When was the first NFL Christmas game? Results, history on holiday
- - When was the first NFL Christmas game? Results, history on holiday
Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAYDecember 26, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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When was the first NFL Christmas game? Results, history on holiday
There's one holiday most closely associated with the NFL: Thanksgiving. But the fourth Thursday in November's had to make room for another holiday on the NFL calendar in recent years.
For decades, the NFL traditionally avoided Christmas but that's changed in the modern era. The 2025 season marks the sixth year in a row with at least one NFL game on Christmas. That's the longest streak in NFL history and things look unlikely to change in the future.
Six NFL teams will face off across three games on Christmas this year. It's a slate of long-running divisional rivalries as the Washington Commanders host the Dallas Cowboys to open the day. Minnesota hosts Detroit in the second matchup of the holiday and things close out in Kansas City as the Chiefs host the Broncos.
These are the latest games in what's become a new tradition. But when was the first NFL game on Christmas? Here's a look at what happened and the full history of Christmas NFL games.
When was the first NFL Christmas game?
The NFL wasn't new to playing on holidays by the early 1970s. The league had taken over Thanksgiving for decades at that point with the Lions and Cowboys hosting a game every season.
In 1971, the league tried a holiday expansion.
In that era, the regular season was just 14 games and that meant the season was usually over by Christmas and the Super Bowl would come after the holiday. The NFL changed things up for 1971 and scheduled two divisional round playoff games on the holiday.
Defending NFC champion Dallas traveled to Minnesota to take on the Vikings in the NFL's inaugural Christmas game on Dec. 25, 1971. It was a defensive struggle in the first half with kickoff temperatures at 22 degrees at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis. The Cowboys eventually won 20-12 in the first victory on the franchise's road to its first Super Bowl title.
The second game of the day was in Kansas City as the Chiefs hosted the Miami Dolphins. It was the longest game in NFL history at 82 minutes and 40 seconds of game time as the two sides needed two overtime periods to decide the winner. Miami eventually won 27-24 in what would be the final Christmas NFL game for nearly 20 years.
NFL Christmas history, results1971 (Divisional playoffs) -
Dallas Cowboys 20-12 Minnesota Vikings
Miami Dolphins 27-24 (2OT) Kansas City Chiefs
1989 -
Minnesota Vikings 29-21 Cincinnati Bengals
1993 -
Houston Oilers 10-7 San Francisco 49ers
1994 -
Miami Dolphins 27-20 Detroit Lions
1995 -
Dallas Cowboys 37-13 Arizona Cardinals
1999 -
Denver Broncos 17-7 Detroit 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 24-17 Green 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 article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When was the first NFL Christmas game? Vikings, Cowboys mark history
Source: “AOL Sports”
