The Thanksgiving Day football lineup has long been sacred ground for the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, with fans as accustomed to the tradition as they are to stuffing and cranberry sauce. But with the NFL's ever-growing willingness to adapt scheduling for prime-time matchups, the question is starting to gain traction: should Thanksgiving games be more flexible?
Videos by FanBuzz
That very question was posed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, and it is indeed a good one.
Historically, the Lions and Cowboys earned their Thanksgiving slots by stepping up when others wouldn't. That loyalty has value but is it time for the NFL to weigh tradition against the potential of more competitive, star-studded Thanksgiving matchups? The league is already in the business of flexing late-season games to ensure quality prime-time action, so why not add Thanksgiving to the list?
This year's Dallas game pits the Cowboys, with a quarterback situation in flux, against a New York Giants team in a similar QB carousel. Daniel Jones might not even be under center by Thanksgiving, leaving us with Cooper Rush vs. Tommy DeVito or Drew Lock. Not exactly a marquee QB showdown, as Florio noted.
And yes, the game will attract eyes simply by being on during a holiday when folks are gathered around TV screens. But if the quality slips too far, it could force the NFL to reconsider the automatic slots for Dallas and Detroit.
If the numbers fall short, we might see the league warm up to a Thanksgiving flex option in the future, with only Detroit keeping its long-standing anchor role. The holiday could still have its traditions — just with a little more flexibility to deliver the best of the NFL in front of the captive Turkey Day audience.
- More NFL | All coverage from FanBuzz
