Which NFL Team Has the Most Wins on Christmas Day?
While the NFL typically tries to avoid playing games on December 25, there have been 27 Christmas Day matchups over the course of the league’s 103-year history.
So which NFL team has the most wins on December 25?
The first NFL games on Christmas Day didn’t take place until 1971, and the first regular-season Xmas game wasn’t until 1989
In the early years of the NFL, the schedule usually ended in November, so playing games on Christmas Day wasn’t even an option. As the schedule began to expand over the years, the league still did its best to avoid playing games on December 25, a practice still in play today, save a game or two here and there.
If Christmas Day happens to fall on a Sunday, the league will usually shift the majority of the games to Christmas Eve Saturday, which we most recently saw in 2022.
As for when the first NFL game took place on Christmas Day, that didn’t occur until 1971, and both of those matchups were playoff games. The Dallas Cowboys, who would go on to win the Super Bowl, defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the early game and the Miami Dolphins took down the Kansas City Chiefs in a double-overtime thriller in the later game.
The first regular-season NFL game on Christmas Day didn’t occur until 1989 when the Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Dallas Cowboys have played the most games on December 25
Of the current NFL franchises that have taken the field on Christmas Day, the Dallas Cowboys have played the most games with five.
As mentioned, the Cowboys defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the first-ever NFL game on December 25 by a score of 20-12. In 1995, the Cowboys and Cardinals played the final game of the regular season on Monday Night Football, with Dallas picking up a 37-13 win. Once again, the Cowboys would go on to win the Super Bowl that season.
The Cowboys have lost all three of their Christmas Day matchups since then. They were blown out by the Tennessee Titans in 2000, 31-0, lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2006, 23-7, and most recently were defeated by the Cardinals in 2010, 27-26.
The Green Bay Packers own the most Christmas Day wins with three
With their victory over the Miami Dolphins in 2022, the Green Bay Packers took the lead in Christmas Day wins with three.
Here’s the full list of results from NFL games played on Christmas Day.
- 1971: Dallas Cowboys-20, Minnesota Vikings-12
- 1971: Miami Dolphins-27, Kansas City Chiefs-24
- 1989: Minnesota Vikings-29, Cincinnati Bengals-21
- 1993: Houston Oilers-10, San Francisco 49ers-7
- 1994: Miami Dolphins-27, Detroit Lions-20
- 1995: Dallas Cowboys-37, Arizona Cardinals-13
- 1999: Denver Broncos-17, Detroit Lions-7
- 2000: Tennessee Titans-31, Dallas Cowboys-0
- 2004: Kansas City Chiefs-31, Oakland Raiders-30
- 2004: Denver Broncos-37, Tennessee Titans-16
- 2005: Chicago Bears-24, Green Bay Packers-17
- 2005: Baltimore Ravens-30, Minnesota Vikings-23
- 2006: Philadelphia Eagles-23, Dallas Cowboys-7
- 2006: New York Jets-13, Miami Dolphins-10
- 2009: San Diego Chargers-42, Tennessee Titans-17
- 2010: Arizona Cardinals-27, Dallas Cowboys-26
- 2011: Green Bay Packers-35, Chicago Bears-21
- 2016: Pittsburgh Steelers-31, Baltimore Ravens-27
- 2016: Kansas City Chiefs-33, Denver Broncos-10
- 2017: Pittsburgh Steelers-34, Houston Texans-6
- 2017: Philadelphia Eagles-19, Oakland Raiders-10
- 2020: New Orleans Saints-52, Minnesota Vikings-33
- 2021: Green Bay Packers-24, Cleveland Browns-22
- 2021: Indianapolis Colts-22, Arizona Cardinals-16
- 2022: Green Bay Packers-26, Miami Dolphins-20
- 2022: Los Angeles Rams-51, Denver Broncos-14
- 2022: Tampa Bay Buccaneers-19, Arizona Cardinals-16
