There’s nothing like the tradition of Thanksgiving Day football. The tradition began 87 years ago, and despite a brief hiatus during World War II, it has since become a major American holiday.
The NFL is entering its 16th season of its three-match schedule for Thanksgiving Day. Only two games were played last year. The Steelers vs Ravens night game has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, but the Lions and Cowboys continue their decades-long streak into the holiday.
The Lions are the team that started the Thanksgiving Day tradition. Owner George A. Richards designed the game in 1934 to increase attendance, and it worked. The Cowboys began playing for the holiday in 1966. A brief tackle was imposed by the NFL, and they continued as such.
In 2021, the tradition will continue once again. The Lions will face the Bears, the Cowboys will fight the Raiders, and the Bills will have a chance to face the Saints when the night game returns.
Here’s everything you need to know about the teams playing this Thanksgiving, plus channels for games and more.
THAN: NFL’s Highest Paid Players in 2021
Which Teams Will Play on Thanksgiving 2020?
| Game | Start time | Channel |
| Bears at Lions | 12:30 p.m. ET | fox, fuboTV |
| Raiders at Cowboys | 4:30 p.m. ET | fox, fuboTV |
| Bills at Saints | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC, fuboTV |
The Lions will be holding their 82nd Thanksgiving match in 2021 and heading into Week 11, they’re still figuring out how to get Dan Campbell to get his first win. Can it fight the Bears? The Lions lost 24-14 to the Bears at the start of the season but if they can slow Justin Fields and the Bears’ attack, they could land a crunch victory. After all, they’ll be motivated to win Thanksgiving.
The Cowboys will be playing their 53rd Thanksgiving game and will get the chance to play against their second AFC West team in as many games. The Raiders are seen as an easier matchup for the Cowboys than the Chiefs, as Las Vegas has disbanded in recent weeks following the release of Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette. The Dallas attack is playing well, so as long as they are healthy, they will be good candidates in this tournament.
Night games for 2021 will be interesting. There was no previous season – the Ravens-Steelers game was postponed due to COVID issues – but it will return this year. The Bills have a strong attack commanded by Josh Allen and a great defence. The Saints have the best defense in the league and can challenge some of the Bill recipients.
This person may come down to play in midfield, but perhaps Trevor Siemian can play well enough to win. Having Alvin Kamara healthy and ready will definitely help his career.
On which channel is Thanksgiving football broadcast?
TV channel Lions vs. Bears
(12:30 p.m. ET opening ceremony)
- Channel: fox
- Live: fuboTV
Fox’s #1 broadcast team – Joe Buck and Troy Aikman – tends to call the Thanksgiving game for the net. They may not show the Cowboys this year, but you can still expect them to be in the Lions-Bears game, as they still usually broadcast “Thursday Night Football.”
Erin Andrews and Kristina Pink have acted as a tagging duo as sideline reporters this year, and they’ll likely continue to do so for Fox’s indie Thanksgiving game.
Mike Pereira is Fox’s broadcast rules analyst.
Cowboys vs. TV channel. Raiders
(4:30 p.m. ET begins)
- Channel: CBS
- Live: fuboTV
It looks like Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will be joining CBS in the Cowboys-Raiders game. That means viewers will get to watch Romo bid farewell to his old team and start his replacement.
Tracy Wolfson is a sideline reporter for the Nantz and Romo crew while former NFL referee Gene Steratore will be CBS’s rules analyst for the game.
TV channel Saints vs. Bills
(8:20 p.m. ET begins)
- Channel: NBC
- Live: fuboTV
NBC’s broadcast appears to have a twist from the usual Thanksgiving duo Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Michaels usually gets a Thanksgiving break and is replaced by Mike Tirico. This year, it looks like Collinsworth will move out of the pavilion for the holidays while Drew Brees will tear down his old Saints team in the pavilion.
Michele Tafoya or Kathryn Tappen will act as sideline reporters for this game while Terry McAulay, a recently retired official, will be the NFL rules analyst for the broadcast.
THAN: Why Lions Play on Thanksgiving, Explained
Which football teams always play on Thanksgiving?
NS Detroit Lion will be playing their 82nd game on Thanksgiving. The tradition began in 1934 with their sole stop at the Thanksgiving games that ran from 1939 to 1944 during the height of the Second World War.
NS Dallas Cowboys joined the fight in 1966 and hosted several Thanksgiving Day games during the early years of their franchise history. They stopped for a bit from 1975 to 1977, because the NFL wanted St. The Louis Cardinals compete on Thanksgiving to boost their popularity, they will be playing at home for the 43rd year in a row.
The Lions have a career record of 37-42-2 on Thanksgiving. They haven’t won a game since 2016 against the Vikings. The Cowboys are 31-21-1 on Thanksgiving with their last win being against Washington in 2018.
THAN: Why Cowboys Play on Thanksgiving, Explained
Which team hasn’t played on Thanksgiving?
Only one team has never played on Thanksgiving Day. It’s the Jaguars.
The Jaguars have only been around since 1995 and are one of the smaller-market teams in the NFL. It makes sense, then, that they still haven’t shown on Thanksgiving, especially when you look at their production over the years. Jacksonville is regularly one of the NFL’s worst teams, so it makes sense that the NFL has avoided scheduling the team in a location close to home, like Thanksgiving Day.
Perhaps if Trevor Lawrence improves in later seasons, the Jaguars will get that nod. Right now, however, they’re the only team that doesn’t have a Thanksgiving appearance. The other three teams – the Buccaneers, the Bengals and the Panthers – played only once on Thanksgiving Day.
Below is a list of NFL teams in order of Thanksgiving game appearances, excluding 2021 games.
| Team | Thanksgiving Game |
| Detroit Lion | 81 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 53 |
| Chicago Bears | 36 |
| Green Bay Packers | 36 |
| The Arizona Cardinals | 21 |
| Giants in New York | 15 |
| Washington Redskins | twelfth |
| Dancer broncos | 11 |
| Chief of Kansas City | ten |
| Buffalo Bills | 9 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 |
| New York Jets | 8 |
| Oakland Raiders | 7 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 |
| Miami Dolphins | 7 |
| Tennessee Titans / Houston Oilers | 7 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 5 |
| New England Patriots | 5 |
| Los Angeles charger | 5 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 |
| Seattle Seahawks Football Team | 4 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 4 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 |
| Cleveland Browns | 3 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3 |
| Baltimore Raven | 2 |
| Houston Texas | 2 |
| Carolina Panthers | first |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | first |
| Cincinnati Bengals | first |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 0 |
Do people watch football on Thanksgiving?
The NFL’s Thanksgiving Day games have regularly been among the most watched NFL seasonal broadcasts in recent years. In 2019, the Bills-Cowboys Thanksgiving game averaged 32.53 million viewers, becoming the most watched game since Super Bowl 2019 between the Patriots and Rams.
In 2020, the trend of Cowboys gaining a lot of attention continues. They have an average of 30.3 million viewers for their 41-16 loss at the hands of the Washington Soccer Team. It doesn’t quite compare to last season’s numbers, but it’s still impressive considering the ongoing COVID pandemic and the proliferation of streaming alternatives.
Lions-Texans game in 2020 attracted 23.2 million viewers average in the game. Neither team had a chance to play in the playoffs, so that broadcast went well, all things considered. Unfortunately, the Steelers-Ravens game has been postponed due to some COVID positives, so these two are the games for which we have data.
There is a long story. People watch football on Thanksgiving. It continues to be a tradition in many families across America.
