Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) tries to yell out the play over the roar of the crowd at the line, during the Thursday Night Football at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.

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NFL Schedule 2025 – What Games Will Be Played on Thanksgiving?

The Lions and Packers continue their Thanksgiving Day rivalry once again!

The Thanksgiving games in the NFL are one that are always marked on the calendar, and this year will be no different. Fans of the game are able to enjoy a relaxing day, spending time with their loved ones as a full three-game schedule takes place on the day.

Thanksgiving Day games have been memorable over the years, and it is a tradition the NFL has embraced since a long time. Looking back, there is a lot of history associated with this holiday and the NFL.

History of NFL Thanksgiving Games

Thanksgiving games have always been a part of the league ever since its inception in 1920. Two teams, in particular, have a long-standing and rich history with this holiday; they are the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lions have held a Thanksgiving game every year since 1934, while the Cowboys’ association with this tradition dates back to 1966. The only exceptions to this have been in 1975 and 1977 when Dallas did not host a game.

Some Thanksgiving games also have a tradition of giving turkey legs to the players of the winning team during the post-game festivities.

NFL Thanksgiving schedule 2025: Cowboys vs. Chiefs highlights Turkey Day matchups https://t.co/Xy4WTwgJc4
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) May 14, 2025

Also Read: Minnesota Vikings 2025 Schedule Release – How To Buy Tickets For The Vikings’ Games?

2025 NFL Thanksgiving Schedule

As has been the customary schedule since 2006, the NFL keeps three games on Thanksgiving. The first two games are awarded to the Lions and Cowboys respectively, while the third game consists of two different teams each year.

Matchup	Date	Time	Network
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions	Thursday, November 27, 2025	1:00 PM ET	FOX
Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys	Thursday, November 27, 2025	4:30 PM ET	CBS / Paramount+
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens	Thursday, November 27, 2025	8:20 PM ET	NBC / Peacock

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— NFL (@NFL) May 15, 2025

The first game between the Lions and the Green Bay Packers is a long-standing rivalry between the two NFC North division opponents. This game is always a classic, and with both teams having strong rosters and recent success, the game should be fun to watch.

The second game features the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys. The Chiefs have had great success these past few seasons, and if Dak Prescott and the Cowboys can get back to their best, this will also be an exciting matchup.

The third and final game of the day features two strong teams from the AFC North, the Bengals and the Ravens. While Baltimore has been performing well consistently, Joe Burrow and Cincinnati have a strong offense once again.

Teams With the Most Thanksgiving Day Rivalries

The Lions and the Packers games have featured the most during Thanksgiving. The teams have played 22 times against one another and Detroit holds a slender 12-9-1 record over Green Bay. Their last game was played in 2023 after a break of 10 years.

The second rivalry is the one between the Lions and the Chicago Bears, which has been played 20 times to date. The Bears lead this head-to-head 11-9. The Bears and Lions last played this game in 2024 as Detroit edged out Chicago 23-20.

2025 NFL Thanksgiving games

baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!