THE LIONS FINALLY HAVE A GOOD TEAM,AND WINNING ON TURKEY DAY IS A BIG DEAL FOR THEM
Here are some facts for you!
The Detroit Lions have maintained a heralded tradition of playing on Thanksgiving Day since 1934. In 2003, the club upended their most prominent Turkey Day rival, the Green Bay Packers, 22-14 -- marking the Lions' 11th win in 17 attempts (one tie) on the national holiday within the series. Overall, the Lions have hosted 64 Thanksgiving classics. Last November, the Lions welcomed Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to Ford Field for a Thanksgiving clash, only the second holiday affair between the inter-conference foes. Here is a look at some facts and figures revolving around the historic annual contest.
The series began with a 19-16 loss to the Chicago Bears on November, 29, 1934.
A total of 64 games have been played with the Lions owning a 33-29-2 edge over their opponents.
More than three million fans have witnessed the Lions' Thanksgiving Day games in person. The total attendance for the first 62 games is 3,428,994, an average of 55,306 fans per contest. The 1990s games were attended by 762,443 fans (76,244 average).
The first Thanksgiving game that was televised came on November 22, 1956 when the Lions lost to the Packers, 24-20.
Thanksgiving Opponents
Here is a look at who the Lions have played on Thanksgiving and the number of games played.
Team Games Record
Green Bay Packers 17 11-5-1
Chicago Bears 15 7-8-0
Kansas City Chiefs 4 2-2-0
Minnesota Vikings 3 1-2-0
Denver Broncos 3 2-1-0
St. Louis Rams 3 0-3-0
Pittsburgh Steelers 2 2-0-0
Buffalo Bills 2 2-0-0
New York Jets 2 2-0-0
New England Patriots 2 1-1-0
Arizona Cardinals 1 0-1-0
Boston Yanks 1 0-1-0
Cleveland Browns 1 1-0-0
Indianapolis Colts 2 0-1-1
New York Giants 1 0-1-0
New York Yanks 1 1-0-0
Oakland Raiders 1 1-0-0
Philadelphia Eagles 1 0-1-0
San Francisco 49ers 1 0-1-0
Tennessee Titans 1 0-1-0
Washington Redskins 1 0-1-0
Atlanta Falcons 1 0-1-0
Total 66 33-31-2
The series began with a 19-16 loss to the Chicago Bears on November 29, 1934.
A total of 65 games have been played with the Lions owning a 33-30-2 edge over their opponents.
More than 3.6 million fans have witnessed the Lions? 65 Thanksgiving Day games. The total attendance for the first 65 games is 3,616,323, an average of 55,636 fans per Thanksgiving game, including 762,443 fans (76,244 average) in the 1990s.
The Lions have played 21 different teams since the first Thanksgiving Day game. The two most common opponents have been the Packers (17 times) and Bears (15 times).
The two highest scoring games were a 44-40 Packers' win in 1986 and a 52-35 Detroit romp over Green Bay in 1951.
The lowest scoring game was a 12-0 Philadelphia win in the 1968 "Mud Bowl."
Only eight times in the Thanksgiving Day series has a game been decided by three points or less, with the Lions' record standing at 4-4-2 in those meetings.
The most lopsided game was a 45-3 Lions win over Pittsburgh in 1983.
Seven shutouts have been recorded, but only one by the Lions (20-0 over the Bears in 1979).
Two Thanksgiving Day games have gone into overtime. The first came in 1980 when the Bears' David Williams returned the opening kickoff of OT for a 95-yard touchdown. At the time, the game marked the shortest overtime game in NFL history (21 seconds). The most recent overtime game occurred in 1998 when the Lions defeated the Steelers 19-16 on a 42-yard Jason Hanson field goal in a game that will be remembered for the controversial coin toss before overtime began.
Personally I think the team is going in the wrong directions. I am from the Detroit area. Looks like a rebellion could happen if players take Kitna words to heart. It was in todays Detroit News Kitna blaming everyone but himeself.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/OPINION03/711190328
