Arlington, Texas and Detroit, Michigan aren’t exactly sister cities, but they do have at least one big thing in common (and it’s a thing that’s a mainstay of many families’ holiday traditions):\u00a0<\/span>Each and every Thanksgiving, the Cowboys<\/a> and Lions<\/a> each host a football game. In the 2023 NFL season, the Thanksgiving tradition will continue as the Lions host the Packers<\/a> and the Cowboys host the Commanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lions first did it during their inaugural season in Detroit, in 1934, and Dallas went for it during the 1966 season, but both the Motor City and Dallas had pre-existing (if tenuous) ties to the holiday. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that both the Cowboys and the Lions committed to an annual tradition of hosting Thanksgiving games, and it would take until very recently for a third Thanksgiving game and a weekly Thursday night game<\/a> to allay worries as to whether both cities deserved to continue the tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nHistory of NFL Thanksgiving Games in Detroit<\/strong><\/h2>\n