In what may be the longest standing Thanksgiving tradition — outside of Turkey — has been the NFL games being played on Turkey Day. The games have been a regular occurrence since the league’s inception in 1920, and that carries on today.
Through the first 50 years of that tradition, multiple teams took turns playing on the holiday, but since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 the two teams that locked into the event were the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions playing host to a rotation of opponents with the duo being the staples. In 2013, the NFL expanded the coverage with a third game airing that does not have a set host.
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The Lions have been a middling team for a long time and its record on the holiday matches that with a 37-38-2 mark. This year the team is pushing towards a playoff spot with a 6-4 record. Detroit will play host to its division rival, the Minnesota Vikings, with kickoff set for 12:30 pm ET on Fox.
Following the Lions game, the Cowboys will take the spotlight.
The Cowboys have been historically tough to beat at home, on Thanksgiving, with a record of 30-18-1. This year the Cowboys will host the Los Angeles Chargers with the kickoff being set for 4:30 pm ET on CBS.
Dallas enters the game at 5-5 on the season and will be without Ezekiel Elliott, who is serving a suspension that he had fought with the league. Elliott announced his presence in the NFL last year when he famously jumped into the Salvation Army kettle after scoring a touchdown.
The Chargers are playing in Los Angeles after spending the rest of its franchise history in San Diego. The Chargers are also ending the longest drought in Thanksgiving appearances, having last played in the Thursday feature in 1969, before the merger.
Taking to the airwaves in the third game of the day will be the Washington Redskins hosting the New York Giants at 8:30 pm ET on NBC.
Washington has been on of the worst teams on Thanksgiving with a historical record of 2-7 on the day. The team is currently 4-6 on the 2017 season and mired with injuries. The Giants are not going to show much sympathy in either department as injuries to most every offensive weapon has derailed the season for New York. The team is currently 2-8 on the season and will be playing on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2009.
Even with the games airing on the major networks, CBS, Fox and NBC are also available on most every major streaming service, including YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue and Fubo TV, with varying local markets and degrees of coverage.
For those who prefer the college game, the two programs from Mississippi will take on one another in the annual Egg Bowl. Mississippi State — which is still in the hunt for a major bowl bid — will be going for its ninth win of the year. Ole Miss is ineligible for a bowl this year and will be concluding its season with this game.
The game is on ESPN and streamable on the WatchESPN app and unlike NFL games, there are no restrictions on streaming college football on mobile devices.
