Who will win the first Thanksgiving game in 2025?
Thanksgiving – the most wonderful time of the year. At least for NFL fans, because every year on this Thursday there are two exciting NFL duels at prime time – this season it starts with our Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers tip. Since the Lions and Cowboys are the two regular Thanksgiving teams, Detroit in particular has a lot of experience on this holiday.
In the last two years, however, the turkey didn’t really agree with them, as they lost decisively to the Colts and the Falcons. So they have a lot to make up for to their fans on the holiday, which is also about winning the NFC North division.
Currently, the Bears are still at the top of the table. However, as they have to play the Eagles just one day later, the winner of Thursday’s game could already be in first place after this matchday. Overall, we consider the Lions to be the strongest of these three teams, and if they can get their defense under control, there is a good chance that Detroit will win.
Therefore, our prediction for Lions vs. Packers is a home win for the Lions, who will then take the lead in the NFC North. In addition, Jahmyr Gibbs, who is currently in outstanding form, is likely to carry the next touchdown into the end zone.
Kickoff for the first of two Thanksgiving games is on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Detroit. The game will be broadcast live on RTL and on the streaming service DAZN.
Detroit Lions – Green Bay Packers Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The two teams have already faced each other once this season. On the very first matchday, Green Bay won 27-13 at home against Detroit. At that time, however, the Lions were still mentally in the summer break. Since then, the Lions have gone from strength to strength and are currently only one draw behind the Packers in the table.
The winner will therefore be ahead of their opponent after this matchday – another reason why the Lions will be fired up. They also have the significantly better offense. With 29.6 to 23.9 points per game, they are very difficult to stop on the ground. 139.8 rushing yards per game puts them in third place in the entire NFL.
However, since the Packers only allow 18.4 points per game, they could keep the game close with the help of their defense. Thus, in Lions vs. Packers, the odds on under points are another playable betting option alongside win tips on the Lions. We would rather refrain from larger handicap tips (over 3.0 points) on both sides.
Detroit Lions – Green Bay Packers Tip
If we take the past two years as a benchmark, the Lions have little to say on Thanksgiving. But that’s not how the NFL works, and the overtime win against the Giants should have woken them up on the one hand and doubly motivated them for Thursday on the other.
They racked up 494 total yards on Sunday, including 237 rushing yards. For us, a bet on Detroit + a touchdown by Jahmyr Gibbs is our pick for Lions vs. Packers. Why this combination? Because Gibbs is simply unstoppable right now and has even scored two touchdowns in three of the last five games.
So we’ve already included our player bet for Thanksgiving in our main tip. But no problem, we have a second one up our sleeve: a TD bet on Amon-Ra St. Brown. The German-American has also scored nine touchdowns in eleven games so far – most recently a very important one against the Giants on Sunday.
