The National Football League has a rich tradition on Thanksgiving. This season, there are three divisional match-ups on the menu.
The franchise that makes its home in the Windy City made its first Thanksgiving Day appearance during its debut campaign in 1920 when the franchise was known as the Decatur Staleys. George Halas' team defeated the Chicago Tigers, 6-0.
All told, the Bears are 20-15-2 lifetime on Thanksgiving and have actually won their last four games on Turkey Day, the latest a 16-14 victory at Detroit in 2021. Here is the best of those 37 contests.
5. Bears 22, Cardinals 6 (1933)
It was a convincing win at Wrigley Field by the eventual league champions over their fellow tenants of the Windy City. The Bears owned a 15-0 lead at halftime and scored with on special teams, defense and offense. Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Red Grange carried 12 times for 45 yards and the game's first touchdown.
The 22 points were a regular-season high for Halas' club and it was the second win of the season over the Cards. The Bears finished 11-2-1 that season and defeated the New York Giants, 23-21, in the first-ever NFL Championship Game.
4. Bears 19, Lions 16 (1934)
It was the start of the tradition in the Motor City (as documented by Jon Gleit). The first Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit featured quite the battle of successful clubs. The Lions opened the season with 10 straight wins, but they stubbed their toes at home in their 11th outing, a 3-0 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Meanwhile, George Halas (in his second stint as the Bears' head coach), led his club to an 11-0 start and hoped to remain undefeated on Thanksgiving Day.
George "Potsy" Clark's Lions opened the scoring when Ace Gutowsky ran for a four-yard touchdown in the first quarter. He led all players that day with 77 yards rushing and a pair of scores on 21 attempts. Detroit snapped a 7-all tie with nine straight points and owned a 16-7 advantage at halftime.
The Bears would score 12 unanswered points in the final two quarters. Jack Manders booted a pair of field goals in the third quarter and a pair of eventual Hall of Famers combined for a touchdown. Bronko Nagurski threw a two-yard TD pass to Bill Hewitt.
Halas' club won that game and then defeated the Lions in the season finale to finish 13-0. However, the Bears were humbled in the 1934 NFL title game, 30-13, at the icy Polo Grounds.
3. Bears 31, Lions 14 (1977)
"We were lucky in the first half to stay in the game with all the mistakes we made. But we hung in there and didn't collapse. In the second half, we just executed better. After they took it to us in the first half, we took it to them in the second."
Those were the words of Chicago Bears' head coach Jack Pardee after his team rallied to defeat the host Lions, 31-14, on Thanksgiving Day. The 1977 season was an important one for a franchise that had not reached the postseason since 1963. That was a year in which the Bears captured their seventh NFL title.
It wound up being a third consecutive win for a team that opened the season 3-5 and would close the year with six straight victories while earning a wild card invitation.
On this Thanksgiving Day in the Motor City, the Bears would wind up turning over the ball five times. Chicago was down 7-0 at intermission, but Pardee's club would get its act together. They outgained the Lions, 425-218, on the afternoon. Quarterback Bob Avellini threw for two scores and ran for another, but he also served up a pair of interceptions.
One of those touchdown tosses resulted in a 75-yard score to Walter Payton. He finished the game with four catches for 107 yards. He also carried 20 times for 137 yards and a TD.
2. Bears 23, Lions 16 (2018)
These days, under head coach Matt Eberflus, the Bears' defense bears zero resemblance to a relentless unit that paved the way for a division title five years ago.
It was Matt Nagy's debut season as the Chicago Bears' latest head coach. Earlier that offseason, then-general manager Ryan Pace swung a deal with the Raiders for talented Khalil Mack, the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2016. The team gave up plenty to obtain the standout pass rusher. When it was all said and done, it paid off to the tune of a 12-4 record and an NFC North title.
Along the way, there were some bumps. On Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field, Nagy's club had their hands full with a pesky Lions' team that would finish the season in the NFC North basement with a 6-10 record. Detroit would take a 13-9 lead into the fourth quarter.
Chase Daniel was the Bears' quarterback that day, and his 14-yard TD connection with Tarik Cohen put Chicago on time. The Lions would bounce back and tie the score midway through the quarter, and quarterback Matthew Stafford got the ball back with 6:09 to play and immediately threw the ball to Bears' safety Eddie Jackson. He returned the ball 41 yards for the deciding touchdowns. Chicago's defense picked off Stafford later in the game to cement the win.
1. Bears 23, Lions 17 (OT) (1980)
In both 1977 and 1979, the Bears were a playoff team. They didn't farewell in the postseason in either of those years, losing to the Cowboys and Eagles, respectively. They fell to 7-9 in 1980, but there was this one extraordinary moment.
It came against Monte Clark's Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day at the Pontiac Silverdome. This was a franchise that used the first overall pick in April's draft on University of Oklahoma running back Billy Sims. The 1978 Heisman Trophy winner was the NFL's leading rusher when these old rivals clashed on Turkey Day.
Clark's team appeared to be in control and owned a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead. Then things got really interesting. The Bears narrowed the gap to seven points when quarterback Vince Evans threw a 20-yard TD pass to tight end Bob Fisher. Chicago would get the ball back late in the fourth quarter and a 94-yard march would culminate with Evans running into the end zone as time expired. The PAT sent the game into overtime.
The Lions kicked off to the Bears. Dave Williams grabbed the football and returned it 95 yards for the deciding touchdown. "It was like a nightmare coming down the sideline," said Clark. So, Neill Armstrong's team scored on the final play of regulation and on the only play in overtime. It was one of the most dramatic endings in a game in NFL history and that's not an overstatement.
