National Football League

Thanksgiving Thursday top plays: Bills smash Saints, Raiders top Cowboys, Bears edge Lions

Updated Nov. 25, 2021 11:24 p.m. ET

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No league does Thanksgiving like the NFL!

In the first game of the day, the Chicago Bears kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to upend the Detroit Lions. And in game No. 2, the Las Vegas Raiders won an overtime thriller against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys in Dallas. 

In Thursday's finale, the Buffalo Bills dominated the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome.

Here are the top plays from Thursday's matchups.

Buffalo Bills 31, New Orleans Saints 6

Bills eating early

Josh Allen hit Dawson Knox to start the scoring in the third Thanksgiving game.

Denied

In the second quarter, Buffalo's defense continued to do what it does best:

Snatched!

After getting off to a hot start, misfortune struck the Bills when Allen was picked off by the Saints' defense.

Then, in the final seconds of the first half, Allen's touchdown pass to Knox was nullified by an ineligible downfield pass penalty. 

On the following play, Allen was picked off once again, as he attempted to connect with Emmanuel Sanders.

Headed into the break, the Bills led 10-0.

How 'bout that route!

Stefon Diggs got in on the action in the third frame, extending the Bills' lead to 17-0 with this snag.

Double trouble

Knox reeled in his second TD pass of the night, this time on a 24-yard toss from Allen, as Buffalo jumped out to a 24-0 lead –– and the blowout was on.

Marching in

The Saints finally got on the board in the fourth when Trevor Siemian found a waiting Nick Vannett fox six.

When it rains, it pours

The Bills punched in their fourth TD of the night when Matt Breida broke out for 23 yards on this run, sealing the deal for Buffalo in the process.

Las Vegas Raiders 36, Dallas Cowboys 33 (OT)

Ready to feast

The Raiders were first to strike, as DeSean Jackson got things going with this monster 56-yard touchdown.

On that TD, Derek Carr became the first QB in Raiders' history to pass for 30,000 career yards. What's more, it was the 34th career touchdown of 50-plus yards for Jackson, good for the second-most all-time in NFL history behind only Jerry Rice. 

Recalculating

No CeeDee Lamb or Amari Cooper? No problem.

Prescott found tight end Sean McKeon for six to keep Dallas within arm's reach.

What could have been

On the ensuing drive, the Raiders were this close to a big-time turnover. Initially, it looked like the Cowboys recovered the fumble, but it was ruled an incomplete pass after review.

The effort here from Dallas was A+, though.

Untouched

Raiders star back Josh Jacobs ran right past the Cowboys' defense on his way to the end zone to make it a eight-point game headed into the second frame.

Zeke!

You know Ezekiel Elliott had to eat on Thanksgiving:

At the half, Las Vegas led 17-13.

Reinforcements

Backup QB Marcus Mariota checked in for the Raiders midway through the third, capping off a 75-yard drive with his first TD of the season. 

Keeping it 100

The Cowboys got a scoring boost when Tony Pollard returned the Raiders' kickoff 100 yards to the house!

It is the third-longest TD in Thanksgiving history and was the first kickoff return TD allowed by Las Vegas since 2015. 

Right on the money

Prescott launched a 41-yard bomb to Michael Gallup to move the sticks and the 'Boys into enemy territory. 

Dallas wasn't able to capitalize on the big gain, however, and settled for a field goal to make it a five-point game early in the fourth.

Wide open

The Raiders saw a spark when Hunter Renfrow picked up this huge gain to move Las Vegas down the field. 

Tie game

After trading field goals, the Raiders led 30-22 midway through the final frame, but the Cowboys weren't going away quietly. 

With 2:54 to spare, Dalton Schultz reeled in this pass, good for a 32-yard gain and a TD. After a successful two-point conversion, things were knotted up at 30.

It's good!

On the Raiders' next drive, Daniel Carlson nailed a 56-yarder to take a three-point lead in the final minutes of Thursday's matchup.

Not so fast

The Cowboys capped off a 10-play, 48-yard drive with a field goal of their own to knot things up once again and send things into overtime.

OT

In overtime, the Raiders knocked it another field goal to capture a 36-33 win.

Chicago Bears 16, Detroit Lions 14

Is that legal? 

The game began with a confusing sequence before a play was even called. After Detroit deferred the opening coin flip, Chicago tried deferring back to the original deferrer. 

Unique coin-flip sequence between Bears and Lions

A unique coin-flip sequence took place between Chicago and Detroit where the Lions won the toss and deferred to the Bears, who tried deferring back.

You look familiar

The Lions scored first after coming up with a stop on defense. Jared Goff dropped back and found old Los Angeles Rams teammate Josh Reynolds for a 39-yard score.

To the moon!

Darnell Mooney = deep threat. 

He got behind the secondary to pull in this doozy of a deep catch.

The moonshot set up this dime to Jimmy Graham. It put Chi-Town up 10-7, and the Bears added a field goal to take a 13-7 advantage into the halftime break.

Keep matriculating

Don't count Detroit out. In seven plays, Goff & Co. went 79 yards to pay dirt late in the third. 

T.J. Hockenson reeled in the go-ahead TD reception, which helped put the Lions up 14-13.

Beary Merry Thanksgiving

Andy Dalton is going to be eating good tonight. 

On the final drive of the game, Chicago sustained a whopping 18-play drive to run out the clock and put Cairo Santos in perfect position to knock home a game-winning 28-yard field goal.

This Bears team earned its turkey after collecting the first win of Thanksgiving Thursday.

Andy Dalton led offense on 18-play, game winning drive as Bears win on last-second field goal

The Chicago Bears won 16-14 as Andy Dalton led the offense on an 18-play, game-winning drive.

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National Football League

Chicago Bears

NFL - Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions - 11/25/2021

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Dallas Cowboys

NFL - Las Vegas Raiders vs. Dallas Cowboys - 11/25/2021

Buffalo Bills

New Orleans Saints

NFL - Buffalo Bills vs. New Orleans Saints - 11/26/2021

Andy Dalton

Derek Carr

Dak Prescott

Josh Allen

Jared Goff

Josh Reynolds

Darnell Mooney

Jimmy Graham

T.J. Hockenson

Cairo Santos

DeSean Jackson

Sean McKeon

Josh Jacobs

Ezekiel Elliott

Marcus Mariota

Tony Pollard

Michael Gallup

Hunter Renfrow

Dalton Schultz

Daniel Carlson

Greg Zuerlein

Dawson Knox

Trevor Siemian

Kwon Alexander

Stefon Diggs

Nick Vannett

Matt Breida