NFL Thanksgiving grades for Week 13: Packers earn 'A-' for sweeping Lions, Cowboys set to face Chiefs
Here are the grades for every team that played on Thanksgiving
By
John Breech
•
4 min read
Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Week 13 grades!
The Green Bay Packers might want to ask the NFL if they can start playing on Thanksgiving every year, because it definitely seems to be Jordan Love's favorite holiday. The Packers quarterback threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns to lead his team to a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions. Love is now 3-0 on Thanksgiving and in those three games, he's thrown nine touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The win gives the Packers a season sweep over the Lions and puts them in a spot where they could be on top of the division by the end of the weekend. If the Bears lose to the Eagles on Black Friday, the Packers will take over sole possession of first place.
The win by Green Bay was the first game in a Thanksgiving tripleheader. The second game is taking place in Dallas. It's a must-win game for both teams, who will be hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Thanksgiving nightcap will feature the return of Joe Burrow with the Cincinnati Bengals heading to Baltimore to face the Ravens in an AFC North showdown. The Bengals dealt with some Thanksgiving travel delays and didn't get into Baltimore until after midnight.
With that in mind, let's get to our Thanksgiving grades.
Green Bay 31-24 over Detroit
| A- |  |
| Packers coach Matt LaFleur showed off a new aggressive side and it paid off with a huge win. The Packers coach channeled his inner Dan Campbell with three fourth down attempts in this game and Green Bay converted them all. That was mostly thanks to Jordan Love, who came up absolutely clutch by going 3 of 3 for 40 yards and two touchdowns on the fourth down plays. The Packers offense had struggled over the past couple of weeks, but Love looked sharp and it's possible the offense has finally gotten over the hump of losing Tucker Kraft. Defensively, Micah Parsons took over in the fourth quarter with two big sacks. The Packers defense been playing well enough to win the division all year, and now, the offense might have finally caught up. With a national audience watching, the Packers (8-3-1) made a Thanksgiving statement in this game and that statement is that they might be the best team in the NFC North. | |
| B |  |
| The Lions played well enough to win, but they lost this game because they fell apart on fourth down on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they went 0-for-2 on fourth down and the most painful miss was a fourth-and-3 drop by Jameson Williams that came at Green Bay's 21-yard line in the fourth quarter. Defensively, they let the Packers convert all three of their fourth down attempts, including a fourth-and-3 conversion with under two minutes to play that allowed Green Bay to ice the game. Basically, the Lions needed to make some clutch plays and they couldn't get it done on either side of the ball, which has been the story of their season. After finishing 15-2 last season, this year's version of the Lions (7-5) is now in serious danger of missing the playoffs. | |
Kansas City (6-5) at Dallas (5-5-1), 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
| TBA |  |
| The Chiefs are headed to AT&T Stadium, where Patrick Mahomes has never started an NFL game. However, he did play three college games at the stadium while at Texas Tech and he averaged 533 passing yards per game. One reason the Chiefs have struggled this year is because they can't win on the road. Not only are they 1-4 away from home, but they've lost three straight road games, which is the longest streak of Mahomes' career. This will mark the first time that Kansas City has played on Thanksgiving since 2006 when they beat the Broncos in the NFL's first-ever Thanksgiving prime time game. | |
| TBA |  |
| The Cowboys have one of the best offenses in the NFL right now. Heading into Week 13, they rank No. 1 overall in yards per game (387.3) and they rank fourth overall in points per game (29.1). If their explosive offense can turn this game into a shootout, the Chiefs might not be able to keep up. That might sound crazy to say, because the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, but that's been the case this season. The Chiefs are 0-4 this season when their opponent scores 21 points or more. The Cowboys have the weapons to turn this into a shootout with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, so if Dak Prescott has a big game, the underdog Cowboys could be in line to pull off the upset. Although the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving every year, this will mark just the second time they they've played the Chiefs on Turkey Day. The only other meeting came back in 1995 when the Cowboys topped the Chiefs 24-12 on their way to winning Super Bowl XXX. | |
Cincinnati (3-8) at Baltimore (6-5), 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
| TBA |  |
| After missing nine games due to injury, Joe Burrow will be making his triumphant return in this game. The Bengals are hoping that Burrow can save their season. Although their playoff hopes are on life support, the Bengals could certainly make things interesting if they win out and if anyone can pull that off, it's Burrow. The Bengals QB hasn't lost a regular season start since Week 13 of the 2024 season. Since then, he's gone 7-0. This will mark just the second time the Bengals have played on Thanksgiving with their first appearance coming back in a 2010 loss to the Jets. | |
| TBA |  |
| The Bengals are getting Joe Burrow back, but that probably won't worry Lamar Jackson very much. The Ravens QB has dominated the Bengals in his career, going 10-1, which is the fourth-best winning percentage by a QB against a divisional opponent since 2000. This will mark the third time that the Ravens have played on Thanksgiving and so far, things have gone well for them: Baltimore has a 2-0 record with wins in 2011 and 2013. | |
