The full moon rises above U.S. 301 north of Fayetteville in this Dec. 12, 2008 photo taken from the Dobbin Holmes Road overpass. The December 2023 full moon is Dec. 26.
NFLBy Kevin Harrish on

The Detroit Lions entered Thursday afternoon’s Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Green Bay Packers as a decisive 8.5-point favorite in the game, which made sense considering the Lions sat atop the NFC North divisional standings and have been one of the most dominant teams in the league so far this season. But there was one thing that did not point to a Lions victory: the moon.

As sports statistical analyst Jay Cuda pointed out on social media this week, the Detroit Lions had never won a Thanksgiving Day game when the moon is in one particular phase, providing a bizarre and ominous omen for the Lions heading into Thursday’s game.

“I have bad news for the Lions,” Cuda began in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter. “Since the afl/nfl merger, they are 0-12 (.000) on Thanksgiving when the moon is in a waxing gibbous phase. tomorrow is a waxing gibbous.”

It sounded far-fetched, especially considering that the Lions were such heavy favorites in the game. But it turned out, the moon was right.

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The Packers came out hot in the game, hopping out to a quick 20-6 lead over the Lions in just the first quarter – and they never surrendered the lead. The Lions fought back, but never truly threatened the Packers in the game as Green Bay came away with a stunning 29-22 victory.

The shocking moon prediction obviously led to a lot of chatter on social media.

It’s safe to say Lions fans will be paying close attention to the moon next Thanksgiving.

[Jay Cuda]

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