The Green Bay Packers and Thanksgiving Day football go hand in hand, much like turkey and stuffing. As one of the NFC’s staple teams and a longtime rival of the Detroit Lions, the Packers find themselves frequently spotlighted on this uniquely American holiday.

With 38 Thanksgiving Day appearances under their belt, they’re tied with the Chicago Bears for the most games outside of the classic hosting teams – the Lions and the Cowboys. Historically, many of these contests have seen the Packers squaring off against Detroit, including a 13-year streak from 1951 to 1963 and a series of matchups almost every other year from 2001 to 2013.

While Green Bay is coming off back-to-back Thanksgiving appearances in recent seasons, a third consecutive feature would be quite the rarity. However, this year’s schedule certainly sets the stage for such an occurrence.

The Packers are slated to visit both Detroit and, due to the NFC rotational schedule, Dallas. That road game in Dallas opens up the possibility of a Thanksgiving face-off with the Cowboys – an event we haven’t witnessed since 1994.

In fact, history tells us that a Packers-Cowboys Thanksgiving matchup is quite the anomaly, having only happened twice with the other game back in 1970.

There’s another twist to this Thanksgiving tale though. Since 2006, the NFL introduced a third primetime game, and the Packers have danced under those lights twice.

Just last season, they hosted the Miami Dolphins under the Lambeau lights, following a similar hosting gig against the Chicago Bears in 2015. Nonetheless, given that Green Bay was the evening host just last year, it seems unlikely they’ll reprise that role this season.

The NFL might instead prefer an early classic like Packers-Lions to kick off the holiday festivities or set up a delicious playoff rematch against Dallas during mid-day.

Looking at recent trends, both the Lions and the Cowboys have been enjoying divisional matchups on Thanksgiving. The Lions tussled with Green Bay in 2023 and locked horns with Chicago in 2024, while Dallas exchanged holiday pleasantries with Washington and the New York Giants. This pattern strengthens the case for a Packers-Lions showdown if Green Bay is tabbed for turkey day action once more.

If the Packers do indeed take the field this Thanksgiving, fans can only hope Jordan Love gets the full holiday treatment – turkey leg included – unlike in their last Detroit visit.