You know that feeling when you're settling in on a Thursday night, maybe with a slice of pizza or just some peace and quiet, and the game ends up being a total barnburner? Or, conversely, one of those defensive slogs that makes you wonder why you stayed up? The 2025 season had plenty of both. If you're looking for the Thursday night football scores NFL fans actually cared about, we’ve got to look at the stretch that defined the playoff race. Honestly, this year felt different. The "Thursday Night" vibe shifted from "short week fatigue" to "must-watch chaos."
The Games That Shifted the Power Balance
Early on, everyone was talking about the NFC West. On October 2, 2025, the San Francisco 49ers pulled out a 26-23 overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams. It was classic Kyle Shanahan versus Sean McVay. Watching it, you kind of felt like the Rams had it in the bag until Brock Purdy found a rhythm late in the fourth. That single game basically set the tone for the Niners' eventual playoff push.
But then you had the weird ones. The stuff that keeps bettors awake at night. Remember November 6? The Denver Broncos beat the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7. Ten to seven! It was a defensive masterclass, or an offensive disaster, depending on who you ask. If you missed that one, honestly, you didn't miss much besides a lot of punting and some elite linebacker play.
Late Season Highlights and Shocks
As the weather turned, the scores got even higher. By the time we hit December, teams were desperate.
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- December 4, 2025: The Detroit Lions absolutely dismantled the Dallas Cowboys, 44-30.
- December 11, 2025: A nail-biter in the South where the Atlanta Falcons squeaked past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-28.
- December 18, 2025: One of the highest-scoring games of the year saw the Seattle Seahawks outlast the Rams 38-37.
That Seahawks-Rams game was basically a track meet. Geno Smith and Matthew Stafford were just trading blows. It’s games like that which make the Amazon Prime subscription feel worth it.
Why Thursday Night Football Scores NFL Results Are So Weird
There’s a lot of talk about the "short week" disadvantage. Experts like those at Pro Football Focus have often pointed out that road teams usually struggle more on Thursdays because of the travel-plus-recovery timeline. But in 2025, we saw a lot of road upsets.
Take the New York Jets vs. New England Patriots game on November 13. The Patriots won 27-14. Usually, you'd expect a divisional rivalry on a short week to be close, but the Patriots' coaching just seemed three steps ahead. It makes you wonder if the "advantage" is actually with the better-coached team rather than the home team.
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The Christmas Tripleheader Chaos
Wait, we have to talk about the Christmas games because they fell on a Thursday this year. It was basically a Thursday Night Football marathon on steroids.
- Dallas Cowboys 30, Washington Commanders 23: Dallas needed this one for pride after that Lions blowout.
- Minnesota Vikings 23, Detroit Lions 10: The Vikings defense finally showed up and quieted the Detroit hype for a week.
- Denver Broncos 20, Kansas City Chiefs 13: This was the shocker. Beating Mahomes on Christmas? In Kansas City? That score changed everything for the AFC West standings.
What This Means for the Postseason
Now that we’re sitting in mid-January 2026, those Thursday results look like prophetic signs. The Philadelphia Eagles, who had a rough outing against the Giants earlier in the season (loss of 34-17 on Oct 9), eventually found their footing but then got bounced in the Wild Card round by the 49ers, 23-19, on January 11.
If you look back at the thursday night football scores nfl history for this season, you can see the 49ers' resilience started with that Week 5 win over the Rams. They learned how to win close games early. Meanwhile, teams like the Cowboys, who were inconsistent on prime time, struggled when the lights got brightest in January.
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A Quick Look at the Stats
If you’re a numbers person, the average score for TNF games this season hovered around 24 points per team. That’s slightly higher than the 2024 season. It suggests that offensive coordinators are finally figuring out how to simplify their playbooks for the short week without losing the big-play potential.
Actionable Takeaways for Next Season
If you're following these scores to get an edge—whether for fantasy or just to sound smart at the water cooler—here is what you should keep in mind for the 2026 schedule:
- Watch the Injury Report Like a Hawk: Because there are only three days of real rest, "questionable" players on Thursday almost never play, or if they do, they're decoys.
- Bet on the Under in Divisional Slogs: When two teams that know each other well play on a Thursday, the scores tend to be lower (like that 10-7 Broncos/Raiders game).
- Home Field Still Matters (Mostly): Despite the upsets this year, the home team still won about 58% of Thursday night matchups.
The regular season is over, and we're deep into the Divisional Playoffs now. Today, January 17, 2026, we've got the Bills at the Broncos and the 49ers at the Seahawks. It's funny—many of these matchups are rematches of those wild Thursday night games we saw back in the fall.
To stay ahead, make sure you're tracking the "rest differential" between teams. When one team comes off a Monday night game and has to play a Thursday game, the scoring patterns shift dramatically toward the more rested side. Keep your spreadsheets ready for the 2026 kickoff.