The Bears, Cowboys, Lions and Packers are regulars on Thanksgiving, but someone has to play against them. Let’s take a look at the only team that has never played on turkey day.
This is the only NFL team that has never played on Thanksgiving
The tradition of playing NFL games on Thanksgiving Day began in the 1920s with the Detroit Lions, and they have continued to host a game on Thanksgiving Day every year since. The Dallas Cowboys also began hosting games on Thanksgiving Day in the 1960s. The Lions have a 37-44-2 record on Thanksgiving and the Cowboys have gone 32-22-1 on turkey day. The Packers have a losing record with 14-20-2 and the Bears have won more than they’ve lost with a 20-15-2 record.
@JaguarGator9NFL thanksgiving day football trivia: there are only two teams who haven’t played in an NFL game on thanksgiving since 1990: Cleveland (whose last thanksgiving game was in 1989) and Jacksonville, who has never played on thanksgiving
— Keith, you know (@greatkeith360) November 24, 2022
What NFL team has never played on Thanksgiving?
The Jacksonville Jaguars still haven’t had a chance to play on Thanksgiving while Americans are eating their turkey or trying to digest it.
Aside from the Jaguars, the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Carolina Panthers have played in just one Thanksgiving Game in their renowned histories.
Thanksgiving & Football 🦃🏈 @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/MYgmc1dBRd
— NFL (@NFL) May 15, 2025
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This year NFL fans will be able to watch the Packers vs Lions at 1 p.m., the Chiefs vs Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. and the Bengals vs Ravens at 8:20 p.m.
Fans are going to have to make an effort to not take that post-Thanksgiving dinner nap or they’ll miss one of the biggest games of the season: The Chiefs travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in a game that each team needs to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
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