The Detroit Lions play on Thanksgiving Day every year, much to the chagrin of many, but what is the team’s record on the holiday?
Thanksgiving Day is a day to give thanks with loved ones with food as the centerpiece, and for NFL fans to lament the fact the lowly Detroit Lions play on the day every year. Sure the Dallas Cowboys do too, but the football day always starts with the Lions at home as the appetizer many football fans (with or without fantasy football implications) would rather not have.
Besides the 1939-1944 interruption during World War II, the Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1934. This year, they will welcome the NFC North rival Chicago Bears to town on Thanksgiving for the third time in the last four years. Maybe the opposing head coach will get fired after a loss in the game this year. The Lions fired Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn after a 41-25 loss to the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving Day least year.
What is the Detroit Lions’ record on Thanksgiving Day?
There have certainly been some ugly losses for the Lions on Thanksgiving Day on the national stand-alone stage, especially when they’ve been a particularly bad team. I won’t list any of those here.
But the Lions are only a bit below .500 overall on Turkey Day (h/t to Click on Detroit), with a 37-42-2 record. The two ties came in a three-year span (1963 and 1965). From 1951-1963, they played the Green Bay Packers every Thanksgiving. Overall, the Lions have regularly played a division rival (Bears, Packers, Vikings) on Thanksgiving.
The Lions may or may not be able to finally put a mark in this season’s win column on Thanksgiving Day this year. But if you thought they’ve been awful on the holiday as a whole, as would be easy to think, it’s not quite reality.
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