Here's how to keep up with all the Thanksgiving football action.
By
Chance Townsend
Headshot of a Black man
Chance Townsend
Assistant Editor, General Assignments
Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.
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on November 27, 2025
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David Montgomery #5 of the Detroit Lions breaks a tackle by Byron Murphy Jr. #7 of the Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Mike Mulholland/Getty Images
Thanksgiving is the season of gratitude, but it’s also the annual tradition of watching your dad and uncles yell at the TV like the refs can hear them.
As far as Thanksgiving holiday traditions go, the NFL on Thanksgiving is baked right into the stuffing. The league has stacked Thanksgiving with games since its early days in 1920. By 1934, the Detroit Lions became the holiday’s official hosts, and in 1966 the Dallas Cowboys joined the yearly lineup, cementing the modern tradition.
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This year’s slate is packed: two division rivalries and an appearance from the Super Bowl runner-up Kansas City Chiefs, playing their first Thanksgiving game since 2006.
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Here’s how to stream:
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
Kicking off the festivities is an NFC North showdown loaded with playoff implications. The Packers and Lions last met in the season opener, when Green Bay stunned Detroit with a decisive win — a shocker considering the Lions entered the year with some of the highest Super Bowl odds in the league.
Now at 7–4 and fresh off a nail-biter against the 2–10 Giants, Detroit desperately needs this one. Their end-of-season schedule is brutal, and they’re currently sitting just outside the Wild Card picture. Green Bay isn’t exactly cruising either: the Packers are 7–3–1, holding only a half-game edge over Detroit and still staring down two games against the surging 8–3 Bears.
The NFC North is a pressure cooker right now, and only two teams from the division are punching playoff tickets.
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If you have cable, the game airs on FOX. Cord-cutters can stream it for free on Tubi at 12 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. ET.
Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys
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Following the noon matchup, the Dallas Cowboys will host a surprisingly resilient Kansas City Chiefs squad. Dallas is coming off a statement win over the reigning champion Eagles after climbing out of a 21–0 hole. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are riding the momentum of their own after a comeback victory against one of the AFC’s top teams, the Indianapolis Colts.
It’s been a weird season for both franchises. The Cowboys opened the year by trading star edge rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay after failing to reach a deal on his new contract — a move that stunned just about everyone. The Chiefs, perennial AFC West bullies, suddenly find themselves sitting third at 6–5. For a team that’s made five of the last seven Super Bowls, that’s a jarring place to be. Whether it’s an aging pass rush or an offense that’s grown too predictable, something’s clearly off. Still, back-to-back strong wins have kept them in the hunt.
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Both teams desperately need this game to boost their Wild Card odds. The Cowboys, 5–5–1 and sitting 10th in the NFC, essentially need to win out — though matchups against the Commanders and Giants give them a fighting chance. The Chiefs are in a similar logjam, tied with the Steelers and Texans as the most likely contenders for the final AFC Wild Card spot if any combination of Jacksonville, Buffalo, or the Chargers stumble down the stretch.
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS, with streaming available on Paramount+.
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
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If you’d told NFL fans a few weeks ago that this would be the primetime Thanksgiving headliner, they probably would’ve laughed. But the football gods have blessed us, and now we’re getting Joe Burrow vs. Lamar Jackson in an AFC North rivalry game under the national spotlight. That alone is something to be thankful for.
It’s been a season the Bengals would love to forget. Losing Joe Burrow in Week 2 to a grade 3 turf toe injury — a silly-sounding name for a very real ligament tear in his big toe — derailed everything. Burrow is finally back, but at 3–8, Cincinnati does not remotely resemble the playoff hopeful they expected to be.
The Ravens, on the other hand, were a mess early on. They opened 1–5 before hitting their Week 7 bye, but since then, they've ripped off five straight wins to take control of the AFC North. That’s not exactly a Herculean task given the division standings: Cleveland and Cincinnati sit at 3–8, and Pittsburgh can’t find consistency, going 2–3 over their last five.
Still, Baltimore is hot, and they’ll be looking to ride that momentum straight into another win to solidify their grip on the division. As for the Bengals, they’re not mathematically dead. If they win out — and Burrow stays healthy — they could still finish 9–8 with a puncher’s chance at sneaking into the postseason.
You can watch this on Peacock at 7:20 p.m. CT / 8:20 p.m. EST. Or NBC if you have cable.
Topics Streaming Sports
Headshot of a Black man
Chance Townsend
Assistant Editor, General Assignments
Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.
In his free time, he cooks, loves to sleep, and greatly enjoys Detroit sports. If you have any tips or want to talk shop about the Lions, you can reach out to him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or by email at [email protected].
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