HOME
HALL OF FAMERS
PLAN YOUR VISIT
SHOP
Does Thanksgiving help playoff hopes?
11/20/2012
Is winning on Thanksgiving Day a litmus test for identifying a playoff team? Maybe it is. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, there have been 88 games played on the annual “football” holiday. Of that sum, a total of 53 winners from those games, or 59 percent, went on to earn a postseason berth that year. Twenty-nine of those winners won their division and 23 made the postseason as a Wild Card.
How about the loser in a Thanksgiving Day Game? The teams who came up on the short end on “Turkey Day” made it to the postseason only 29 percent of the time (26 of 88 teams with 14 clubs winning their division).
Is playing on Thanksgiving a good identifier of a Super Bowl team? Unless you are the Dallas Cowboys the answer is a resounding “no.” Since 1970, the Cowboys (1971, 1992, 1993, and 1995) and the Miami Dolphins (1973) are the only teams to play on Thanksgiving and make it to the Super Bowl in the same season. Dallas and Miami hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy each of those seasons.
Is this bad news for the Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, and New York Jets, who along with Dallas entertain the nation on Thanksgiving Day this year? Perhaps so as history is apparently not on their side. But, we fans see every week during an NFL season, there is a first for everything.
Year
Winner
Playoff?
Loser
Playoff?
1970
Detroit - 28
WC
Oakland - 14
DIV
1970
Dallas - 16
DIV
Green Bay - 3
1971
Detroit - 28
Kansas City - 21
DIV
1971
*Dallas - 28
DIV
Los Angeles 21
1972
Detroit - 37
NY Jets - 20
1972
San Francisco - 31
DIV
Dallas - 10
WC
1973
Washington - 20
WC
Detroit - 0
1973
*Miami - 14
DIV
Dallas - 7
DIV
1974
Denver - 31
DIV
Detroit - 27
1974
Dallas - 24
DIV
Washington - 23
WC
1975
Los Angeles - 20
DIV
Detroit - 0
1975
Buffalo - 32
St. Louis - 14
DIV
1976
Detroit - 27
Buffalo - 14
1976
Dallas - 19
DIV
St. Louis - 14
1977
Chicago - 31
WC
Detroit - 14
1977
Miami - 55
St. Louis - 14
1978
Detroit - 17
Denver - 14
DIV
1978
Dallas - 37
DIV
Washington - 10
1979
Detroit - 20
Chicago - 0
WC
1979
Houston - 30
WC
Dallas - 24
DIV
1981
Detroit - 27
Kansas City - 10
1981
Dallas - 10
DIV
Chicago - 9
1982
Dallas - 31
STK
Cleveland - 14
STK
1982
NY Giants - 13
Detroit - 6
1983
Dallas - 35
WC
St. Louis - 17
1983
Detroit - 45
DIV
Pittsburgh - 3
DIV
1984
Dallas - 20
New England - 17
1984
Detroit - 31
Green Bay - 28
1985
Dallas - 35
DIV
St. Louis - 17
1985
Detroit - 31
NY Jets - 20
WC
1986
Seattle - 31
Dallas - 14
1986
Green Bay - 44
Detroit - 40
1987
Minnesota - 44
WC
Dallas -38
1987
Kansas City - 27
Detroit - 20
1988
Houston - 25
WC
Dallas - 17
1988
Minnesota - 23
WC
Detroit - 0
1989
Philadelphia - 27
WC
Dallas - 0
1989
Detroit - 13
Cleveland - 10
DIV
1990
Dallas - 27
Washington - 17
WC
1990
Detroit - 40
Denver - 27
1991
Dallas - 20
WC
Pittsburgh - 10
1991
Detroit - 16
DIV
Chicago - 6
WC
1992
*Dallas - 30
DIV
NY Giants - 3
1992
Houston - 24
WC
Detroit - 21
1993
Miami - 16
*Dallas - 14
DIV
1993
Chicago - 10
Detroit - 6
DIV
1994
Dallas - 42
DIV
Green Bay - 31
WC
1994
Detroit - 35
WC
Buffalo - 21
1995
*Dallas - 24
DIV
Kansas City - 12
DIV
1995
Detroit - 44
WC
Minnesota - 38
1996
Dallas - 21
DIV
Wahington - 10
1996
Kansas City - 28
Detroit - 24
1997
Tennessee - 27
Dallas - 14
1997
Detroit - 55
WC
Chicago - 20
1998
Minnesota - 46
DIV
Dallas - 36
WC
1998
Detroit - 19
Pittsburgh - 16
1999
Dallas - 20
WC
Miami - 0
WC
1999
Detroit - 21
WC
Chicago - 17
2000
Minnesota - 27
DIV
Dallas - 15
2000
Detroit - 34
New England - 9
2001
Green Bay - 29
WC
Detroit - 27
2001
Denver - 26
Dallas - 24
2002
New England - 20
Detroit - 12
2002
Dallas - 27
Washington - 20
2003
Detroit - 22
Green Bay - 14
DIV
2003
Miami - 40
Dallas - 21
WC
2004
Indianapolis - 41
DIV
Detroit - 9
2004
Dallas - 21
Chicago - 7
2005
Atlanta - 27
Detroit - 7
2005
Denver - 24
DIV
Dallas - 21
2006
Miami - 27
Detroit - 10
2006
Dallas - 38
WC
Tampa Bay - 10
2006
Kansas - 19
WC
Denver - 10
2007
Green Bay - 37
DIV
Detroit - 26
2007
Dallas - 34
DIV
NY Jets - 3
2007
Indianapolis - 31
DIV
Atlanta - 13
2008
Tennessee - 47
DIV
Detroit - 10
2008
Dallas - 34
Seattle - 9
2008
Philadelphia - 48
WC
Arizona - 20
DIV
2009
Green Bay - 34
WC
Detroit - 12
2009
Dallas - 24
DIV
Oakland - 7
2009
Denver - 26
NY Giants - 6
2010
New England - 45
DIV
Detroit - 24
2010
New Orleand - 30
WC
Dallas - 27
2010
NY Jets - 26
WC
Cincinnati - 10
2011
Green Bay - 27
DIV
Detroit - 15
WC
2011
Dallas - 20
Miami- 19
2011
Baltimore - 16
DIV
San Francisco - 6
DIV
WC
= Wildcard;
DIV
= Division Winner;
STK
= Strike-year playoff format;
*
= Super Bowl champion