The Bears on Thanksgiving Day

ERNIE NEVERS

     All football fans know that the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys each play home games every Thanksgiving Day. The Lions have been doing so since 1934 and the Cowboys since 1968.
     Most fans probably don't know that in the NFL's infancy, a Thanksgiving Day matchup between the Bears and the Chicago Cardinals was customary. Those teams played each other on 12 consecutive turkey days from 1922 through 1933.
     The Bears remained a Thanksgiving Day fixture for five more seasons, serving as the Lions' guests from 1934 through 1938. Since then, the Bears have appeared only occasionally. Their overall record on Thanksgiving Day is 16-14-2.
     In 1925, the legendary Red Grange made his NFL debut as the Bears and Cardinals struggled to a scoreless tie at Wrigley Field.
     In 1929, Cardinals Hall of Famer Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns and four extra points, accounting for all of the South Siders' scoring in a 40-6 rout of the Bears at Wrigley Field. Nevers still holds the single-game scoring record.
     In 1977, Walter Payton accumulated 137 yards as a runner and 107 as a receiver, scoring a touchdown in each capacity, as the Bears won their third straight game to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive. They ended the season with six in a row to make the postseason for the first time in 14 years.
     In 1980, Bears quarterback Vince Evans tallied on a four-yard run on the last play of regulation, and Bob Thomas's extra point tied the score with no time remaining. The Bears' Dave Williams took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. This remains the shortest overtime game in NFL history.
     In 1997, the Bears led 10-0 in the first quarter and 20-10 in the second quarter before Detroit's Barry Sanders took over. The rubber-limbed Sanders scored on runs of 40, 25, and 15 yards as the Lions piled up 45 unanswered points.

Bears Thanksgiving Day games:

1920 - W 6-0, Staleys at Chicago Tigers
1921 - L 6-7, Staleys vs. Buffalo All-Americans
1922 - L 0-6, Bears at Cardinals
1923 - W 3-0, vs. Cardinals
1924 - W 21-0, at Cardinals
1925 - T 0-0, vs. Cardinals
1926 - T 0-0, vs. Cardinals
1927 - L 0-3, vs. Cardinals
1928 - W 34-0, vs. Cardinals
1929 - L 6-40, vs. Cardinals
1930 - W 6-0, vs. Cardinals
1931 - W 18-7, vs. Cardinals
1932 - W 24-0, vs. Cardinals
1933 - W 22-6, at Cardinals
1934 - W 19-16, at Detroit
1935 - L 2-14, at Detroit
1936 - L 7-13, at Detroit
1937 - W 13-0, at Detroit
1938 - L 7-14, at Detroit
1947 - W 34-14, at Detroit
1949 - W 28-7, at Detroit
1952 - L 23-27, vs. Dallas Texans at Akron, Ohio
1964 - W 27-24, at Detroit
1977 - W 31-14, at Detroit
1979 - L 0-20, at Detroit
1980 - W 23-17 (OT), at Detroit
1981 - L 9-10, at Dallas
1991 - L 6-16, at Detroit
1993 - W 10-6, at Detroit
1997 - L 20-55, at Detroit
1999 - L 17-21, at Detroit
2004 - L 7-21, at Dallas