NFL NationNov 25, 2025, 06:30 AM ETCloseNFL Nation is made up of 32 team-specific reporters who cover the NFL year-round across ESPN.com, ESPN television shows, ESPN Radio, ESPN+ and social media platforms. It was established ahead of the 2013 season.
Eisen: Rams are the team to beat in the NFL (1:33)Rich Eisen contends the Rams have separated themselves from the rest of the NFL. (1:33)
Thanksgiving is a time for family … and football. So we’re using our latest NFL Power Rankings to look at the holiday synonymous with the sport. Ahead of the three games on Thursday (Packers at Lions, Chiefs at Cowboys and Bengals at Ravens), we asked our NFL Nation reporters to look back at each team’s history on the holiday. Thirty-one teams have at least one appearance on Thanksgiving — sorry Jaguars fans, better luck next year.
What matchups stand out for the Cowboys and Lions, who are staples on Thanksgiving every season? Which famous players — or one-hit wonders — got a bite out of a turkey leg as their game’s MVP? And what other quirky memories are there from the holiday contests?
Let’s get into it with the No. 1 team, which didn’t change from last week’s rankings. Our power panel of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities evaluated how NFL teams stack up against one another, ranking them from 1 to 32.
The Rams have played only four times on Thanksgiving, the last coming in 1975. In that game, wide receiver Harold Jackson caught five passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Los Angeles’ defense kept the Lions scoreless in a 20-0 victory, and the win pushed the Rams to 9-2. They finished 12-2 that season before losing to the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game. — Sarah Barshop
Bruschi returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown — with teammate and current Patriots coach Mike Vrabel crossing the goal line with him in celebration — as the Patriots recorded their first win on the holiday. The touchdown secured a 20-12 decision over the host Lions. The Patriots wore their red “Pat Patriot” throwbacks in that game — just as they would in 2010 when they returned to Detroit and long-haired Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes in a blowout win. — Mike Reiss
Dayne played in only 10 games for the Broncos, all in the 2005 season. But his longest run and 20.4% of his rushing yards came on his only carry of overtime against the Cowboys. The 55-yard rush down the left sideline on second-and-3 set up Jason Elam’s 24-yard kick that gave the Broncos a 24-21 win. Dayne finished with 98 rushing yards on seven carries. It is the high point for the Broncos on Thanksgiving, as they’re 4-7 on the holiday and haven’t played one since 2009. — Jeff Legwold
The Colts waited 40 seasons to return to a Thanksgiving game, and they made it a memorable experience. Manning tied former Dolphins great Bob Griese with six touchdowns passes in the 41-9 victory over Detroit. It was quite a feat when viewed in the context of his overall performance: He had just 23 completions in the game, meaning roughly 25% of his completions resulted in a score. — Stephen Holder
The Hall of Famer racked up 244 yards from scrimmage (20 rushes for 137 yards; four catches for 107 yards) and two touchdowns at the Silverdome. The Bears turned the ball over five times, but they pulled off a 31-14 win because of Payton’s dominance. Once he hauled in a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bob Avellini in the third quarter, the Bears didn’t lose the lead again. — Courtney Cronin
The Chiefs don’t have many fond memories on Thanksgiving, but Allen passed fellow Hall of Famer Walter Payton on the all-time rushing touchdowns list in Detroit. Allen recorded his 111th score on a 1-yard dive into the end zone in the first quarter. His performance, including 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns, helped the Chiefs rally for a 28-24 comeback victory over the Lions. The win was sweeter for the Chiefs after their holiday loss a year earlier to the Cowboys. — Nate Taylor
The San Diego Chargers went into the fourth quarter down 10 points to the Broncos, who were one of the AFL’s worst teams that season. Defensive back Speedy Duncan sparked the comeback with a blocked field goal that he returned 72 yards for a touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter, running back Dickie Post scored an 8-yard rushing touchdown to secure the Chargers’ 24-20 win. The team has played in just five Thanksgiving games, with only one game since this 1967 win. — Kris Rhim
For nearly 14 minutes, it was a pretty good Thanksgiving for the Bucs. Then they got their giblets handed to them. Mike Alstott’s 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter put the Bucs ahead 7-0, but the Cowboys got five touchdown passes from Tony Romo — two to Terry Glenn and two to Marion Barber II — and won 38-10. Romo, who still holds a Cowboys Thanksgiving Day record for TD passes, threw for 306 yards. That was 95 more yards than the entire Bucs offense had that day. — DiRocco
Thanksgiving game memory: Backup quarterback Clint Longley leads Cowboys to win over Washington in 1974
This was another storybook moment for the Panthers during their NFL-best 15-1 season in 2015. In their first and only Thanksgiving game, the Panthers beat the Cowboys 33-14. Only it wasn’t because of eventual NFL MVP Cam Newton that the team stayed undefeated. This was because of a defense led by Luke Kuechly and Kurt Coleman, who returned interceptions for touchdowns. The unit also knocked Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo out of the game with a collarbone injury. — David Newton
Thanksgiving game memory: Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett gifts the Dolphins a Thanksgiving miracle in 1993
The Bengals are one of four teams with just one Thanksgiving game in their franchise history, per ESPN Research. That game at the Jets, a 26-10 loss, was full of notable players, including some eventual Hall of Famers (Terrell Owens, LaDainian Tomlinson, Darrelle Revis and Jason Taylor). A fun fact: Nick Folk was the Jets’ kicker in that game. Folk, 41, is again their kicker. — Ben Baby
The Cardinals have lost their seven Thanksgiving appearances since 1948, with their most recent coming in their Super Bowl run during the 2008 season. Before that, however, they last played on Thanksgiving in 1985 — that’s once in 40 years. In 1948, the Cardinals were virtually unstoppable behind Hall of Famer Charley Trippi. Their only loss that season came in the NFL Championship Game, preventing them from claiming back-to-back titles. — Josh Weinfuss
It was Thanksgiving Day in Detroit when Taylor won the game for the Giants with a 97-yard interception returned for a touchdown. Giants coach Bill Parcells wasn’t even sure Taylor would play in the game. He had hurt his knee the prior week, so Parcells didn’t start him and didn’t even put him in until the second quarter. That decision was rewarded with an interception of Gary Danielson in the fourth quarter to break a 6-6 tie. — Jordan Raanan
The Browns are 0-3 on Thanksgiving in the Super Bowl era and haven’t played on the holiday since 1989. The last time that happened, they lost to the Lions 13-10 as Sanders ran for 145 yards amid an Offensive Rookie of the Year season. It was a blip in what ended up being a deep playoff run to the AFC Championship Game, where the Browns lost to the Broncos. — Daniel Oyefusi
There haven’t been many memorable moments for the Raiders since they moved to Las Vegas from Oakland in 2020. However, in 2021, quarterback Derek Carr led the Raiders to a 36-33 overtime win in Dallas. He threw for 373 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Daniel Carlson converted the winning field goal, which was set up by a defensive pass interference. — Ryan McFadden
The 10-1 Titans traveled to Detroit and beat the stuffing out of the Lions. The 47-10 win was fueled by the Titans’ game-changing running back duo of Chris Johnson and LenDale White, also known as “Smash and Dash.” They combined for 231 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Johnson showed his electrifying speed on a 58-yard touchdown run. White’s physical run style provided the perfect complement. Both players got a piece of the turkey leg postgame. — Turron Davenport
Rumors swirled heading into the game at Texas Stadium that coach Buddy Ryan had put a $200 bounty on former Eagles kicker Luis Zendejas, who had some critical words aimed at Ryan after leaving the team. That seemed to be confirmed when Eagles linebacker Jessie Small decked Zendejas on a kickoff, leaving the kicker shaken and angered. The game helped fuel one of the fiercest rivalries in all of football for decades. “I tried to talk to Buddy, but he wouldn’t stay on the field. He took his big, fat rear end up the tunnel to the locker room,” rookie Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson said at the time, to which Ryan replied, “I’ve been on a diet and lost a few pounds. I thought I was looking good and [Johnson] goes and calls me fat. I resent that.” — Tim McManus
Thanksgiving dinner might have never tasted better for the Seahawks and their fans than on this night in Santa Clara. At the height of their NFC West rivalry, Seattle held San Francisco to a field goal, prompting 49ers owner Jed York to tweet an apology to his team’s fans for the “unacceptable” performance. Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman picked off nemesis quarterback Colin Kaepernick twice and beat his college coach, Jim Harbaugh, whom he’d clashed with at Stanford. If that wasn’t satisfying enough for the star cornerback, he and quarterback Russell Wilson then chomped on turkey legs at midfield of the brand-new Levi’s Stadium. — Brady Henderson
With an apology to history — the 1962 game against the Lions might be the most significant even though it was the Packers’ only loss in a championship season — recency bias gives the nod to this game. The Packers were 8.5-point underdogs yet pulled off a 29-22 win. The Packers opened the game with a 53-yard pass from Jordan Love to Christian Watson, and the victory helped turn around Love’s first season as the starter. It was part of a closing stretch in which the Packers went 6-2 to make the playoffs after starting 3-6. — Rob Demovsky