As people across our nation enjoy their turkey and stuffing on Thursday, they can put on the television and watch some great action in the National Football League. The first Thanksgiving Day game brings us to Detroit, Michigan. At Ford Field, the Detroit Lions are set to play their NFC North rivals, the Minnesota Vikings for first place. Before I get into this game with the division on the line, I would like to mention a little bit of history regarding the Lions and Thanksgiving Day. The first owner of the Lions, G.A. Richards, started the tradition of Thanksgiving Day game as a way to get people to go to Lions football games.
Now in regards to this game. Let us first look at the Minnesota Vikings. When the season began, the Vikings shot out of the gate with an impressive 5-0 record. Then they began to have a downhill spiral as they would go to lose their next four out of five games. It seems that the Vikings team we saw to start the 2016 season was a fluke as they have not been able to regain that momentum.
This is the second time the Vikings are playing the Lions. Their first game happened roughly four weeks ago and was in the midst of the Vikings losing streak. They lost the game 22-16 which could be due to the Lions out rushing them and holding the ball longer than them.
On the other side, you have the Detroit Lions. They are coming into this game with a record of 6-4 and hold the 3rd seed in the NFC. However, unlike the Vikings who came out of the gate very strong, that is not the case for the Lions.
They started the season off 0-3 and were struggling mightily. However, the Lions have gone 4-2 and have capitalized big time on the mistakes being done by the Vikings and the Packers.
If you would like some information on where you can watch or listen to the game, here it is:
Date Thursday, November 24, 2016
Time: 12:30 pm
Online: NFL Sunday Ticket
Radio: Sirius 83/XM 226 or Sirius Online 818, Vikings Radio Network, KFAN-FM 100.3/KTLK-AM 1130 or Westwood One