A look at the history of the Jets playing on Thanksgiving
The Jets have played eight times on Thanksgiving in the past. They are an even 4-4 in those games. Below we will take a look at them.
November 24, 1960: New York Titans 41 Dallas Texans 35
The American Football League played games on Thanksgiving, and the Jets played on Turkey Day in each their first three years of existence. They were called the Titans at that point. Playing against the future Kansas City Chiefs, Don Maynard caught 10 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, while Art Powell added 8 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
November 23, 1961: New York Titans 21 Buffalo Bills 14
Al Dorow threw for 223 yards and a touchdown, and Dick Felt returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to provide the Titans with the winning margin at the Polo Grounds.
November 22, 1962: New York Titans 46 Denver Broncos 45
A wild game in Denver saw the Titans blow a 24-7 lead and then overcome a 45-32 fourth quarter deficit on Johnny Green’s fourth and fifth touchdown passes of the game, one to Dick Christy and the other to Art Powell.
November 23, 1972: Detroit Lions 37 New York Jets 20
Entering the fourth quarter, the Lions led 23-20, but they blew the game open with a field goal and touchdown runs by Greg Landry from 6 yards and Altie Taylor from 38.
November 28, 1985: Detroit Lions 31 New York Jets 20
Eric Hipple threw four touchdown passes, three to Leonard Thompson as the Lions jumped out to a 24-3 lead and never looked back.
November 22, 2007: Dallas Cowboys 34 New York Jets 3
It was an ugly afternoon in a lost season for the Jets. The Cowboys owned a 21-3 lead at halftime on a Marion Barber touchdown run, a Jason Witten reception from Tony Romo, and a Terrence Newman interception off Kellen Clemens returned for a score.
November 25, 2010: New York Jets 26 Cincinnati Bengals 10
In the third meeting between these teams in eleven months, the Jets erased a 10-7 halftime deficit. Brad Smith was the star with a 53 yard touchdown run in the first minute of the second half and an 89 yard kickoff returned for a score in the fourth quarter.
November 22, 2012: New England Patriots 49 New York Jets 19
This game is best remembered for the Buttfumble. What people don’t remember was that was part of a 52 second span where New England scored an offensive touchdown, a defensive touchdown, and a special teams touchdown to turn a 7-0 lead into a 28-0 rout.