The only NFL teams that always play on Thanksgiving are the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.

Quick Scoop

  • The Lions have been a Thanksgiving staple since 1934, making them the original Turkey Day NFL team.
  • The Cowboys joined the tradition in 1966 and have hosted a Thanksgiving game almost every year since.
  • In the modern NFL schedule, those two teams are locked in annually, and the league rotates their opponents plus an additional prime-time Thanksgiving matchup with other teams.

Why those teams?

  • Detroit originally used a Thanksgiving game in 1934 as a marketing move to draw attention to the franchise, and it stuck as a local and national tradition.
  • Dallas embraced the holiday slot in the 1960s to boost visibility and quickly became a ratings powerhouse, helping cement its yearly place on the schedule.
  • Today, the schedule is built around these two hosts, with four other teams chosen each year to fill out the three-game Thanksgiving slate.

Mini FAQ

  • Do any other teams “always” play?
    No. Other teams appear frequently, but only the Lions and Cowboys are guaranteed every year.
  • How many NFL games are on Thanksgiving now?
    There are typically three games: an early game in Detroit, an afternoon game in Dallas, and a rotating prime-time matchup.

In short, if it’s Thanksgiving, you can count on seeing the Lions in the early window and the Cowboys later in the day — everyone else is just a guest at the table.

TL;DR: For “what teams always play on Thanksgiving,” the answer is the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, who are locked in as annual hosts while their opponents change each year.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.