We recently had a question asked by Kristine, who appears to be a Detroit Lions fan, about the Lions recent success in their Thanksgiving Day games:

“My friend and I watched this year’s Detroit Turkey Day Game. After the game was over, we were trying to remember the last time the Lion’s won a game on Thanksgiving. And much to my surprise I couldn’t remember the Lion’s winning on Thanksgiving after The Great ‘ Barry Sanders’ retired. Do you know the last game won by Detoit in Detroit?”

We did some research, but expanded it to look at Detroit’s success in Thanksgiving Day games since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

So, to answer the original question regarding the Detroit Lions success in Thanksgiving Day games since Barry Sanders retired (1998):

The last time the Lions won on Thanksgiving was 2003 against the Packers, and they’ve won three times since Barry Sanders retired.

With Barry Sanders on the roster (1989-1998) the Detroit Lions were 7-3 in games played on Thanksgiving.

In games played on Thanksgiving since Barry Sanders retired (1999-2007) the Detroit Lions are 3-6.

Detroit’s Turkey Day Win-Loss Record By Decade:
1970’s 6-4
1980’s 5-5
1990’s 7-3
2000’s 2-6

In the 38 games that the Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day since 1970, their record is 20-18… just over .500 - If you throw out their record since 2000, they were a very respectable 19-12.

Thanks for the great question!