Chicago Bears: Ranking the 5 best Thanksgiving games in team history

1. Bears 23, Lions 17 (OT) (1980)

In both 1977 and 1979, the Bears were a playoff team. They didn't farewell in the postseason in either of those years, losing to the Cowboys and Eagles, respectively. They fell to 7-9 in 1980, but there was this one extraordinary moment.

It came against Monte Clark’s Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day at the Pontiac Silverdome. This was a franchise that used the first overall pick in April’s draft on University of Oklahoma running back Billy Sims. The 1978 Heisman Trophy winner was the NFL’s leading rusher when these old rivals clashed on Turkey Day.

Clark’s team appeared to be in control and owned a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead. Then things got really interesting. The Bears narrowed the gap to seven points when quarterback Vince Evans threw a 20-yard TD pass to tight end Bob Fisher. Chicago would get the ball back late in the fourth quarter and a 94-yard march would culminate with Evans running into the end zone as time expired. The PAT sent the game into overtime.

The Lions kicked off to the Bears. Dave Williams grabbed the football and returned it 95 yards for the deciding touchdown. “It was like a nightmare coming down the sideline,” said Clark. So, Neill Armstrong’s team scored on the final play of regulation and on the only play in overtime. It was one of the most dramatic endings in a game in NFL history and that’s not an overstatement.