NFL Thanksgiving or NBA Christmas Day? (Op/Ed)

The NFL on Thanksgiving is a very special tradition in the sports world. The first Thanksgiving Day game was played in 1934, with the Bears defeating the Lions (Pro Football Hall of Fame). However, the NBA on Christmas Day dominated the 2010s. So the question remains: which is better?
by Drew Caraway and Justin Andrio

(image courtesy of ESPN.com)

Drew: NFL Thanksgiving
For me, I prefer watching the NFL on Thanksgiving Day rather than watching the NBA on Christmas Day. In recent years, the NFL has been doing much better than the NBA, in my opinion. The NBA has fallen in my overall sports rankings from #3 to #5, sitting behind college football, the NFL, college basketball, and MLB.

This year’s slate of NFL Thanksgiving games was elite. In my opinion, the best game was the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, 31–28. The Chiefs scored 14 in the first quarter but did not score again until the fourth quarter, where they attempted a late-game comeback but fell short (ESPN).

Patrick Mahomes threw for four touchdowns, 261 yards, and a 67% completion percentage. Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns, 320 yards, and a 60% completion percentage. In a receiver duel, the Chiefs’ Rashee Rice caught eight passes for 92 yards with two touchdowns, while the Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown.

A close second was the Green Bay Packers defeating the Detroit Lions, 31–24. Jordan Love threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns, while Jared Goff threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, with neither quarterback throwing an interception. For the Packers, Dontayvion Wicks had six receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Jameson Williams for the Lions caught seven passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Micah Parsons exploded for the defense, hauling in 2.5 sacks on Jared Goff and three tackles for loss (TFL), wreaking havoc on the Lions’ offensive line (ESPN).

Justin: NFL Thanksgiving
NFL Thanksgiving over the past five years has impressed me enough to support it more than NBA Christmas. The games this year were action-packed; in the NFL, we had the Packers vs. the Lions.

This game ended in a Packers win, but it was very close with a score of 31–24. Next up was the Cowboys vs. the Chiefs. This was a shocker to me; I thought the Chiefs were going to win, but it turns out they didn't. They didn't look good at all and appeared to be dominated by the Cowboys. The final score of 31–28 set the Chiefs back to even at .500. Lastly, to end Thanksgiving night, it was the Bengals vs. the Ravens. This was the return of Joe Burrow since his turf toe injury.

This game started off slow, but Joe Burrow and that Bengals offense picked up in the second half, along with their defense only allowing one touchdown. The final score of this game was 32–14.

The following night on Friday, we also had a Black Friday game starring the Eagles and the Bears. This game went the way of the Bears, who defeated both the reigning Super Bowl champions and the runners-up. The final score of that game was 24–15, Bears.

NBA Christmas isn't a bad day for the basketball community; their slate of games is classic, but not as good as the NFL. They have the Cavs vs. the Knicks, Lakers vs. the Rockets, Warriors vs. the Mavericks, Thunder vs. the Spurs, and Timberwolves vs. the Nuggets.

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