With a Christmas Day game, how do Packers fare on holidays? They do well, as long as it's not Thanksgiving
Richard RymanGREEN BAY – This year will be only the third time the Green Bay Packers have played on Christmas Day, but they are no strangers to holiday games, and no strangers to winning on holidays that aren't Thanksgiving.
The Packers host the Cleveland Browns at 3:30 p.m. Christmas Day at Lambeau Field.The 10-3 Packers comfortably lead the NFC North division and are vying for first seed in the NFC playoffs. The 7-6 Browns are in second place in the AFC North, one game behind the division-leading Baltimore Ravens.
The Packers play at Baltimore on Sunday, and Cleveland, which had 17 players and its head coach on the COVID-19 list this week, hosts the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday.
Overall, Green Bay is 30-22-2 in holiday appearances. The Packers played 36 Thanksgiving Day games in 102 seasons for a 15-19-2 record. They are 6-1 on Christmas Eve, 1-1 on Christmas Day, 3-0 on New Year's Day and, even though it's not a real holiday, 5-1 on New Year's Eve.
You have to include New Year's Eve because it's a practical holiday if not a proper one. And you want to include it because of the first two games in that series. In 1961, the Packers defeated the New York Giants 37-0 at new City Stadium (and future Lambeau Field), the first NFL championship game held in Green Bay. The second, a 21-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in 1967 at Lambeau Field, was notable for being one of the few times the tundra was for real frozen, as was pretty much everything else in the stadium. We are talking, of course, about the Ice Bowl.
The last time the Packers played holiday games was in 2017. They opened and closed the year playing their all-time most-frequent holiday opponent, the Detroit Lions. The Packers won 31-24 on New Year's Day, clinching the NFC North title with a 10-6 record, and lost 35-11 on New Year's Eve,12 months later, to finish the season a mediocre 7-9.
The Packers played twice on Christmas, both times against the Chicago Bears. They won the first one 24-17, in 2005, on the way to a 4-12 season under Mike Sherman, his last as head coach.
In 2011, the season after they won Super Bowl XLV, they beat the Bears 35-21. It was the next to last game of a 15-2 season that ended ignominiously with a 37-20 loss to the New York Giants at Lambeau Field. At least the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl.
How tough were Thanksgiving games? Even the sainted Vince Lombardi could only break even at 2-2-1, all games against Detroit. How annoying was it? In 1962, the Packers were 13-1 and the NFL champions. The one loss? You might notice a theme here.
Notable holiday games
Nov. 22, 1922 — The Packers hosted the Duluth Kelleys in their second Thanksgiving game. It was intended to replace some $1,500 in lost income from a game earlier in the month played in a driving rain that stopped a half-inch short of triggering the team's insurance policy. The Thanksgiving booster game was during a 12-hour rainfall itself. The team considered not playing, but Green Bay Press-Gazette Publisher Andrew Turnbull promised that if they played, the business community would back them. Even though 1,300 people did show up for the 10-0 Packers victory, according to the team's media guide, it was not financial salvation. But it did lead to the team's first stock sale. One thousand shares were sold for $5 in 1923 and the Packers became a publicly owned enterprise, as well as escaping another in a series of financial crises.
Nov. 22, 1956 — The Packers defeated Detroit 24-20. The 1950s were a long decade for Packers fans, and doubly so for Thanksgiving games. The Packers played the Lions, an NFL power in the 1950s, nine times, all in Detroit, and won twice, the second under Vince Lombardi in 1959.
Dec. 31, 1994 — The Packers scored a 16-12 playoff victory against Detroit. The Packers held Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders to minus-one yard rushing. And yeah, the same Barry Sanders who most Green Bay fans will agree should have been drafted five years earlier instead of offensive lineman Tony Mandarich.
Christmas Eve, 1995 — The Packers hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers for the final game of the regular season. The Packers entered the game 10-5 and the Steelers were 11-4. Brett Favre was hit hard near the goal line at one point and came up coughing blood, but he stayed on the field. On fourth down with 11 seconds left in the game and trailing 24-19, Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O'Donnell threw to a wide open — we are talking WIDE open — Yancy Thigpen in the back corner of the end zone and Thigpen dropped the ball, allowing the Packers to win their first division championship in 23 years.
Nov. 26, 2015 — This Thanksgiving was special. For one, the Packers played the Bears at Lambeau Field, only the third Thanksgiving game in Green Bay, the first two being in 1920 and 1922. The weather was awful, but former quarterback Brett Favre was honored and all three Super Bowl-winning QBs — Bart Starr, Favre and Aaron Rodgers — were in attendance. Oh, and the Bears won 13-7.
Christmas Eve, 2016 — The Packers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 38-25 at Lambeau Field when Aaron Rodgers threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Jordy Nelson. In the first quarter, Rodgers and Nelson set the franchise record for touchdowns by a quarterback/receiver duo with 58. They would end their time together with 65 TDs.
Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 431-8342 or rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.