Football games on Thanksgiving have always been an American tradition. Since 1966, Thanksgiving has been a publicity event for professional football, and NFL fans have come to love watching a good game on TV while enjoying time with family and friends and eating turkey and mashed potatoes.
Despite the global pandemic, this Thanksgiving, at least in the football world, was set to be surprisingly normal. Except for the absence of fans in many stadiums, the football season has been as close to typical as anyone could have expected, and Thanksgiving was going to be no different.
Unfortunately, the 6-4 Baltimore Ravens had an outbreak of COVID-19 in their training facility, and as a precaution, the NFL moved their game against the undefeated Steelers to Sunday, and then to Tuesday. This led to what many thought to be a disappointing lineup of games, the first Thanksgiving since 1959 where all of the teams playing had a losing record.
Despite these low expectations, Deshaun Watson, JJ Watt and Will Fuller put on a show in the early time slot to outwork the Lions, and the Washington Football team found themselves atop the NFC East after scoring 41 points against the Cowboys, giving Alex Smith his second win in his first two starts since his crippling leg injury in 2018 that required 17 surgeries and a long rehabilitation process.
While these games exceeded expectations, they are no match for some of the most exciting and memorable Thanksgiving football games in the 21st century:
2001 – Broncos vs. Cowboys
Going into this game, the Broncos knew that they had to win. They ended the season 8-8, but the Raiders, who won their division, were only 10-6. The Cowboys were hardly in playoff contention, but they allowed the fewest passing yards of any team in that season. The Broncos knew that they would have to use the run and fight to get passes down the field.
Denver had a 26-3 lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Cowboys rallied back, scoring an impressive three touchdowns in one quarter, cutting the Denver lead to 26-24 with less than two minutes left. The comeback finally fizzled out when the Cowboys failed to recover their onside kick, and the Broncos stayed in the playoff hunt at 6-5.
2011 – Cowboys vs. Dolphins
Tony Romo, the Cowboys quarterback, went into this game 4-0 on Thanksgiving, and undefeated at home in the month of November. The Dolphins defense had gone three games without allowing a touchdown. Something had to give.
The game was mostly a strong showing by the two defenses, with the teams mainly exchanging field goals, and the game contained many exciting lead changes, as the game stayed close for much of its duration. Tony Romo got the ball late facing a two point deficit, and completed a couple of passes to tight end Jason Witten to send the Cowboys into field goal range. Dan Bailey kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to beat Miami by one point at the last second.
2012 – Texans vs. Lions
The Texans expected this game to be an easy one, going into it with the best record in the league at 9-1 and facing the 4-6 Lions. JJ Watt had three sacks on Lions QB Matthew Stafford, but that didn’t stop him from throwing 441 yards and two touchdowns, utilizing his star receiver Calvin Johnson, who had 140 receiving yards as well as a touchdown. Texans RB Arian Foster had a great game too, rushing for two touchdowns of his own. But what made this game exciting wasn’t just the exceptional performances from various players. This game was the most recent overtime game on Thanksgiving.
Early in overtime, Stafford launched the ball down the field to set up a potential game-ending touchdown. Then the Texans managed to force a fumble and gain possession, not letting the Lions score any points. The Texans missed a would-be game winning field goal from 51 yards away, and the Lions defense later intercepted the ball to set up a brilliant field position for Detroit. The Lions would go on to miss a 47 yard field goal try, and Houston marched down the field to kick the game-winner with two minutes left in overtime.
Article by Corrigan Peters of Richard Montgomery High School
Article edited by Sports Editor Kevin Zhang
Photo Courtesy of Pexels