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History of NFL Thanksgiving Day Games

Season

Visiting team

Score

Home team

Score

Thursday, November 26, 1970

Oakland Raiders

14

Detroit Lions

28

 

Green Bay Packers

3

Dallas Cowboys

16

Thursday, November 25, 1971

Kansas City Chiefs

21

Detroit Lions

32

 

Los Angeles Rams

21

Dallas Cowboys

28

Thursday, November 23, 1972

New York Jets

20

Detroit Lions

37

 

San Francisco 49ers

31

Dallas Cowboys

10

Thursday, November 22, 1973

Washington Redskins

20

Detroit Lions

0

 

Miami Dolphins

14

Dallas Cowboys

7

Thursday, November 28, 1974

Denver Broncos

31

Detroit Lions

27

 

Washington Redskins

23

Dallas Cowboys

24

Thursday, November 27, 1975

Los Angeles Rams

20

Detroit Lions

0

 

Buffalo Bills

32

St. Louis Cardinals

14

Thursday, November 25, 1976

Buffalo Bills

14

Detroit Lions

27

 

St. Louis Cardinals

14

Dallas Cowboys

19

Thursday, November 24, 1977

Chicago Bears

31

Detroit Lions

14

 

Miami Dolphins

55

St. Louis Cardinals

14

Thursday, November 23, 1978

Denver Broncos

14

Detroit Lions

17

 

Washington Redskins

10

Dallas Cowboys

37

Thursday, November 22, 1979

Chicago Bears

0

Detroit Lions

20

 

Houston Oilers

30

Dallas Cowboys

24

Thursday, November 27, 1980

Chicago Bears

23

Detroit Lions

17

 

Seattle Seahawks

7

Dallas Cowboys

51

Thursday, November 26, 1981

Kansas City Chiefs

10

Detroit Lions

27

 

Chicago Bears

9

Dallas Cowboys

10

Thursday, November 25, 1982

New York Giants

13

Detroit Lions

6

 

Cleveland Browns

14

Dallas Cowboys

31

Thursday, November 24, 1983

Pittsburgh Steelers

3

Detroit Lions

45

 

St. Louis Cardinals

17

Dallas Cowboys

35

Thursday, November 22, 1984

Green Bay Packers

28

Detroit Lions

31

 

New England Patriots

17

Dallas Cowboys

20

Thursday, November 28, 1985

New York Jets

20

Detroit Lions

31

 

St. Louis Cardinals

17

Dallas Cowboys

35

Thursday, November 27, 1986

Green Bay Packers

44

Detroit Lions

40

 

Seattle Seahawks

31

Dallas Cowboys

14

Thursday, November 26, 1987

Kansas City Chiefs

27

Detroit Lions

20

 

Minnesota Vikings

44

Dallas Cowboys

38

Thursday, November 24, 1988

Minnesota Vikings

23

Detroit Lions

0

 

Houston Oilers

25

Dallas Cowboys

17

Thursday, November 23, 1989

Cleveland Browns

10

Detroit Lions

13

 

Philadelphia Eagles

27

Dallas Cowboys

0

Thursday, November 22, 1990

Denver Broncos

27

Detroit Lions

40

 

Washington Redskins

17

Dallas Cowboys

27

Thursday, November 28, 1991

Chicago Bears

6

Detroit Lions

16

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

10

Dallas Cowboys

20

Thursday, November 26, 1992

Houston Oilers

24

Detroit Lions

21

 

New York Giants

3

Dallas Cowboys

30

Thursday, November 25, 1993

Chicago Bears

10

Detroit Lions

6

 

Miami Dolphins

16

Dallas Cowboys

14

Thursday, November 24, 1994

Buffalo Bills

21

Detroit Lions

35

 

Green Bay Packers

31

Dallas Cowboys

42

Thursday, November 23, 1995

Minnesota Vikings

38

Detroit Lions

44

 

Kansas City Chiefs

12

Dallas Cowboys

24

Thursday, November 28, 1996

Kansas City Chiefs

28

Detroit Lions

24

 

Washington Redskins

10

Dallas Cowboys

21

Thursday, November 27, 1997

Chicago Bears

20

Detroit Lions

55

 

Tennessee Oilers

27

Dallas Cowboys

14

Thursday, November 26, 1998

Pittsburgh Steelers

16

Detroit Lions

19

 

Minnesota Vikings

46

Dallas Cowboys

36

Thursday, November 25, 1999

Chicago Bears

17

Detroit Lions

21

 

Miami Dolphins

0

Dallas Cowboys

20

Thursday, November 23, 2000

New England Patriots

9

Detroit Lions

34

 

Minnesota Vikings

27

Dallas Cowboys

15

Thursday, November 22, 2001

Green Bay Packers

29

Detroit Lions

27

 

Denver Broncos

26

Dallas Cowboys

24

Thursday, November 28, 2002

New England Patriots

20

Detroit Lions

12

 

Washington Redskins

20

Dallas Cowboys

27

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Green Bay Packers

14

Detroit Lions

22

 

Miami Dolphins

40

Dallas Cowboys

21

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Indianapolis Colts

41

Detroit Lions

9

 

Chicago Bears

7

Dallas Cowboys

21

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Atlanta Falcons

27

Detroit Lions

7

 

Denver Broncos

24

Dallas Cowboys

21

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Miami Dolphins

27

Detroit Lions

10

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

10

Dallas Cowboys

38

 

Denver Broncos

10

Kansas City Chiefs

19

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Green Bay Packers

37

Detroit Lions

26

 

New York Jets

3

Dallas Cowboys

34

 

Indianapolis Colts

31

Atlanta Falcons

13

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Tennessee Titans

47

Detroit Lions

10

 

Seattle Seahawks

9

Dallas Cowboys

34

 

Arizona Cardinals

20

Philadelphia Eagles

48

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Green Bay Packers

34

Detroit Lions

12

 

Oakland Raiders

7

Dallas Cowboys

24

 

New York Giants

6

Denver Broncos

26

Thursday, November 25, 2010

New England Patriots

45

Detroit Lions

24

 

New Orleans Saints

30

Dallas Cowboys

27

 

Cincinnati Bengals

10

New York Jets

26

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Green Bay Packers

27

Detroit Lions

15

 

Miami Dolphins

19

Dallas Cowboys

20

 

San Francisco 49ers

6

Baltimore Ravens

16

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Houston Texans

34

Detroit Lions

31

 

Washington Redskins

38

Dallas Cowboys

31

 

New England Patriots

49

New York Jets

19

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Green Bay Packers

10

Detroit Lions

40

 

Oakland Raiders

24

Dallas Cowboys

31

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

20

Baltimore Ravens

22

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Chicago Bears

17

Detroit Lions

34

 

Philadelphia Eagles

33

Dallas Cowboys

10

 

Seattle Seahawks

19

San Francisco 49ers

3

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Philadelphia Eagles

14

Detroit Lions

45

 

Carolina Panthers

33

Dallas Cowboys

14

 

Chicago Bears

17

Green Bay Packers

13

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Minnesota Vikings

13

Detroit Lions

16

 

Washington Redskins

26

Dallas Cowboys

31

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

28

Indianapolis Colts

7

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Minnesota Vikings

30

Detroit Lions

23

 

Los Angeles Chargers

28

Dallas Cowboys

6

 

New York Giants

10

Washington Redskins

20

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Chicago Bears

23

Detroit Lions

16

 

Washington Redskins

23

Dallas Cowboys

31

 

Atlanta Falcons

17

New Orleans Saints

31

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Chicago Bears

24

Detroit Lions

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buffalo Bills

26

Dallas Cowboys

15

 

New Orleans Saints

26

Atlanta Falcons

18

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Houston Texans

41

Detroit Lions

25

 

Washington Football Team

41

Dallas Cowboys

16

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Chicago Bears

16

Detroit Lions

14

 

Las Vegas Raiders

36

Dallas Cowboys

33

 

Buffalo Bills

31

New Orleans Saints

6

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Buffalo Bills

28

Detroit Lions

25

 

New York Giants

20

Dallas Cowboys

28

 

New England Patriots

26

Minnesota Vikings

33

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Green Bay Packers

29

Detroit Lions

22

 

Washington Commanders

10

Dallas Cowboys

45

 

San Francisco 49ers

31

Seattle Seahawks

13

 

Top 10 Teams with Most Games Played on Thanksgiving Day with Records

Team

Games

First game

Wins

Losses

Ties

Detroit Lions

84

1934

37

45

2

Dallas Cowboys

56

1966

33

22

1

Chicago Bears

37

1920

20

15

2

Green Bay Packers

37

1923

15

20

2

Arizona Cardinals

21

1922

6

15

2

New York Giants

16

1926

7

6

3

Washington Commanders

13

1968

4

9

0

Buffalo Bills

11

1961

6

4

1

Denver Broncos

11

1962

4

7

0

Kansas City Chiefs

10

1967

5

5

0

Minnesota Vikings

9

1969

7

2

0

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Author

Harv Aronson

Harv Aronson was born and raised in Pittsburgh but now lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his beautiful wife Melissa. Harv’s writing career began at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh where he was a sportswriter for the “Tribal Tribune” in 1975. As a college student at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, Harv wrote for the school newspaper, “The Rocket” as well as served as a disc jockey and sports announcer on the university radio station, WRCK. Harv also held the role as Sports Director at WRCK, doing play by play for the football team and for an NCAA wrestling championship qualifier. Since graduating from Slippery Rock in 1982, Harv has written for many sports outlets, had run his own Pittsburgh Steelers website called “Steelers Hotline” for 15 years and in 2023 conducted a podcast titled “Total Sports Recall.” Harv also authored a book in 2012, “Pro Football’s Most Passionate Fans” that profiled football fans that were recipients of the Visa Hall of Fans Award. The award was an honor presented to one fan from every NFL team who was named fan of the year for their respective team. The book is still available from several sites on the internet. Currently, Harv writes for Abstract Sports, Yinzer Crazy, the Sick Podcast, and the magazine Gridiron Greats. Harv’ passion is for sports history but also writes articles about current sports topics. Harv loves all sports but his passion for pro sports began in 1971 as he watched Roberto Clemente, and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. As a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan and other Pittsburgh sports, Harv enjoys all sports and is an avid combat sports fan focusing on MMA and boxing. Harv is a veteran of the United States Coast Guard where he served aboard the cutter Gallatin with the job role of radioman. Since 1987 Harv has worked for several corporate offices currently working for a financial company in Florida. You can contact Harv at [email protected]

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