The glorious day when Los Angeles Chargers stole Thanksgiving from the Dallas Cowboys

Football is football, but Thanksgivings are different. Proof: The Dallas Cowboys on Thursday will play their 58th all-time game on Thanksgiving. In their history the Los Angeles Chargers have played only five.

As the 7-4 Chargers take Thursday off in preparation of getting star rookie running back Omarion Hampton back for Sunday's home game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the tradition-laden Cowboys can do them a solid by beat the AFC West-rival Kansas City Chiefs in Texas. The Chargers trail the Denver Broncos for the division lead, and may find themselves fighting the Chiefs for a Wild Card spot down the stretch of the season.

Though the Cowboys have played almost every Thanksgiving for almost 60 years, the Chargers rarely "work" on the last Thursday in November.

MORE: Video of Omarion Hampton back on field has Chargers fans wondering about RB workload

The Bolts are only 3-1-1 all-time on Thanksgiving, with all but one of the games coming when the Sana Diego version played in the old AFL.

In 2017, the newly christened "Los Angeles" Chargers broke a 47-year drought of not playing on Thanksgiving and they did it in style by beating the Cowboys.

2017: Chargers 28, Cowboys 6

In a meeting of mediocre teams, the 4-6 Chargers throttled the 5-5 Cowboys in a game dominated by Philip Rivers.

The 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist torched the Cowboys for 434 passing yards and three touchdowns. A rookie receiver named Keenan Allen - ring a bell, Chargers' fans? - caught 11 passes for 172 yards and a game-sealing 42-yard touchdown.

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Though Rivers won NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the Chargers went 6-1 down the stretch, they ultimately missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

This year's Chargers host the lowly 2-win Raiders Sunday at 1 p.m. at SoFi Stadium.

Chargers-Cowboys, Thanksgiving 2017 | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

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