Ranking the 2025 NFL Thanksgiving Games by Importance

Thanksgiving Day games don't necessarily need to be meaningful to capture the attention of football fans. 

There have been plenty of awful Detroit Lions teams prior to the Dan Campbell era in the national spotlight during the holiday. Fortunately, all three of this Thursday's games will be impactful in division and wild card races. 

Let's take a closer look, ranking them in reverse order of importance.

Cincinnati at Baltimore

The nightcap features the only first-place team to take the field on Thanksgiving. The Ravens have surged into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh in the AFC North by virtue of a five-game winning streak.

While Lamar Jackson returned from a hamstring injury four games ago, the Ravens' turnaround has been fueled by a resurgent defense that has allowed fewer than 20 points in each of the last six games. Jackson has thrown for fewer than 200 yards for three straight games.

He may need to return to his more dynamic ways on Thursday. Counterpart Joe Burrow is expected to play for the first time since suffering a toe injury in the season opener. Star receiver Ja'Marr Chase will return from a one-game league suspension.

Even if the Bengals pull an upset, the Ravens will still control their division destiny. Both of their showdowns against the Steelers are among their remaining five games.

Kansas City at Dallas

The defending AFC champions averted a three-game losing streak by rallying to an overtime victory over Indianapolis on Sunday. At 6-5, they still have plenty of work to do. They're three games behind Denver in the AFC West, while three second-place conference teams have 7-4 records.

Kansas City still has matchups with the Broncos and second-place Los Angeles Chargers upcoming, along with a tough home game against Houston and its stout defense. The return of Rashee Rice from a league suspension has revived Kansas City's passing attack and they'll need a big game out of Patrick Mahomes to get past the Cowboys.

Dallas will head into Thursday's game with a huge momentum boost after erasing a 21-point deficit against Philadelphia. With Dak Prescott distributing the ball to Ceedee Lamb, George Pickens and Jake Ferguson, the Cowboys will provide a huge test to the Chiefs defense.

At 5-5-1, the Cowboys probably can't afford more than one loss the rest of the way to hang around the NFC East and wild card races.

Green Bay at Detroit

Thanks to streaking Chicago, the NFC North has turned into a three-team tussle. Green Bay trails the Bears by a half-game with the Lions one game out of first place.

The Packers will face the Bears twice next month, while the Lions have one game remaining against Chicago.

Green Bay can gain a pivotal head-to-head tiebreaker on Thursday, as it recorded a 27-13 victory over the Lions in their season opener. The Packers limited the vaunted Lions offense to 246 total yards that night and have continued to rely on their defense to remain in the thick of the division and wild card pictures.

The Packers have held opponents to 20 or fewer points in the last four games, propping up a pedestrian offense. Quarterback Jordan Love hasn't reached the 200-yard passing mark the last three games.

Detroit needed a 59-yard field goal from Jake Bates and a monster performance from Jahmyr Gibbs to survive the two-win New York Giants at home on Sunday. The Lions' offensive line will need to do a much better job of protecting Jared Goff against Green Bay's pass rush to avenge their first loss.