NFL Christmas games streaming: How to watch live

Who doesn’t love Christmas football? The NFL‘s still-rare holiday tradition returns for another consecutive year — and this time, it lands perfectly on a Thursday. That means three full games instead of the usual two, giving fans an all-day slate of football alongside the festivities.

This season marks the second year of the NFL’s three-year agreement with Netflix to stream Christmas Day games, guaranteeing at least one holiday matchup each year during the deal. And because Christmas falls on a day the league already reserves for games, the schedule gets an extra boost: a third matchup airing on Amazon Prime as part of the regular Thursday Night Football lineup.

This year’s Christmas slate features three divisional showdowns, with a mix of teams already out of playoff contention, one squad battling for a division crown, and another clinging to faint postseason hopes. Here’s the full breakdown — and how to watch every game:

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders

Kicking off the festivities are two down-on-their-luck NFC East teams with little left to play for this season. When I wrote the Thanksgiving how-to-stream guide, the Cowboys were actually trending up, fresh off a win over the Chiefs that capped a three-game streak. At 6-5-1, Dallas still had faint playoff hopes and needed a road win in Detroit to keep them alive. That didn’t happen. Instead, the wheels came off, with two more losses soon after sealing their fate.

Now sitting at 6-8-1 and officially eliminated, it’s hard to call Dallas’ season anything but a wash.

For Washington, the year has been even rougher. The Commanders (4-11) are stuck at the bottom of the NFC East just months after their shocking run to the NFC Championship Game. Injuries have defined their collapse, none more damaging than the repeated setbacks to star sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels. What once looked like a promising follow-up campaign has instead unraveled into a season fans will want to forget.

You can watch this on Netflix at 12 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. EST

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings

Here’s an NFC North matchup with playoff implications — if literally everything breaks right. The Detroit Lions, once the league’s lovable underdogs, turned Super Bowl contenders, are getting a hard reality check this season.

Playing a rare holiday game outside their traditional Thanksgiving slot, the Lions essentially must win to keep even the faintest playoff hopes alive. After finishing last season at 15–2, Detroit now sits at 8–7, with injuries and a coaching exodus taking much of the bite out of what was once a blistering offense. Since starting 4–1, the Lions have alternated wins and losses almost weekly, before finally dropping their first back-to-back games since 2022 with defeats against the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even a Christmas Day win may not be enough. If the Green Bay Packers take care of business on Saturday, Detroit’s season effectively ends. To survive, the Lions would need to beat a Vikings team starting its third-string quarterback, then upset the 11–4 Chicago Bears — coached by Detroit’s former offensive coordinator — while also hoping the Packers stumble again against that same Minnesota squad.

In other words, Detroit is running low on both margin and miracles.

As for the Vikings, there’s far less drama. Minnesota has already been eliminated from playoff contention, and its plan to build around sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick, never took off. A revolving door of injuries derailed the season early, leaving this matchup more about pride than postseason stakes.

You can watch this on Netflix at 3:30 p.m. CST / 4:30 p.m. EST

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs

A Christmas Day game in name only, this AFC West matchup could help decide the division crown between the Denver Broncos and — surprisingly — the Los Angeles Chargers. Yes, for the first time since 2012, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed for a losing season, and for the first time since 2014, they’ll miss the playoffs altogether.

Like the Cowboys, the Chiefs — and the face of the league, Patrick Mahomes — endured a strangely flat year. A sputtering offense and an aging defense exposed the possibility that this chapter of the Kansas City dynasty may finally be closing. That suspicion became reality in a divisional loss to the Chargers when Mahomes tore his ACL. The injury ended his season and, given its late occurrence, could also threaten his availability early next year.

Meanwhile, things couldn’t look better in Denver. Following a promising 2024 campaign that culminated in a surprise playoff appearance, the Broncos have made a significant leap forward. Sitting at 12–3, Denver currently leads the AFC West over the 11–4 Chargers and controls its own destiny. A Christmas Day win over Kansas City, combined with a Chargers loss on Saturday, would clinch the Broncos’ first division title since 2015 — the final season of the Peyton Manning era.

There’s even an outside path for Denver to lock up the AFC’s top seed with a little help elsewhere, but that’s a scenario best left to the calculators.

You can watch this on Amazon Prime at 7:15 p.m. CST / 8:15 p.m. EST.