Could Ravens Play in Thanksgiving Game?

The NFL has been on a quest to take over Christmas Day for the past several years now, and the Baltimore Ravens have been a major part of that quest recently.

The Ravens have played a Christmas Day game on the road in each of the past two seasons, facing the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 and the Houston Texans in 2024. They won both of those games in dominant fashion, defeating the 49ers 33-19 at Levi's Stadium and the Texans 31-2 at NRG Stadium.

When it comes to the league's other major holiday, however, Baltimore has been notably absent for some time now.

The last time the Ravens played on Thanksgiving was in 2013, when they defeated the rival Pittsburgh Steelers 22-20 in the game where Mike Tomlin infamously stepped in front of the late Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return. They were scheduled to play the Steelers in Pittsburgh in 2020, but the league had to postpone that game multiple times due to a COVID outbreak in the Ravens organization.

Fox Sports' David Helman believes the Ravens are long overdue for a Turkey Day return, as he believes a road game against the rival Cincinnati Bengals would be the perfect night cap for the holiday.

"The NFL doesn’t always schedule a division rivalry for prime time on Thanksgiving, but I think it should," Helman wrote. "You can’t guarantee what any team will look like in late November, but a division rivalry is always likely to raise the stakes. And which division rivals are playing more entertaining games right now than Cincinnati and Baltimore? The past seven matchups in this series were decided by an average of 5.8 points, and both of last year’s games were instant classics. Give me Lamar versus Joe on a national holiday."

Baltimore and Cincinnati have indeed played some electric games recently, including two of the best games of last season. In Week 5 in Cincinnati, the Ravens made an improbable comeback to take a thrilling 41-38 shootout in overtime. The two AFC North foes then got into another shootout in Week 10 in Baltimore, with the Ravens holding on for a 35-34 victory.

Of course, it's naturally harder for AFC teams to earn spots on Thanksgiving than their NFC counterparts. The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, a pair of NFC teams, host games on Thanksgiving each year, which leaves just one game left for the league to give to any other team regardless of conference. Cross-conference matchups obviously exist, but rivalry games tend to take the spotlight on Thanksgiving more often than not.

It would be a nice change of pace for the Ravens, who have been vocal about not wanting to play a road Christmas game for the third year in a row, and any matchup against the Bengals is sure to produce fireworks.

Baltimore will learn its full schedule when the NFL unveils its entire regular-season slate on Wednesday.