GREEN BAY, WI – NOVEMBER 26: Tracy Porter #21 of the Chicago Bears reacts after intercepting the football in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on November 26, 2015 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Chicago Bears defeated the Green Bay Packers 17 to 13. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
By Matt Yoder on

The primetime Thanksgiving game is still a relatively new phenomenon compared to the traditional daytime affairs in Dallas and Detroit.  However, it’s been great for the league and its fans in being able to give some Turkey Day showcases to more teams and more cities around the country.  There’s only so many times we can sleep through blowouts in Dallas and Detroit after engaging in the gluttonous devouring of enormous Thanksgiving Day meals, right?  By the time we wake up from our 3-4 hour nap, we’re ready for more football.

Thankfully, after two snoozers yesterday, the Bears and Packers delivered a compelling contest in the primetime slot last night.  Shockingly, Jay Cutler led Chicago to a road victory in Lambeau Field as the Bears defense held on to deny Aaron Rodgers a winning touchdown in the dying seconds.  The probability of those events actually happening in one night means there must have been a major celestial event that we all missed.

NBC released some ratings data this morning and last night’s game was the highest rated Thanksgiving night game since it started nine years ago.

A great rivalry, two storied franchises, a game that went down to the wire – it was everything NBC and the NFL needed to produce stellar ratings and save what had been a dour schedule of Thanksgiving Day fixtures to that point.  But just in case you needed one more piece of evidence that we’re hopelessly addicted to football, the Panthers-Cowboys blowout drew the highest Thanksgiving rating for CBS in 20 years as well.

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