Reliving the Steelers past Thanksgiving matchups by ranking them from worst to best

It's hard to believe that the Steelers have only played eight times on Thanksgiving day throughout their history. Most know that the Lions and Cowboys have found it commonplace for their franchises to play on the feastful holiday in America. Ever since the NFL expanded its holiday slate of games, Pittsburgh has found some prime-time slots.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that has become synonymous with the game of football. The Steelers have not gotten to enjoy much of that tradition firsthand, but fans around the NFL have been able to watch some games during turkey day. Pittsburgh has only participated in a game on Thanksgiving eight times thus far, and some have been better than others.

Thanksgiving 1983 left little for Steelers fans to be thankful for

One of the worst games that the black and gold competed in during Thanksgiving was back in 1983 against the Detroit Lions. The 80s were a dreadful time to be a Steelers fan for the most part. They were on the downswing of their dynasty and plenty of their star players were starting to retire. Some were still lurking around by the time 1983 rolled by.

Not only was this a bad game to watch, but this game destroyed many meals for those fans watching at home. The Lions got off to an early lead and never looked back. Pittsburgh was running their offense behind Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone at the time as Terry Bradshaw was out with an injury. That statement put this team behind the eight-ball.

The Lions ended up destroying the Steelers by an end score of 45-3. The Steelers quarterbacks combined for less than 100 passing yards and five interceptions with no touchdowns. Pittsburgh's defense had little hope to recover from such a terrible outing by the quarterbacks. They did their best by adding four sacks during the contest.

Detroit had solid performances on offense that were able to add plenty of points on the board by the Steelers' mistakes. Billy Simms was their starter at running back and totaled 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Eric Hipple had an efficient outing that totaled two touchdowns through the air. It was a toxic performance by Pittsburgh.