The Eagles' Thanksgiving night game at home against the Arizona Cardinals will be carried on several Pennsylvania cable systems, as well as over the airwaves in Philadelphia.

The NFL confirmed that cable companies will carry the game after a letter from Sen. Arlen Specter Friday to commissioner Roger Goodell thanked him for allowing the recent Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game to appear on cable TV outside the Pittsburgh market. The letter also asked for a similar arrangement for Eagles fans.

The Eagles' game will be the fourth in this year's eight-game package of the NFL Network to be carried in secondary markets.

Normally, games on the pay-per-view service would be blacked out outside the market where the game is played.

NFL vice president Joe Browne said yesterday that cable stations serving the Harrisburg and York areas, as well as the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton areas would carry the feed broadcast by WPVI in Philadelphia.

Arizona tried to take advantage of a rarely used rule on a fair-catch kick for what would've been a 68-yard field goal to end the first half against the New York Giants. It didn't work.

It started when Steve Breaston made a fair catch of a punt by New York's Jeff Feagles at the Cardinals' 32 with five seconds left in the half.

Arizona opted to go for a field goal with the Giants, by rule on a fair-catch kick, 10 yards from the spot of the ball.

But Neil Rackers' kick didn't have a chance, bounding downfield where Reuben Droughns returned it 29 yards to the New York 31 as the half ended.

Jacksonville receiver Matt Jones, facing a three-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy, will have his appeal heard Dec. 4. Jones said after Jacksonville's 30-12 loss to Minnesota that he will attend the hearing in New York.

Carnell "Cadillac" Williams had 27 yards rushing on 16 carries in his first game since a knee injury almost ended his career 14 months ago.

The Lions held their first Thanksgiving game in 1934, when owner G.A. Richards -- proving to be a sports marketer ahead of his time -- scheduled the holiday contest in the franchise's first year in the Motor City. Richards had purchased the team that year and moved it from Portsmouth, Ohio.

Curious how Dallas ended up as the annual host of the second Thanksgiving game? Unlike today, when many teams would jump at the chance for such national exposure, the Cowboys -- still a relatively new team under Tex Schramm -- volunteered when the league was looking for clubs to play on the holiday in 1966. Dallas has played host to a Thanksgiving game ever since, except for 1975 and 1977, when the St. Louis Cardinals briefly took the spot.

New York's 34-13 win at Tennessee was only the third game in NFL history featuring two starting quarterbacks with more than 100,000 combined yards passing in Brett Favre and Kerry Collins. Favre also broke a tie with Dan Marino for victories in the most NFL stadiums by winning in his 32nd at LP Field.