In the final approach to the full release of the 2026 NFL schedule, a key part of the Thanksgiving schedule is now confirmed, while a flurry of early leaks of game matchups is intensifying.
The league and CBS said early Thursday that the early afternoon Thanksgiving Day game will feature a classic NFC North division matchup between the Bears and Lions. That game, set for 1 p.m. ET on Nov. 26, will precede the already-announced late afternoon game between the Eagles and Cowboys.
While that latter game will chase a record as the most-watched regular-season contest in NFL history, the Bears-Lions broadcast has a very strong chance to be the second-most-viewed game of the entire 2026 season. That early afternoon Thanksgiving Day game in 2025, played between the Packers and Lions on Fox, held that designation last year, averaging 47.7 million viewers and also set a league record for that window.
That historic total, boosted in part by Fox’s distribution of the game on Tubi, played a material role in expanding the league’s ambitions across Thanksgiving weekend—something now manifesting with anew Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix between the Packers and Rams.
The Bears-Lions game, as a result, holds a critical position in the overall NFL schedule.
