The NFL will officially release its full schedule for the 2025 season on Wednesday, May 14th, but between now and then, several leaks could trickle out and predictions will be made.
John Breech at CBS Sports decided to have some fun with it and make some predictions for the coming season, including who will play in the season opener and who will play in the big holiday games on national television.
Looking at the possible games for Thanksgiving, Breech sees a potential divisional clash between AFC West rivals the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers. Since the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have the honor of playing on Thanksgiving every year, Breech predicts that this game will be in the third and final slot of the day.
“Over the past five years, the prime time Thanksgiving game has featured at least one team that made the playoffs in the prior season, so it seems like a lock that we’ll see at least one 2024 playoff team in this slot and possibly two.
Predicted game: Broncos at Chargers or Seahawks at Rams”, wrote Breech.
He throws in another divisional matchup as a possibility, but having the Broncos and Chargers play at SoFi Stadium on Thanksgiving night would be a great matchup as both teams are loading up to take out the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
The Chargers swept the season series against the Broncos last season in two hard-fought games. Both teams were eliminated in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
The Chargers hold a 3-1-1 record on Thanksgiving. Their last appearance came in 2017 in a dominant 28-6 win over the Cowboys on the road. That was the team’s first Thanksgiving day appearance since the merger.
The Broncos hold a 4-7 all-time record on Turkey Day but have not played on the holiday since 2009, a 26-6 win over Eli Manning and the New York Giants.
The Broncos and Chargers, both original AFL franchises, have played each other on Thanksgiving once before, on November 23, 1967, a 24-20 Chargers win. In that game, played at the old San Diego Stadium, the Broncos took a 20-10 lead to the fourth quarter. But the Chargers scored on a 72-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown to draw within three and then late in the game, an 8-yard touchdown run by Dickie Post gave the Chargers the win.
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