For football fans in New York, and across most of the Northeast, Thanksgiving 2022 was a fantastic day all around.

The three-game slate featured the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants and New England Patriots in separate games, and all three tilts provided great theater and action throughout regulation.

The quality of football on Turkey Day was so good, in fact, that history was made not once, but three times (thrice!) throughout the day. We're here to update our record books accordingly.

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Josh Allen Makes History For Quarterbacks on Thanksgiving

Buffalo Bills' QB Josh Allen etched his name in the history books with his victory under center over the Detroit Lions. With the win, Allen has won on Thanksgiving in each of the three time slots in which games are played, the first quarterback ever to accomplish that feat.

The primetime game (8:20PM kick-off) was added to the schedule in 2006, but still, that's over 15 years of games for QBs to set that record, and he's still just the first.

Buffalo Bills v Detroit Lions
Bills' QB Josh Allen / Getty Images
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Here are the games that Allen won to set the record:

  • Beat the Cowboys in 2019 (26-15) at 4:30PM
  • Beat the Saints in 2021 (31-6) at 8:20PM
  • Beat the Lions in 2022 (28-25) at 12:30PM

Allen is only 26 years old, so odds are, he's going to add to that total sooner, rather than later.


Bills-Lions on CBS Breaks Records for the TV Network

Following the lead of their superstar QB, the Buffalo Bills made a bit of history of their own during the early game on Thanksgiving. The Bills' tilt against the Detroit Lions was the most-watched early game (12:30PM kick-off) on any network in the history of Turkey Day football.

Buffalo Bills v Detroit Lions
The Buffalo Bills celebrate their win / Getty Images
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A few other quick notes on the game and the broadcast:

  • Up +12% from last year's early Thanksgiving matchup
  • CBS' most-watched NFL game of the season
  • Viewership peaked at just under 42 million

How could it get any better than that? Well, somehow, it did, thanks to the New York Giants.


Giants-Cowboys Breaks Record for Football on Television...Everywhere

A few hours after the Bills concluded their game against the Lions, the Giants and Cowboys finished making history of their own. Recent reports confirmed that New York's game against Dallas set the record for the most-watched regular season football game in NFL history.

New York Giants v Dallas Cowboys
Daniel Jones throws a pass for the New York Giants / Getty Images
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The game reached a whopping 42 million viewers, according to Nielsen, surpassing the previous average of 41.55 million. That came back on December 3, 1990, on a Monday night broadcast featuring the Giants and San Francisco 49ers on ABC.

Thanks to these two incredible viewership totals, the average was up 6% over last year's average of 31.6 million. It was a great day to be a football fan, made even better if you were in the Empire State.

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