Every year, the NFL hosts football games on Thanksgiving Day. Watching football games with your family or friends while celebrating the holiday is a common practice and one of the most anticipated traditions in the nation. Last season was the first time the event was coined the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration. The celebration will continue this year, and in this article, we will detail what you can expect from the football games on Turkey Day.
NFL Thanksgiving games 2023
As there has been since 2006, there will be three games played on Thanksgiving Day. The slate for the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebrations on Thursday, Nov. 23, is as follows. All of the games can be streamed with fuboTV.
*Watch John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration games live with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Game 1, 12:30 p.m. ET: Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions – FOX
Game 2, 4:30 p.m. ET: Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys – CBS
Game 3, 8:20 p.m. ET: San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks – NBC
History of NFL on Thanksgiving
Football being played on Thanksgiving Day is a tradition unlike any other. The roots of the tradition can be traced back to the 1800s, long before the NFL's existence. Games have been played on a yearly basis in professional football since 1920, with the only exceptions being during World War II.
Through the 1920s-'40s, the AFL and other football leagues popularized the tradition of playing games on the holiday. One Thanksgiving game has been hosted by the Detroit Lions on a yearly basis since 1936.
In the '40s, it was also popular for AAFC teams to play a game in addition to the NFL game. In the '60s, football as a sport really started to blow up, and this was evident on Thanksgiving Day as well. The AFL hosted a Thanksgiving game as well as the NFL during this decade. The Dallas Cowboys started playing their annual game in 1966, which was also the first year the NFL started playing two games on Thanksgiving.
The Lions have played by far the most games on NFL Thanksgiving. In fact, they have 83 career games played on the holiday. The Cowboys are next on that list, with 55 games played. Both teams still carry the tradition of playing on the holiday. The Lions are 37-44-2 all-time, while the Cowboys are 32-22-1. The Cowboys have had great success on Thanksgiving. With a winning percentage of .591, the Cowboys are tied for the highest winning percentage of any team with 10 plus games played on Thanksgiving.
The Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Arizona Cardinals don't play an annual game on Thanksgiving, but they all have played the game on a somewhat frequent basis over the years. The Bears are 20-15-2 in 37 games. The Packers are 14-20-2 in 36 games. The Cardinals are 6-15-2 in 21 games.
Perhaps no man has had a bigger impact on Thanksgiving games than John Madden. The broadcaster had a number of legendary calls on Thanksgiving. Madden passed away in 2021, and the Thanksgiving games were renamed the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” in his honor. Madden popularized awarding the winning teams and game MVPs with turkey legs or turduckens.
Lions vs. Packers
The first NFL game during Thanksgiving Day will be between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. There were signs the Lions would improve this season after they ended last season hot, but not many fans would have predicted they would be as good as they are. With 27.2 points per game, the Lions have one of the best offenses in the league. Jared Goff has proven he is a starting-caliber quarterback, and he has a number of weapons around him to help him out.
David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs form one of the best running back tandems in the league, and Amon-Ra St. Brown has proven he is one of the NFL's elite receivers. Sam LaPorta has exceeded all expectations in his rookie season, and players like Josh Reynolds, Jameson Williams, and Kalif Raymond are nice depth pieces. Their defense isn't elite, but it is much improved from last year. The Lions will have a chance to send a message against the division-rival Packers. It has been an up-and-down year for the Packers and their first-year starting quarterback, Jordan Love. The team did eke out a win in their last game, but they've only won two games by more than three points.
Cowboys vs. Commanders
Game number two is between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders. Dallas' offense has been humming recently. They have scored over 30 points in three of their last four games and over 40 points in two of those games. This has been done on the back of CeeDee Lamb, who has been arguably the best receiver in football over that time. Lamb has 40 catches, 538 receiving yards, and four touchdowns over the last month. The Cowboys are the second-highest-scoring team in the NFL. Micah Parsons also leads an elite defense. They are fifth in points against. Dallas may be notorious for choking in the playoffs, but right now, they are one of the scariest teams in the league.
The Cowboys will be taking on the Commanders. Washington seemed to signal a rebuild when they dealt Chase Young and Montez Sweat at the NFL trade deadline. They actually won their game after the trade deadline, but the team has since gone on to lose two straight. Sam Howell is still playing fantastically, though. The sophomore quarterback has been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NFL this season. He leads the league with 3,038 passing yards.
49ers vs. Seahawks
Games one and two on NFL Thanksgiving feature one of the best teams in the league, and so will game three of the NFL on Thanksgiving. The San Francisco 49ers started the season 5-0. They lost three straight after that, but they appear to be back on track now after winning their last two games by a sizable amount. The team has cut down on their turnovers and it has led to their recent success. Chase Young (mentioned earlier) is on the Niners now, and he has been a great fit opposite of Nick Bosa, arguably the best edge rusher in football.
The 49ers opponent will also be a good one. The Seattle Seahawks are 6-4, but they have hit a little bit of a rough patch recently. Recent losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams were devastating. The Seahawks have one of the toughest schedules going forward, so a win against the Niners is a must.
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