Thanksgiving Day is spent being grateful, eating delicious food, being surrounded by your family, and of course, watching the NFL. The tradition of watching your favorite professional football teams on Thanksgiving started back in 1934, when the Lions hosted the Chicago Bears. Since then the NFL has added a third game in 2006. Sports fans across the nation have enjoyed rooting for their teams for more than 80 years on Thanksgiving, either on TV or in person. The two teams that almost always play on the holiday are the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. This year both teams will again be playing, in addition to the 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.
The first game of the day started off strong with the Lions hosting the Green Bay Packers. Both teams are racing against each other for first place in the NFC North. Lions will continue to remain in first, even after this loss to the Packers. The Packers were not intimidated by Detroit, resulting in a 20-6 score at the end of the first quarter. Jordan Love completed two touchdown passes to wide receiver Jayden Reed and tight end Tucker Kraft. Later on, the Green Bay defense sacked Jared Goff causing a fumble recovery turned touchdown from Jonathan Owens of the Packers. Even though the first quarter was mostly Green Bay, the Lions tried to come back later on in the game. At the half, the score was 23 to 6, with the Lions scoring in the first with a touchdown pass from Goff to LaPorta and a missed extra point. The third consisted of a touchdown from each team, with the score being 29-14 to start the fourth. With only a little time left in the game, Goff found wide receiver Reynolds for a touchdown. With the Packers missing their extra points/2-point conversion attempt, Lions decided to try for two themselves. The try was successful which meant they were only a score away from being tied. Detroit’s punter had no choice but to onside kick the ball to one of his teammates, but it did not work and instead rolled to a Packers player all but sealing the game. The Lions lost this tough battle against Green Bay at home, but will still be in the lead of their division entering week 13.
The second game of the day was the Washington Commanders at the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys entered the game as the favorite, due to their 7-3 record and Washington’s only being 4-7. The first quarter consisted of little action for both teams, with the score only being 7-0 Dallas. Finally, the Commanders started to pick up the pace and would score 10 points. Dallas also scored another touchdown but missed the extra point. During halftime, Dolly Parton came out and performed and gave fans a wonderful halftime show. The third quarter was very defense-heavy, resulting in no change of the score. The last 15-minutes belonged to the Cowboys with them scoring 25 points. Quarterback Dak Prescott completed 2 touchdown passes to wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin. With only 4:50 left in the game, Washington’s quarterback Sam Howell would crack and throw an interception into the hands of the Dallas defense. This play highlighted Daron Bland who would return the ball back for a 63 yard touchdown. The final score of the game ended up 45-10, Dallas.
The final game for Thanksgiving Day was the 49ers against the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams are trying to clinch the NFC West division. The game started off with a quick Deebo Samuel touchdown from quarterback Brock Purdy. Later in the first, the defense from the 49ers would force Seattle to kick a field goal, ending the first with the score being 7-3. San Francisco´s star running-back Christian McCaffery would take over the next quarter with 2 rushing touchdowns, extending the 49ers’ lead 24-3. After the half, Seattle would have a quick turn around as Purdy threw an interception to Brooks of the Seahawks defense. Seattle will lock up the 49ers and cause them not to score a single point in the 3rd quarter. But, San Francisco would bounce back with a Brock Purdy touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The outcome of the game was 31-13, 49ers, with McCaffery leading the rushing game for both teams. All three games were fun to watch on Thanksgiving, and set a new record for viewers watching with 34.1 million people watching , which beat last year’s 33.6 million.
