Written by: Andrew Sushynski (acs007@marietta.edu)
The Detroit Lions have finally broken their Thanksgiving curse. The Lions entered Thanksgiving Day with a 10-1 record looking to add another win to their season total. They faced a divisional opponent in the Chicago Bears who came into the matchup 4-7 overall. The Lions, one season removed from an NFC Championship Game appearance in a season that also saw them win their first playoff game since 1992, are looking to break another one of their “historic curses.”
The Lions track record on Thanksgiving Day has been nothing short of disappointing. Overall, they are 37-45-2 all time on Thanksgiving Day and have lost their last seven Thanksgiving games dating back to 2017. So far this season, the Lions have been known for their high scoring offense led by quarterback Jared Goff and one of the league’s best running back tandems in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery who are nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles respectively.
The first half was a one-sided affair as the Detroit Lions jumped out to a 16-0 lead which lasted until halftime. Many expected more of the same for the second half, but we saw the Bears break into the scoring column with a touchdown in the third quarter.
Going into the 4th quarter the Lions had a 23-7 lead, but the Bears came battling back scoring 13 unanswered to make it a 23-20 game. After a Lion’s punt the Bears would have one final drive with 3:31 left on the clock as the drive would see them starting on their own one-yard line. The Bears would go on to drive down the field and after some back and forth penalties were able to get the ball to the Lions 35-yard line.
On 2nd and 20 Bear’s quarterback Caleb Williams took a snap in shotgun and was quickly sacked by the Lions defense. With 32 seconds remaining and one time out the Bears elected to run a hurry up offense and were unable to get a snap off until 5 seconds remained. With one final play Williams launched the ball towards the end zone in the direction of rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze which fell incomplete. This gave the Lions a 23-20 Thanksgiving Victory making it there first in 7 years improving their record to 11-1 on the season.
Edited by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
