Thanksgiving football is a niche childhood memory of mine that spans from the weekend of Saturday, Nov. 19 all the way to Sunday, Nov. 27. 

To some, these dates might mean nothing. 

To me, this is the week of Wisconsin deer season. Since the age of 10, I have spent nearly the entire span of this week, year after year, listening to football games over an ancient, but surprisingly pristine radio. 

In my family, Wisconsin deer season, and by default, Thanksgiving, is spent in a place we like to call, ‘the cabin.’ In our cozy little home for the week, time is spent far from cell service. 

This means that time is passed either in the deer stand, playing a fierce game of euchre, eating soup or switching the radio station between Saturday morning Prime Mover and football.

Last week, the Packers played on Thursday, Nov. 17, so I wasn’t given the privilege of listening to the Packers game in my preferred gameday environment, via radio. 

The Packers had a somewhat disappointing loss in Lambeau Field on Thursday, coming off of what could have been the comeback of the century after beating the Cowboys, 31-28 in overtime. 

The Packers then faced the Tennessee Titans for NFL Week 11. The game took place in Lambeau Field for “Thursday Night Football.” 

Right off the bat, the Titans scored during the game on the first possession. From there, not a whole lot went the right way for the Packers. Tennessee led the Packers for the rest of the game. 

Green Bay head coach Matt LeFleur admittedly said he was disappointed in the Packers. According to Packers Wire, LeFleur said that this game demonstrates why you’re only as good as your last game. 

The Packers’ offense was lacking, particularly in the first half. Green Bay had just three possessions in the first half and scored on only one. The score was 14-6 heading into halftime. 

Defensively, not a whole lot went right for the Packers either. The final score of the Titans-Packers game was 27-17. 

Basically, if Green Bay wants to even think about a postseason, they will need to win five of their next six games. 

The Packers’ current record is 4-7, and the best record they would be able to finish with is 10-7. Only one team in the NFC made the postseason with a record this low, 9-8, last season. 

The silver lining in NFL week 11 for the Packers: the Vikings lost their seven-game winning streak, 40-3, with a whopping loss to the Cowboys. 

The Cowboys sacked Viking quarterback Kirk Cousins a career-high seven times. Dallas scored on all of their first seven possessions. 

To say that the Cowboys bounced back from the Packer loss would be an understatement. 

Regardless, the fact that the Cowboys lost to the Packers in overtime for last week’s Fantastic Football, only to turn around and dominate the Vikings, puts the Packers in a slightly better light as they head into NFL week 12. 

Hopefully, it is this silver lining that carries the Packers into their six-game comeback streak, all the way into the postseason. 

The Packers begin their ‘one-game’ season, as LeFleur refers to it, in Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov. 27 against the NFC-leading Philadelphia Eagles. 

Regardless of your Thanksgiving-week football traditions, you can tune into the game on the NFL Network or the radio station nearest you. 

Schoenemann can be reached at [email protected].