NFL Thanksgiving Day Schedule 2017: NFC North battle leads off

Many decades ago, the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions rivalry was one that was regularly played on Thanksgiving Day. Each year from 1951 to 1963, the two teams met in Detroit on the late November holiday. More recently, the Packers had traveled east for Thanksgiving every other year, playing Detroit in odd years between 2007 and 2013. The Packers won three of those four games, falling only in 2013 when Aaron Rodgers was out with a broken collarbone.

However, a different NFC North team has been a frequent recent visitor to Ford Field. Today marks the second straight season that the Minnesota Vikings play Detroit on the holiday, and they will be hoping for a better result than last year’s 16-13 Lions victory.

That game kicks off early, with the Dallas Cowboys taking the field a few hours later against an AFC team - the Los Angeles Chargers. Today’s game is the first time the Chargers have played on Thanksgiving since the AFL-NFL merger, though they did play on the holiday four times between 1964 and 1969.

Finally, the nightcap is an NFC East battle between the bottom two teams in that division.

If you decide to take a break from spending time with your friends and family today, we hope that you’ll join us for some football in the comments section here. We are thankful for each and every one of our readers, and we hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

12:30 PM Eastern Time
Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

FOX
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews

Los Angeles Chargers at Dallas Cowboys

3:30 PM Central Time (4:30 Eastern)
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

CBS
Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson

New York Giants at Washington

8:30 PM Eastern Time
FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland

NBC
Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Michelle Tafoya