Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

There have been years when one Thanksgiving game has had a memorable moment or was a memorable game, but the other wasn't

1993- Obviously we all remember Miami/Dallas in the snow, but the early game- Chicago/Detroit- wasn't much to write home about (a 10-9 game with one TD)

Or even 1980- the Bears/Lions finish was memorable (Bears tie game at the gun, win toss, return OT kick for TD), but Seattle/Dallas was a total shellacking (51-7, though Dallas didn't have a pass/run play that was more than 23 yards)

I'm looking for the days when both games were memorable/stood out in their own unique way.

For me, it's 1994- obviously, Green Bay/Dallas was sensational (Garrett! Favre! Sharpe! Big play after big play!), but the early game- Buffalo/Detroit- had a lot of offensive fireworks (both teams had nearly 400 yards, Krieg/Kelly threw well, flea flicker TD on the 2nd play from scrimmage)

A few other candidates since the merger:

1974 - The Washington Dallas 24-23 Clint Longley game and Otis Armstrong rushed for 144 yards as Denver hung on to beat Detroit 31-27 in the last Thanksgiving game at Tiger Stadium.

1976 - In a game with big playoff implications, 9-2 Dallas came into 8-3 St. Louis and held off the Cards 19-14. In the other game, OJ Simpson rushed for 273 yards but the Lions beat Buffalo 27-14.

1984 - Both games decided by a field goal. In the early game, the Packers 21-7 in the second quarter when Lynn Dickey was poked in the eye and had to leave the game, replaced by Randy Wright. Detroit came back and won 31-28. In what was probably the better game, Dallas was up 17-7 going into the fourth quarter to New England, but the Pats tied it at 17 with two minutes to play. Rafael Septien booted a 23-yard game winner with four seconds to play for the win. Craig James rushed for over 100 yards for NE.

1987 - Kansas City led 24-7 in the second quarter against Detroit and hung on for a 27-20 victory. The big game was the Minnesota Dallas game, which was a 44-38 OT shootout. Danny White fired four TD passes but it was not enough; five turnovers doomed the Cowboys. Darrin Nelson won it with a 24-yard TD run to win the game.

1998 - The Detroit Pittsburgh OT coin flip debacle game, along with another Dallas Minnesota shootout, this won again won again by the Vikings 46-36. Troy Aikman threw for a career-high 455 yards but only one TD pass. Emmitt rushed for only 44 yards but three TD runs.

2001 - Green Bay went ahead 29-13 with seven minutes to play. Detroit scored with 1:17 to play, and got the deuce to make it 29-21. They got the onside kick, and scored again with ten seconds left but the two-pointer failed. Green Bay won 29-27. In the other game, Denver was ahead 26-3 with 11 minutes to play in regulation when the Cowboys came to life, scoring three TD's in nine minutes including a 65-yard punt return by Reggie Swinton. Dallas came up short 26-24. That fourth quarter was probably Ryan Leaf's best quarter of football as an NFL player.

2011 - 10-0 Packers go into 7-3 Detroit and some see the potential for parallels of 1962 Thanksgiving game, but there was to be no upset today as the Pack takes a 24-0 lead into the fourth quarter and cruises to a 27-15 victory. Dallas beat Miami 20-19 on a Dan Bailey 28-yard FG on the final play of the game. The night game was Harbaugh Bowl I - Ravens vs. 49ers at Baltimore, and the Ravens won a defensive battle 16-6.

1962 - The Detroit Lions stunningly crush Vince Lombardi's best Packer team to hand them their only loss of the year. Meanwhile, in the AFL, the Titans and Broncos play a wild game featuring 11 touchdowns, seven in the second half, and four second-half lead changes. The Titans rally with two late fourth quarter TDs to win 46-45.

2012 - A pair of high-scoring tight contests between the Lions and Titans and Cowboys and Redskins.

Two years earlier, the AFL's scheduled Thanksgiving game was supposed to be Denver at Kansas City. However, after they cancelled the previous weekend's ganes because of the JFK assassination, it was switched to Oakland at Denver.

In 1965, you had the oddity of both games ending up in ties: The Colts tied the Lions, 24-24 and the Bills tied the Chargers, 20-20.

One oddity: in the 1961 Lions-Packers game, Detroit made the rare decision to wear their white jerseys at home. Their superstitious coach, George Wilson, believed that because they were 5-0 on the road up to that point, it would help. Instead, the Pack won, 17-9.

Nine years after that game, the Lions again wore white at home--the last time it's happened. This was because NBC griped about the Raiders' silver numbers on white jerseys, which made it hard to pick up the player numbers. George Blanda's five-week streak of comebacks ended with Detroit's 28-14 win.

1984 - Both games decided by a field goal. In the early game, the Packers 21-7 in the second quarter when Lynn Dickey was poked in the eye and had to leave the game, replaced by Randy Wright. Detroit came back and won 31-28.

That game kept them out of the playoffs that year. If they win that game, they end up 9-7, and they would have won the tie-breakers over the Giants, Cowboys, and Cards for the second WC spot due to a better conference record.

The big game was the Minnesota Dallas game, which was a 44-38 OT shootout. Danny White fired four TD passes but it was not enough; five turnovers doomed the Cowboys. Darrin Nelson won it with a 24-yard TD run to win the game.

Dallas would have ended up in the playoffs if they won that game (they would have ended up 8-7, with the Vikes 7-8). However, are they still able to fleece the Vikings two years later for Walker? Maybe not.

Had Colts not shot themselves in feet with either single-covering Antonio Brown and/or dropping that sure TD-pass (or maybe if Luck would have played-period), perhaps this very past Thursday's three games may have collectively made a claim for...'1st-place'.

Not a league game, but a game that saved the Packer franchise (literally) ...

https://packerspastperfect.wordpress.co ... ing-story/

Ronfitch wrote:Not a league game, but a game that saved the Packer franchise (literally) ...

https://packerspastperfect.wordpress.co ... ing-story/

I was at that game.