3 things we learned from the NFL's 2025 Thanksgiving Day games

With the leftover turkey in the fridge and the annoying cousin – yes, that one – on their way home, Thanksgiving 2025 is in the books. And with the holiday passed, we've also put three very important Week 13 NFL games in the books. Here is one thing we learned from each Thanksgiving Day result: the Packers knocked off the Lions, the Cowboys defeated the Chiefs, and the Bengals finished things off by upsetting the Browns in Joe Burrow's return.

The Chiefs Dynasty May Be Over

Andy Reid arrived in Kansas City in 2013 and took over a franchise that had just three playoff appearances in the prior 15 seasons. Since then, the Chiefs have missed the playoffs just once over the past 12 seasons and have won nine consecutive AFC West titles, five of the last six AFC Championships, and three Super Bowls.

But with Kansas City's 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, the Chiefs have fallen to 6-6 overall, and it is increasingly likely they will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014. They are now third in the AFC West standings. They have head-to-head losses with the second-place team in their division, the Los Angeles Chargers (7-4 overall), as well as the Buffalo Bills (second-place in the AFC East, 7-4 overall) and Jacksonville Jaguars (second-place in the AFC South, 7-4 overall).

They've also dropped head-to-head games against AFC West leader Denver (9-2 overall) and AFC South leader Indianapolis (8-3 overall). They do have one more game each with the Broncos and Chargers, but they've dug themselves into a deficit behind several other wild-card contenders, and all of them hold tiebreakers with the head-to-head victories. We may have seen the Chiefs' dynasty come to a skidding halt on Thursday.

The Lions Might Not Be A Playoff Team

The Lions have been a feel-good story in recent years, making back-to-back playoff appearances after earning just three postseason bids since 2000, and in 2023, they advanced to their first NFC Championship Game since 1991.

Unfortunately, that success story might also be coming to a sad close this season. The Lions were felled by the Packers 31-24 in an NFC North showdown on Thanksgiving, which sent them to third place in the division and 7-5 overall. If the playoffs began today, they would definitely be on the outside looking in. While the Lions have all the talent in the world, they're inching closer to falling out of playoff contention and will need to rebound strongly to finish the season if they want to be playing in January.

The AFC North Is A Mess

Yes, Joe Burrow is back. No, he didn't look to be in his best form, but he looked better as the game wore on, as he went 24-of-46 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns. And yes, it was good enough to topple the Ravens 32-14 and make an even bigger mess of the AFC North.

The Steelers stormed out to an early-season divisional lead as the Bengals, Browns, and Ravens all stumbled out of the gate. But after a 4-1 start, the Steelers have faltered, going 2-4 over their past six outings. Meanwhile, the Ravens rebounded from a 1-5 start to win five consecutive games entering their Thanksgiving showdown with Cincinnati. Now, things are looking murky once more as Joe Burrow's return has signaled further chaos in the division. If you take nothing else away from Thursday's nightcap upset, know that the AFC North is messy.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: 3 things we learned from the NFL's 2025 Thanksgiving Day games