When it comes to Thanksgiving traditions, many come to mind.
One, however, remains equally as classic as enjoying a delicious feast, breaking the wishbone or tuning into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: watching football.
The NFL has been playing games on Thanksgiving Day since the league's inception in 1920, but it gained popularity in 1934 when the Detroit Lions played the Chicago Bears in the first national radio broadcast of an NFL game (the Bears defeated the Lions 19-16).
Since then, the Lions and the Dallas Cowboys (starting in 1966) have been Turkey Day mainstays each year, aside from World War II and 1975 and 1977 for the Cowboys.
This week's slate of NFL games will begin and end in the NFC North; Detroit hosts Green Bay to kick off a Thanksgiving triple-header and the Vikings host the Bears on Monday Night Football.
Minnesota and Chicago have met 125 times in their history, with the Vikings holding a 66-57-2 advantage. Minnesota has claimed five consecutive games against Chicago and six of its past seven matchups. The Vikings are 39-24 at home against the Bears.
Monday's contest will be Minnesota's fourth prime-time game this season and second in as many weeks. The Vikings will also be wearing their Classic throwback uniforms for the second time this season after debuting them against the Buccaneers in Week 1.
Let's see who the experts are picking to win the game:
Vikings 23, Bears 21 – Tom Blair, NFL.com
Maybe I'm just a sucker for the Joshua Dobbs story. Even so, these teams are close enough that I feel OK picking the home squad to rediscover its winning ways against a Chicago organization that has been short on good mojo this year. Denver stopped Dobbs in large part by turning him over twice, but the Bears don't have the same facility for takeaways (tied for 21st in the NFL with 13) that the Broncos do (tied for second with 19). Justin Fields could make more positive strides, just not in the win column this week.
Vikings 24, Bears 14 – Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
These two are coming off tough losses, with the Bears blowing a huge lead late. It was more damning for the Vikings, a team that had been surging. Minnesota's defense will be the difference here as they get the best of Justin Fields. Vikings take it.
Vikings 26, Bears 21 – Staff, Bleacher Report
Last week, the Vikings five-game winning streak came to an end in a 21-20 loss to the Denver Broncos. As was the case early in the season, the Vikings lost the turnover battle in a sloppy performance.
Still in the NFC Wild Card picture, Minnesota will look to shake off a loss in a division matchup with the Chicago Bears, who nearly upset the Detroit Lions last week.
Vikings 30, Bears 23 – Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News
The Vikings couldn't finish well against the Broncos but that changes back at home in prime time. Josh Dobbs' mobility and playmaking can cause Chicago's defense problems and there's a good chance Minnesota will deploy Justin Jefferson before the bye as a passing game-changer. With him stretching the field, it will open up things all over the field. Then the Vikings run defense and pass rush will take care of the rest to contain Justin Fields.
Vikings 28, Bears 21 – Bill Bender, Sporting News
The Bears are a different offense with Justin Fields, who pushed the Lions to the limit in Week 11. Minnesota beat Chicago 19-13 in Week 6, and Joshua Dobbs got a bit of a reality check in Denver last week. The Vikings have won five in a row in this NFC North rivalry, and three of those have been one-score games.
7 of 7 experts pick the Vikings, The MMQB
6 of 6 experts (4 of 10 total had not submitted) pick the Vikings, ESPN
"Straight-up consensus" from seven experts: Vikings, Bleacher Report
