NFL rumors: Eagles “pretty likely” to play Vikings on Thanksgiving

The 2019 NFL regular season schedule is still a couple of months away from being released, but we already have an idea of who will be playing on Thanksgiving.

Earlier this week, the Sports Business Journal reported that the Chicago Bears will take on the Detroit Lions, while the Miami Dolphins will travel down to Jerry World to take on the Dallas Cowboys. This would be the second season in a row that Chicago and Detroit will take on each other on Thanksgiving.

However, the primetime game might be the best matchup on Thanksgiving. John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, who reported the first two Thanksgiving games, mentioned on the SI media podcast with Jimmy Traina that the Philadelphia Eagles could play the Minnesota Vikings.

“I didn’t actually write about this, but I have heard that Minnesota vs. Philadelphia is one that’s in play,” he said (h/t Michael Rand of the Star Tribune). “It’s not dead set, but I’m told that it’s pretty likely.”

If this is the case, then it would be the first time that the Eagles have played at U.S. Bank Stadium since defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Furthermore, it would be the first time that the Vikings have hosted a game on Thanksgiving. These two teams have a lot of history between themselves over the last couple of seasons, so it is only right that they hash out their differences in the primetime spotlight.

Philadelphia played Minnesota back in Week 5 of the 2018 season and lost 23-21. It was an embarrassing effort from the Eagles, who were struggling out of the gate. But they would get their revenge indirectly as the Vikings lost to the Bears in the final week of the regular season, sending Philly to the playoffs.

And then if things could not get worse for the Vikings, the Eagles demolished them in the NFC championship, 38-7 back in 2017.

The last time the Eagles played on Thanksgiving was in 2015, where Calvin Johnson and Detroit Lions blew them out 45-14. While that was a horrific outing from Philly, they did get a victory on Thanksgiving in the 2014 season, defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 33-10.