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NFL Christmas history since 1971

Thanksgiving is behind us but that’s not stopping the NFL from having a holiday triple-header. Once again, the league is holding three games as millions of Americans celebrate a holiday, this time on Christmas.

The NFL’s triple-header on Christmas is still a new concept for football fans. The league avoided the holiday for decades with one brief exception in 1971 for the divisional round of the playoffs.

In 1989, the NFL held a Christmas Day game because the holiday fell on a Monday. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals 29-21 to end an 18-year drought on the holiday.

Over the next 30 years, the NFL played a total of 19 games on Christmas. The league traditionally avoided the holiday but that changed in recent times.

The NFL had a Christmas game in 2020 then expanded to multiple games the year after and kept that pace ever since. Here’s a look at the results of every Christmas Day NFL game:

NFL Christmas history, results

1971 (Divisional playoffs)

Dallas Cowboys 20-12Minnesota Vikings
Miami Dolphins 27-24 (2OT)Kansas City Chiefs

1989

Minnesota Vikings 29-21Cincinnati Bengals

1993

Houston Oilers 10-7San Francisco 49ers

1994

Miami Dolphins 27-20Detroit Lions

1995

Dallas Cowboys 37-13Arizona Cardinals

1999

Denver Broncos 17-7Detroit Lions

2000

Tennessee Titans 31-0 Dallas Cowboys

2004

Kansas City Chiefs 31-30 Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos 37-16 Tennessee Titans

2005

Chicago Bears 24-17Green Bay Packers
Baltimore Ravens 30-23 Minnesota Vikings

2006

Philadelphia Eagles 23-7 Dallas Cowboys
New York Jets 13-10 Miami Dolphins

2009

San Diego Chargers 42-17 Tennessee Titans

2010

Arizona Cardinals 27-26 Dallas Cowboys

2011

Green Bay Packers 35-21 Chicago Bears

2016

Pittsburgh Steelers 31-27 Baltimore Ravens
Kansas City Chiefs 33-10 Denver Broncos

2017

Pittsburgh Steelers 34-6 Houston Texans
Philadelphia Eagles 19-10 Oakland Raiders

2020

New Orleans Saints 52-33 Minnesota Vikings

2021

Green Bay Packers 24-22 Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts 22-16 Arizona Cardinals

2022

Green Bay Packers 26-20 Miami Dolphins
Los Angeles Rams 51-14 Denver Broncos
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-16 (OT) Arizona Cardinals

2023

Las Vegas Raiders 20-14 Kansas City Chiefs
Philadelphia Eagles 33-25 New York Giants
Baltimore Ravens 33-19 San Francisco 49ers

2024

Kansas City Chiefs 29-10 Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens 31-2 Houston Texans

2025

Washington Commanders vs. Dallas Cowboys, 1 p.m. ET, Netflix
Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions, 4:30 p.m. ET, Netflix
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

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