A look at five of the Detroit Lions 2024 opponents we’d liked to see scheduled for Thanksgiving this year.
The 2024 NFL schedule has already started to be leaked, but every year eyes are drawn to one particular Detroit Lions game: Thanksgiving Day. It’s an honored tradition for the Lions and their fans, as it’s not only nationally televised, but the franchise has become a part of the national holiday across the country.
Unfortunately for Lions fans, it hasn’t been a very happy holiday for quite some time. The Lions have lost six in a row on Thanksgiving, with their last win coming over the Minnesota Vikings in a thriller back in 2016.
The Lions are much different now, though. They’re Super Bowl contenders, and they’ll be expected to compete in every game this season—and win most of them.
So with that in mind, here are my personal rankings for best opponents for Detroit’s 2024 Thanksgiving Day Classic game.
5. Tennessee Titans
I’m not going to lie, I just want the Lions to win on Thanksgiving again. This is one of the few bad franchise streaks that Dan Campbell hasn’t put to rest yet, and in my opinion, the Titans—who finished 7-10 last year and made a big coaching change—are the easiest team on the schedule.
There’s not a lot of excitement or drama in this matchup, but it’s as close to a lay-up win as the Lions have on the schedule.
4. Buffalo Bills
This would be a rematch of the 2022 Thanksgiving Day classic. At the time, the Lions were just making their turnaround under Campbell. They gave the Bills everything they could possibly handle and nearly came out with a big upset. Buffalo won the game, but only by a 28-25 score.
Since that game, the Lions have only gotten better, while the Bills are starting to feel like a team that already had their best shot at a championship. This offseason alone, the Bills lost Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Leonard Floyd, and Tre’Davious White. Time to prove that the Lions can match up with some of the top AFC teams.
3. Chicago Bears
Six of the Lions’ last eight Thanksgiving games were against divisional foes, which takes some of the luster away from this game. Still, Bears fans are acting way too cocky for a team that will be starting a rookie quarterback this year. Humbling them on a national stage to break the Thanksgiving drought would fill my stomach up plenty before I even touch the pumpkin pie. (Not really. I’m going to have two slices before kickoff.)
2. Los Angeles Rams
The Matthew Stafford/Jared Goff vs. their former team storyline has already been played out, so I can’t put this in the top spot. Still, it’s possible Stafford gets a bit more welcome of a homecoming now that Detroit has exercised some of those demons.
But even beyond any narratives, this should just be a highly entertaining game between two very good teams. The Rams are an extremely young team that could be a sneaky NFC contender this year, while the Lions are thinking Super Bowl. Who wouldn’t want to watch a couple of NFC heavyweights before the turkey?
1. Green Bay Packers
While I’m admittedly a bit bored with the NFC North matchups on Thanksgiving, I want revenge from last year, There are a lot of Packers fans who believe Green Bay surpassed Detroit by the end of the season, and that game was a tough one to swallow.
You know Lions players who were around to absorb that loss last year would get extra hyped for a chance to get revenge for one of the worst losses of the season. Is there anything better on Thanksgiving than a side of Packers tears?