Comparing KC Chiefs stars to Thanksgiving dishes

Charvarius Ward: Green bean casserole

Tucked away behind Thanksgiving’s mainstream entrees lies an amalgam of green beans, cheddar cheese, fried onions, and cream of mushroom soup. To the untrained eye, it looks like an unimportant, perhaps expendable entrée. The folks at Food Network never talk about it, and when they do, they mispronounce the name.

Maybe on your first go-around, you skip it entirely. But it’s time to put some respect on the green bean casserole’s name. A staple of the thanksgiving rotation for a while, what does green bean casserole do besides deliver? Is dessert falling flat? Have other dishes not worked out? The casserole is there to pick up the scraps. It’s been around for a while and has staked its claim as a starting entrée.

Charvarius Ward is a model of stability at a volatile position, just as the green bean casserole steadies an often unpredictable list of entrees.

Daniel Sorensen: Pumpkin pie

At some point in thanksgiving history, it became mandatory to put pumpkin pie front and center amongst the desserts. Who decided this? Who drafted this into law? Don’t get me wrong, a midnight slice of pumpkin pie, like a late-game Dirty Dan interception, can hit the spot. But the usage is simply too high for a dessert that too often falls flat. At a certain point, you need to give the desserts with higher ceilings their playing time. Dessert is, by nature, volatile but the sheer range of outcomes warrants question as to why pumpkin pie is carrying all the weight in such a high leverage position.