Lions record on thanksgiving games

The Lions are against Green Bay and against Chicago. The Packers were the opponent for 13 consecutive years beginning in Three Thanksgiving games involving Detroit have gone to overtime, with two of them being particularly memorable. In , David Williams of the Bears returned the opening kickoff of the extra period 95 yards for a touchdown, making for what was at the time the shortest OT game in NFL history.

The overtime began with controversy over the handling of the coin toss to determine who would possess the ball first. When the coin landed tails, referee Phil Luckett awarded the toss to the Lions, who took the kickoff and drove to the winning field goal. The Lions have not won a game this season, losing nine times and tying once, while the Bears are just —with one of those being a win over the Lions in Week 4. Both teams have offenses ranked at the bottom of the league.

Thursday's Thanksgiving game will be the 19th time the franchises go head-to-head for the holiday. Of those games, the Bears have won ten and the Lions have won eight. While there is some belief that the NFL was behind the Lions' Thanksgiving tradition, it was the team, not the league, that started the annual holiday game.

The tradition of the Lions' Thanksgiving game began after owner George Richards decided the franchise would play on the holiday in to attract more fans. Richards' plan worked—the Lions not only sold out the stadium that year but had to turn people away. Richards was particularly successful because he owned a radio station affiliated with the NBC Blue Network and because of that, he managed to reach an agreement to have the Lions' Turkey Day game broadcast across all 94 stations on that network.

Other teams had played on Thanksgiving before , but the Lions were different because Richards owned a radio station that was a major affiliate of the NBC Blue Network. Richards negotiated an agreement with NBC to broadcast his Thanksgiving games on 94 stations across the country.

Since , the Lions and Cowboys have hosted a game on Thanksgiving every year. Detroit always plays the early game, followed by Dallas in the late afternoon and a rotating prime-time matchup added in The Lions play the Bears on Thanksgiving in It is the 17th time these franchises have met head-to-head on the holiday, , with their most recent a Bears win in CBS will broadcast Lions vs.

Bears this year. Kickoff is scheduled for p. ET — the first game of the day, as per tradition. Green Bay finished and won its second consecutive NFL championship.