The NFL Just Delivered the Most Predictable Thanksgiving Matchup Possible
The NFL does not want you to have fun on Thanksgiving. It wants to show the same thing you’ve always seen, and here we go again.
The Lions will host the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving. Again. Because apparently the league office looked at all 31 other teams and said, “You know what? Let’s run this back.”
This is the same matchup we got just two seasons ago. The Lions played the Packers last year and in 2023 as well. In the last 15 years, the NFL has forced the Lions to play an NFC North opponent in 11 of those games.
I’m pretty sure Bears and Packers fans are sick of it too.
Remember When Thanksgiving Was Actually Good?
Look back at the Dan Campbell era. What was the best Thanksgiving game you saw during that time?
It was the one game they didn’t play a division rival. Their game against the Bills. Everyone universally loved that game, and the hope was that the league would build off of that and introduce some new teams to the holiday.
Instead, they’re going the laziest route possible.
The Patriots were right there. Yes, that’s the Germany game, and that’s cool. But damn, if you’re an NFL fan whose team isn’t playing that day, that was the game you would have wanted to watch. It’s a game you have no stock in, but know you’re going to get a fun performance.
Instead, you get to watch the game you just watched a couple of years ago.
The Ben Johnson Angle Doesn’t Save This
Yes, there are stakes to the game in this case. Dan Campbell vs Ben Johnson will give people reason to want to tune in, but this would have been much more interesting on a Monday Night on ESPN than on Thanksgiving, where you’ve seen it a million times.
It’s like Christmas Story playing all day on TBS. Who is that for? We’ve all seen that movie more than any other movie we’ve ever seen.
Chicago won the NFC North last season, but went 0-2 vs. Detroit. So we get to watch a rivalry where one team already swept the other, on a holiday where we’ve watched this exact matchup before.
Welp, maybe the NFL will get interesting with it next year. But they’ll probably just play the Packers again.
Are you excited to watch the same Thanksgiving game for the third time in four years, or should the NFL actually try something new? Let me know in the comments.
