The NFL waits for no one. Come rain or shine, come snow or sleet, come day or night, and yes, even come the holidays, the NFL will forge on. This season, an NFL Sunday happens to fall on the hallmark holiday. Why does the NFL play on Christmas, and which games are colliding with the merriest day of the year in 2022?
Why Does the NFL Play on Christmas?
The NFL doesn’t have a regular tradition of playing games on Christmas as it does for Thanksgiving. This is, logically, in large part due to the fact that Christmas, which is set on a recurring date of December 25, can fall on any day of the week. Thanksgiving, by contrast, always falls on the fourth Thursday of November, so the league can plan the tradition of playing games on Turkey Day.
In short, the modern-day NFL plays games on Christmas or Christmas Eve when the schedule calls for it, though alterations are made to accommodate the holidays. For example, this year, the NFL is pushing much of its standard Sunday slate of games to Saturday, December 24. This allows the league to leave just three contests, all in a national television window, on Christmas Day.
Previously, when Christmas Day has fallen on a Saturday, the league would typically follow its traditional late-season pattern of having just a couple of games on mid- and late-December Saturdays. The NFL has also moved its iconic Sunday Night Football broadcast to either Saturday or Monday when Christmas Eve has fallen on a Sunday.
When Did the NFL First Play on Christmas Day?
While the contemporary NFL doesn’t balk at the idea of Christmas Day games, the league hasn’t always been so willing to clash with the holiday.
The first Christmas Day NFL contest came during the 1971-1972 season, when the league played two Divisional Round playoff games on December 25. The first game saw the Dallas Cowboys take on the Minnesota Vikings, while the second was a showdown between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Dallas defeated Minnesota by a score of 20-12, and the Dolphins took down the Chiefs 27-24. It wasn’t the score of that Dolphins-Chiefs game that was most notable, though, but the length of the contest itself. That playoff game was (and remains) the longest game in NFL history, and its placement in an afternoon timeslot resulted in it conflicting with holiday dinners around the country.
The length of the game impacted family holiday gatherings and, according to the Los Angeles Times, resulted in complaints, prompting the NFL to forego playing games on Christmas Day until 1989.
The NFL’s first regular season Christmas Day game was a 1989 showdown featuring the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings, a contest the Vikes won by a score of 29-21. The league has played games on the holiday no less than every five years (and often more frequently) ever since.
When Was the Last Time the NFL Played on Christmas?
The NFL showcased two games on Christmas Day last season when the Cleveland Browns faced off against the Green Bay Packers, and the Arizona Cardinals took on the Indianapolis Colts on December 25, 2021.
Both matchups were closely fought and ended in one-score games. Green Bay bested the Browns 24-22, while Indy took down the late-season slumping Cards 22-16. The game helped push Green Bay to 12-3 en route to securing a 13-4 record on the season, giving the Packers the No. 1 in the NFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The Browns and Colts would both miss out on an AFC Wild Card spot. The Cardinals limped into the postseason thanks to an incredible run to begin the season and subsequent collapse that ended in a first-round thrashing at the hands of the eventual Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams.
What Teams Are Playing on Christmas in 2022?
For the first time in league history, the NFL is featuring three games on Christmas Day: a 1:00 p.m. ET matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers, a 4:30 p.m. ET contest between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams, and an 8:20 p.m. ET showdown between the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Dolphins-Packers game is the only of the December 25 matchups that will pit two teams against each other who both have a shot at a playoff spot. While Green Bay’s odds are long, the team could end the regular season with a 69 percent chance at a postseason appearance if it runs the table over its final three games, according to FiveThirtyEight. Miami, meanwhile, simply needs to win two of its next three to all but guarantee a playoff position.
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The Broncos and Rams will face off with the Rams starting the recently acquired Baker Mayfield at quarterback in place of Matthew Stafford, who is out for the rest of the year. The Broncos, meanwhile, will get starting QB Russell Wilson back after missing last week’s game due to a concussion.
Tom Brady’s Bucs remain atop the NFC South despite sitting two games under .500 and must defeat the Trace McSorely-led Cardinals to retain pole position in the division and fend off the most underwhelming trio of Week 16 playoff contenders in recent memory: the 5-9 New Orleans Saints, 5-9 Carolina Panthers, and 5-9 Atlanta Falcons.