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Thanksgiving Week 2026: first Eve game, Day tripleheader and Black Friday

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Five games across three days: Packers–Rams on Netflix Wednesday, Bears–Lions, Eagles–Cowboys and Chiefs–Bills on Thursday, then Broncos–Steelers on Prime Video Friday.

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WhyNFL Sports DeskPublished Updated
Exterior view of Ford Field in Detroit, longtime Thanksgiving host venue
Ford Field in Detroit, host of Bears–Lions on Thanksgiving Day 2026. Photo: Mikerussell / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized; display crop may vary.

Week 12 of the 2026 season stretches Thanksgiving into a three-day showcase: a first-ever Thanksgiving Eve kickoff on Wednesday, the traditional Thursday tripleheader, and the fourth Black Friday game on Friday.

The league locked the five-game holiday map when the regular-season schedule dropped in May. Matchups and Eastern kickoff windows below are those published dates — not a Week 12 preview of records or injuries.

Wednesday, November 25 — Thanksgiving Eve

Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Rams — 8:00 p.m. Eastern at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The slate’s newest holiday slot streams live on Netflix. Jordan Love’s Packers visit Matthew Stafford’s Rams in the first regular-season Thanksgiving Eve game the league has staged.

Thursday, November 26 — Thanksgiving Day

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions — 1:00 p.m. Eastern at Ford Field. Detroit’s annual noon-window tradition continues for an 86th Thanksgiving appearance, this time against the reigning NFC North champions and Ben Johnson’s Bears — a division rematch after Chicago took the North in 2025.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys — 4:30 p.m. Eastern at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The NFC East rivals meet on the holiday for only the third time since 1966; Philadelphia won the previous two Thanksgiving meetings (1989 and 2014).

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills — 8:20 p.m. Eastern at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. The nightcap renews one of the decade’s most-watched AFC rivalries on the holiday stage, with Patrick Mahomes visiting Josh Allen’s Bills.

Friday, November 27 — Black Friday

Denver Broncos at Pittsburgh Steelers — 3:00 p.m. Eastern at Acrisure Stadium. The fourth annual Black Friday game streams exclusively on Prime Video. Denver returns as a recent AFC title-game club; Pittsburgh hosts under Mike McCarthy after Mike Tomlin’s long run ended.

How the week sits on the calendar

Thanksgiving Week sits inside Week 12, between the Madrid international date (Bengals–Falcons on November 8) and the Munich and Mexico City international stops later in November. Seeds and clinching math for the 2026–27 playoffs update on the standings page after each week; Wild Card Weekend still opens January 16–18, 2027, on the way to Super Bowl LXI at SoFi on February 14.

This article is the holiday event map. Depth charts, weather and injury reports for each club will shift through November practice weeks.

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