The NFL has a tradition of playing games on Thanksgiving and there have been some great matchups over the years with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions in action on the holiday. This year there are three games on the schedule with the Eagles playing the Lions, the Cowboys hosting the Panthers and the Packers playing the Bears.
The Cowboys are trying to give the Panthers their first loss of the season, while the Packers are going for a second win in a row after losing three straight games. The Eagles and Lions are the early game, while the Cowboys and Panthers will be the middle matchup before the Packers and Bears. Tony Romo is starting his second straight game since coming back from a collarbone injury and he helped the Cowboys snap a seven game losing streak.
The Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving since back in the 1930s, while the Cowboys have been playing on the holiday since the 1960s. The NFL added a third game in 2006 and now it's a tradition to have three games with the Cowboys and Lions always in action. In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, here is a quick look at some of the top games on Thanksgiving Day.
November 25th, 1993 - Miami Dolphins 16, Dallas Cowboys 14
Many know this one as the "Leon Lett Game" and this matchup saw Dallas come in as Super Bowl champions and the ending was a wild one. The Dolphins were going to kick the potential winning field goal, but it was blocked by the Cowboys. The game was seemingly about to end, but Leon Lett went after the ball and couldn't handle it and that allowed Miami to recover and make the kick.
November 24th, 2005 - Denver Broncos 24, Dallas Cowboys 21 OT
The Broncos won this game on a kick from Jason Elam in overtime and it was an exciting game, with Champ Bailey scoring the first TD on a long interception return. The matchup had the Broncos at 8-2 and the Cowboys at 7-3 and this was a very entertaining game on Thanksgiving for the NFL.
November 26, 1998 - Detroit Lions 19, Pittsburgh Steelers 16 OT
This game is known as the "Coin Flip Game" after what happened at the beginning of overtime, with the Steelers losing the flip after some confusion and controversy. Jerome Bettis felt that he called "tails" on the flip, but the ref heard him say "heads" first and on the audio it sounded like he said "hea--tails." The refs gave the Lions the ball and they ended up kicking the winning field goal.
November 23, 2006 - Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10
The Cowboys got a big game from Tony Romo early in his career, getting five touchdown passes from the quarterback and he helped lead the team to a victory on Turkey Day back in 2006. The Cowboys went to the playoffs later on in this season and this game was one of the breakout matchups for Romo, who has continued to start for the team into today.
November 23rd, 1995 - Detroit Lions 44, Minnesota Vikings 38
This was one of the most exciting games on Thanksgiving in history and one of the highest scoring, with Warren Moon and Barry Sanders putting up strong numbers. Sanders had 138 yards and a touchdown, while Warren Moon had over 380 passing yards and four touchdowns.
