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No franchise has as long a history strapping it up on Thanksgiving Day than the Detroit Lions.

When the Lions play for the 86^th time on the holiday, they will oppose a division rival for the fourth straight season as they host the Chicago Bears in a marquee Week 12 showdown.

As is tradition, the game will also mark the beginning of the league's annual Thanksgiving tripleheader, which is the centerpiece of a five-game Thanksgiving week slate that begins on Wednesday, Nov. 25, with the Green Bay Packers visiting the Los Angeles Rams and concludes with the yearly Black Friday game.

The Bears are the reigning NFC North champions, having halted Detroit's two-year title run during their first year under the guidance of head coach Ben Johnson, the Lions' former offensive coordinator. Johnson and the Bears went 0-2 against the Lions, though.

Perhaps it won't be the friendliest holiday gathering when 2024 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams leads his Bears into the Lions den, where 2016 No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, star running back Jahmyr Gibbs and standout pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson await.

Though the Lions are coming off an unsettling 9-8 playoff-less season, it was their fourth consecutive winning campaign. Indeed much has changed for the better since head coach Dan Campbell took over in 2021, including a 23-20 victory over Williams and the Bears in the 2024 Thanksgiving Game. Chicago trailed, 23-7, before the Bears rallied, only for a clock management gaffe by Williams and Bears coaches to wrap up the defeat. The next day, head coach Matt Eberflus was fired, opening the door for Johnson's eventual arrival. The triumph was the Lions' first on Thanksgiving since 2016.

Following that turkey day travesty for Williams and the Bears, the stage for more rivalry drama is set.

Only the Lions and Green Bay Packers have met on Thanksgiving more than Detroit and Chicago. The Bears own the holiday edge, 11-9. Detroit is 38-46-2 all time on Thanksgiving, having first played on the holiday in 1934 and annually since 1945.

It was the Bears who played -- and defeated -- the Lions in the latter's first-ever Turkey Day tussle, prevailing, 19-16, on Nov. 29, 1934, when Hall of Famer Bill Hewitt caught a 2-yard, game-winning touchdown from Hall of Famer Bronko Nagurski.

More than 90 years later, the two long-time rivals will battle once more, continuing one of the NFL's longest-standing and most celebrated traditions: Thanksgiving Day football in Detroit.

The entire 2026 NFL schedule release will take place on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. You can catch all the coverage at NFL.com and Â鶹¹ú²ú.