The country gets to watch the Detroit Lions to kickoff Thanksgiving every year, but when’s the last time they won on the holiday?
Outside of a multi-year interruption for World War II (1939-1944), the Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1934. With no championships since 1957 and no playoff wins between 1991 and last season, that had been much to chagrin of a lot of NFL fans.
Now that the Lions are good, there is not as much (if any) lamenting of the fact they play on Thanksgiving every year.
Last year’s 29-22 loss to the Green Bay Packers dropped the Lions’ all-time record on Thanksgiving Day to 37-45-2. This year, they get another division rival on the holiday with the Chicago Bears coming to Ford Field.
But it's not all been bad on Thanksgiving Day for the Lions. A loss to the Houston Texans in 2020 led to the firing of head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn two days later, which ushered in a reset that has bore the current fruit of success.
Jared Goff acknowledged it after the Week 12 win over the Indianapolis Colts, but....
When did the Detroit Lions last win on Thanksgiving?
The Lions have lost 16 of their last 20 Thanksgiving Day games, and seven straight. Their last Turkey Day win came in 2016, a 16-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Let's take a look at what happened in that game.
Matthew Stafford went 23-for-40 for 232 yards and a touchdown in that game for the Lions, along with 30 rushing yards. Running back Theo Riddick had a solid all-around game (nine carries for 45 yards, five catches for 13 yards). Riddick, along with wide receivers Anquan Boldin (seven receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown), Golden Tate (five catches for 77 yards) and Marvin Jones (four catches for 54 yards), combined to catch 21 of Stafford’s 23 pass completions.
Kicker Matt Prater went 3-for-3 on field goals and 1-for-1 on extra points for Detroit, with two makes from 40 or more yards out.
On the defensive side for the Lions that day against the Vikings, linebacker Tahir Whitehead had 12 total tackles (11 solo) and cornerback Darius Slay had an interception.
The Lions have of course played the Bears on Thanksgiving plenty of times before-Thursday's game will be the 20th time. The most recent matchup was in 2021, and it occurred three times in a four-year span from 2018-2021. The Lions' last win over the Bears on Thanksgiving Day was in 2014.