2019 NFL Schedule: Cowboys and Lions opponents for Thanksgiving will reportedly be these two teams

The 2019 NFL schedule won't be released anytime soon, but it appears the league has already made at least one key decision in regards to next season's slate of games.   

According to the Sports Business Journal, the NFL has tentatively picked the four teams that will be playing during the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day. Two of those teams will be the Cowboys and Lions, which comes as no surprise, since they always play on Thanksgiving. According to SBJ, the other two teams will likely be Miami and Chicago. 

The Dolphins will travel to Dallas in Week 13 for a Thanksgiving showdown on Nov. 28 while the Bears will head to Detroit to face the Lions on Turkey Day for the second year in a row. 

With the NFL getting set to celebrate its 100th anniversary during the 2019 season, it makes some sense that the league is sending the Dolphins to Dallas. For one, the two teams actually have a long Thanksgiving history together. The trip to Dallas will mark the eighth time that the Dolphins have played on Thanksgiving Day and the sixth time that they've played against the Cowboys (they played at Dallas in 1973, 1993, 1999, 2003 and 2011. They played at Detroit in 2006 and played at the Cardinals in 1977). 

During the Dolphins' 1993 trip to Dallas, they beat the Cowboys 16-14 after Leon Lett pulled off one one of the most infamous plays in NFL history. After the Cowboys blocked a potential game-winning field goal in the snow, they should've won the game, but Lett touched the ball past the line of scrimmage and the Dolphins recovered it, which gave them another shot at a field goal, and this time, they didn't waste it. 

Here's a look at the full play. 

As for the Bears and Lions, they played during the 2018 season on Thanksgiving in a game that Chicago ended up winning 23-16. The Lions played the Vikings on Thanksgiving in both 2016 and 2017, so the fact that they're playing the same team two years in a row is nothing new. 

Although the NFL schedule isn't expected to be released until April, there are a few nuggets that have been released. 

According to multiple reports, the Patriots likely won't get to host the traditional Thursday night opener that goes to the defending Super Bowl champion. Instead, the league plans to kick off its 100th season by celebrating its oldest rivalry with an opener that features the Bears and the Packers. 

The only games that have been confirmed by the NFL are the league's international games. Here's a look at the 10 teams that will be playing abroad in 2019. 

• Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers in Mexico
• Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London
• Chicago Bears at Oakland Raiders in London
• Cincinnati Bengals at Los Angeles Rams in London
• Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars in London

The dates of these five games won't be announced until April.