The Lions are synonymous with Thanksgiving. Detroit has hosted one of the NFL's Thanksgiving Day games annually since 1934 through all the franchise’s embattled years. The Lions have turned a corner over recent seasons, but NFL stars, particularly Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, remember Detroit’s compounding losses from their younger years.
Burrow has been sidelined since Week 2 due to a grade 3 turf toe injury, but signs point to him making his return this week during Cincinnati’s game on Turkey Day against the Ravens. The Bengals haven’t played on Thanksgiving since Burrow entered the NFL. On Tuesday, he spoke to what it means to play on the holiday and got in a funny jab at Detroit’s lowly years.
“I think just like a lot of kids, you grow up going through Thanksgiving, you have your meals with your family and then you go sit on the couch and watch football,” he said to reporters. “Back in the day it was Lions and somebody. You go watch Matthew Stafford throw for 300, 400 some yards with Calvin Johnson and probably lose the game, but it was fun to watch.”
Although maybe an unwarranted shot, Burrow is right. Stafford has thrown for exactly 3,000 yards and 18 touchdowns with the Lions over 10 Thanksgiving Day games, per Stathead. The Lions went 4–6 in those games. Stafford’s highest performing Thanksgiving game came in an overtime loss to the Texans in 2012, where he threw for 441 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for 390 yards and two scores in a win over the Bears two years later.
Now, Stafford leads the Rams and Detroit’s years in the NFL’s basement are in the rearview. But, it’s always fun to reminisce.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joe Burrow Shades Lions’ Previous Era With Funny Jab Before Thanksgiving Game.
