played on Thanksgiving and it's been multiple decades since the Chargers have. There is plenty of drama surrounding the Cowboys, both on and off the field right now, and they make for pretty fascinating television coverage. They are a lightning rod on an average Sunday; they're Doc Brown on the Clock Tower when they're sitting at 5-5 and being featured on Thanksgiving.

A unit that's handled new personnel much better than the Cowboys this year is "The NFL Today" crew, which welcomed former wideout Nate Burleson and long-time NFL on CBS broadcaster Phil Simms to the set in 2017. If you've watched this year -- and you really should be watching, it's the best pregame show out there -- the chemistry on set has been fantastic. Boomer attributes it to the two new additions being die-hard football junkies.

"The one thing about Nate and Phil, they live and breathe football every single day, whether it be on NFL Network [Burleson does "Good Morning Football" daily] or constantly breaking down film. I think Phil would really love to run a football team -- that's what I really get from him. He's so intense with the film study," Boomer explained, before pointing out he likes the periphery stuff a little more. "Phil's space is really the personnel, the players and watching and knowing the players intimately. For 20 years, doing what he did for CBS, he created so many good relationships, front office, coach-wise, general manager, you name, he knows everybody.

"So we have a good sense of fun with that. Nate, of course is great, and Coach Cowher is the guy you always fall back on for sage advice, adult advice, mature advice because the rest of us are still a bunch of kids."

Listen to the full interview below -- Boomer also breaks down what he thinks the Bengals should do this offseason as well as the Bills quarterback situation and much more -- and tune into CBS at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving for "The NFL Today."