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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/peridot_rae13 on 2025-04-12 07:02:14+00:00.
As I was reading through the comments on this post about the Lions playing their 1,385th game, I came across a thread about the Lions & their Thanksgiving Day games.
u/ValosAtredum mentioned that “The Lions Thanksgiving moon curse applies when the moon is in waxing gibbous.” Oh boy were they right. They continued with “If some bored [dumbass wants to spend their night] calculating Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day Game records by moon phase, that would be greatly appreciated.”
Hi! It’s me, the bored dumbass! Before I share the data, I want to share some cool bits of trivia I learned along the way:
As the Portsmouth Spartans from 1929-1933, the Lions/Spartans did not play in a Thanksgiving Day game. However, as the Detroit Lions from 1934-present, the Lions played a Thanksgiving Day game every season EXCEPT for 1939-1944. President Roosevelt decided to mess around and make Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939 & 1940. Whether that affected scheduling, I have no idea, but the Lions did not have a game on the 3rd or 4th Thursday of November in 1939 or 1940. Due to WW2, the 1941-1944 seasons were shortened with the regular season ending before Thanksgiving, thus no teams played on Thanksgiving in 1941-1944.
Out of the 85 Thanksgiving Day games the Lions have played, only 3 ended in OT and 2 of them ended in ties. In 1980, the 7-6 Lions lost 23-17 in OT against the 5-8 Chicago Bears. In 1963, the Lions tied 13-13 with the Green Bay Packers, and in 1965, the Lions tied 24-24 with the Baltimore Colts.
The Lions are 38-45-2 all-time on Thanksgiving Day. Their longest streaks of Thanksgiving Day Wins are 6 from 1950-1955, 4 from 1997-2000, and 4 from 2013-2016. Their longest streaks of Thanksgiving Day Losses are 9 from 2004-2012, 7 from 2017-2023, and 5 from 1945-1949.
Over the course of their 85 Thanksgiving Day games, the Lions have a point differential of -81. Their biggest win was in 1983, winning 45-3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, while their biggest loss was in 2008, losing 47-10 against the Tennessee Titans.
Now for what you all have been waiting for…
| Moon Phase | GP | Pt Dif | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Moon | 4 | -13 | 3 | 1 | - |
| Waxing Crescent | 19 | -15 | 10 | 8 | 1 |
| First Quarter | 3 | +12 | 2 | 1 | - |
| Waxing Gibbous | 18 | -113 | 4 | 13 | 1 |
| Full Moon | 1 | -7 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Waning Gibbous | 18 | +51 | 8 | 10 | - |
| Third Quarter | 2 | +7 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Waning Crescent | 20 | -3 | 10 | 10 | - |
Obviously, the Lions lose and lose badly during a waxing gibbous phase. Waning Gibbous makes a case for best phase as the Lions tend to win games by bigger margins, however they do tend to lose even more close games. Crescents and Quarters might be the best case for the Lions with a 53.4% chance to win and a +1 point differential. Jesus it must be stressful to be a Lions fan on Thanksgiving…
For what it’s worth, this year’s Thanksgiving Day falls under a waxing crescent moon.