The NFL has begun to take over Christmas Day over the past few years. So much so that the league will hold two games on the holiday this season despite it falling on a Wednesday, a day that normally doesn’t feature any games.
The slate this year features the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers facing off at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET. Two matchups between AFC heavyweights should make for an entertaining watch for the holiday.
This year, though, the NFL is doing a little something special to celebrate Christmas. As first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the four teams playing on Christmas Day will wear a special patch to celebrate the occasion, featuring two candy canes behind the league’s iconic shield logo.
Baltimore did not release a mockup of what the patches would look like on the jerseys, but Houston did, so Ravens fans should have a good idea what they’ll look like.
The four teams will also wear the patches on Dec. 21, when the Texans face the Chiefs and the Steelers face the Ravens. All four teams have similar schedules to ensure they’re on even footing in terms of rest.
This marks the Ravens’ second consecutive year playing on Christmas Day, and second consecutive year on the road at that. Last year, they traveled across the country and walloped the San Francisco 49ers, recording five interceptions in a 33-19 blowout victory.
Coincidentally, the Ravens were also part of the last NFL game to take place on a Wednesday, which came against the Steelers in 2020. The two arch rivals were originally scheduled to play in Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving night, but a COVID outbreak in the Ravens organization forced three separate postponements. Pittsburgh won the game 19-14 over a Baltimore team missing Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews and several other key players.