Mahomes in Dallas: NFL’s Thanksgiving Day bet that sees a child’s wish come true

For the third straight year, the NFL set new viewership records in 2024 with a total audience of 34.2 million, and now the league is chasing something even bigger. To do it, they’ve gone all-in on the Dallas Cowboys – America’s Team – who this time will be staring down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

This will be the first time Mahomes plays on Thanksgiving Day in his entire career. Last year he featured in the Black Friday game, when the Chiefs beat the Raiders 19–17 in a contest decided by a late Las Vegas fumble just as they crossed into field-goal range.

Kansas City’s win over Indianapolis and Dallas’s victory against Philadelphia have added extra spice to a game where a loss could leave either side on the brink. The Chiefs sit at 6–5, while Dallas comes in at 5–5–1.

Double dream for Mahomes

Even so, Thursday’s game fulfills a double dream for Mahomes. He finally gets to play on a major holiday like Thanksgiving, and he’ll do it in the state where he was born and where he essentially played his college football at Texas Tech.

“The kid in me wanted to be out there. Now I’m going to play on Thanksgiving Day and I’ll find a way to win. You grow up watching Thanksgiving games no matter who you root for. Whether it’s the Lions, the Cowboys or whoever is playing that day, you grow up watching those games and you hope to be in that moment,” he said.

Mahomes also knows how special this return home will be, especially with family and friends able to see him on Thursday in Dallas, and with the added twist of facing the team he supported as a kid.

“I was a Cowboys fan growing up and I hated the Patriots. Now I appreciate the greatness of the Patriots more because I see how hard it was to do what they did,” he recalled during Opening Day at Super Bowl LIX.

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