As an NFL fan, there’s nothing better than a shootout between two high-scoring offenses. However, there’s also something beautiful about a defensive struggle where neither team can get anything going because the defensive coordinators have game-planned perfectly. Today, let’s break down the highest-scoring games in NFL history, the lowest-scoring games of all time, and NFL scores that we’ve yet to see.
Top 5 Highest-Scoring Games in NFL History
Including pre-merger contests, there have been six 100-point games in NFL history.
1. Washington vs. New York Giants, 113 Combined Points
The highest-scoring game in NFL history actually came in the first post-merger season in 1966. The game was played in Week 12 of that campaign between Washington and the New York Giants.
Entering the contest, Washington was 6-5 while the Giants were 1-8-1. A total of 113 points were scored as Washington came away with a 72-41 victory over their NFC East rivals.
There were 16 touchdowns in the contest, with just a single field goal by either team. Included in those 16 touchdowns were a fumble return, an interception return, and a punt return (all by Washington).
Offensively, Washington’s Sonny Jurgensen threw three passing touchdowns, two to Charley Taylor. A.D. Whitfield added two touchdowns on the ground and caught the third passing touchdown from Jurgensen. The Giants also threw for three touchdowns, with two from Gary Wood and one from Tom Kennedy.
2. Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns, 106 Combined Points
In an NFC North divisional game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, the Bengals won 58-48. The Bengals clinched the win with a 31-yard interception return from Deltha O’Neal.
The game saw Browns QB Kelly Holcomb throw for 413 yards with five touchdowns. Antonio Bryant had 131 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Steve Heiden had three touchdowns on seven receptions.
For the Bengals, Carson Palmer threw four touchdowns, including two to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Additionally, running back Rudi Johnson had two touchdowns and 202 yards on 26 carries.
3. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Rams, 105 Combined Points
The most recent NFL game to eclipse 100 total points came in a thrilling matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. The two teams combined for 105 points, with the Rams ultimately prevailing thanks to a 40-yard touchdown strike from Jared Goff to tight end Gerald Everett. Goff finished the night with four touchdown passes and added another score on the ground.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw six touchdown passes of his own but also committed two costly turnovers — a fumble and an interception, both returned for touchdowns by the Rams — that ultimately swung the game in Los Angeles’ favor.
4. San Francisco 49ers vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, 103 Combined Points
This was the first-ever 100-point game in league history, as it occurred prior to the NFL/AFL merger in 1948.
The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 63-40. In that game, 49ers quarterback Frankie Albert threw four touchdowns and rushed for a score.
Dodgers QB Bob Chappuis, meanwhile, threw for three touchdowns.
5T. New Orleans Saints vs. New York Giants, 101 Combined Points
In 2015, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Giants 52-49. Eli Manning threw six touchdowns, including three to Odell Beckham Jr.
Meanwhile, Drew Brees threw seven touchdowns as the Saints secured a last-second victory thanks to a 50-yard field goal from Kai Forbath.
5T. Oakland Raiders vs. Houston Oilers, 101 Combined Points
This was a 52-49 shootout between the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers. After trading blows all game, the Raiders scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull ahead. Mike Mercer sealed the win with a game-winning field goal, pushing the total score past the 100-point mark.
Oakland quarterback Tom Flores threw six touchdown passes, four of which went to Art Powell, who finished with 247 receiving yards. For Houston, George Blanda tossed five touchdowns, including two to Willard Dewveall, in a game that remains one of the most explosive in AFL history.
Highest-Scoring NFL Game in 2025 Season
In Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season, the Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals produced the highest-scoring game of the 2025 NFL season. A combined total of 89 points was scored as the Bears won 47-42.
Chicago’s rookie tight end Colston Loveland scored a 58-yard touchdown with less than a minute left on the clock, and it turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
Surprisingly, the Bengals scored 42 points without their star quarterback, Joe Burrow, who was out due to an injury. In his absence, Joe Flacco threw for 470 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions.
For the Bears, Caleb Williams threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Bengals star Tee Higgins led the game in receiving yards as he finished with seven receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase had six receptions for 111 yards.
Lowest-Scoring Game in NFL History
Throughout the entire course of NFL history, 73 games have ended 0-0. However, that has not happened since the Giants and Detroit Lions did so in 1943. Similarly, five NFL games in history have finished with a score of 2-0. Again, this has not happened post-merger, with the last such game coming in 1938 between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.
The lowest NFL score in post-merger history is 3-0. In the Super Bowl era, it has happened just six times. The first one came in 1971 when the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Packers with a fourth-quarter field goal by Fred Cox.
In 2023, we saw the first 3-0 game since 2007. The Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders played out a scoreless game for 58 minutes until Greg Joseph opened the scoring with a field goal. Minnesota put the game away with an interception. The previous 3-0 game had been between the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Miami Dolphins during a torrential downpour. In that game, Jeff Reed kicked a 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining.
What Are the Most Common Scores in the NFL?
The most common score in NFL history is 20-17, which has happened a total of 291 times. The first occurrence of that result came in 1944, whereas the most recent came in Week 2 of the 2023 season.
A 20-17 score occurred eight times in the 2021 season and has happened an average of 5.33 times per season over the last three years. The most recent 20-17 game was in Week 1 of this season, when the Miami Dolphins defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The next most common score in NFL history is 27-24, which has happened 234 times. The Kansas City Chiefs’ postseason win over the Buffalo Bills in the Division Round is the most recent occurrence.
In the last three years, there has been an average of over six games a year that have finished 27-24. This scoreline first occurred in 1939 between the Cleveland Rams and the Packers.
The third most common score in the NFL is 17-14. That scoreline has occurred on 200 occasions, with the first coming in 1933 and the most recent on December 18, 2022, between the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans.
What NFL Scores Have Never Happened?
A number of scores have never occurred in NFL history, including a team finishing with just a single point. That’s because the only way to score one point is for a defense to record a safety on an extra-point attempt, a scenario that has never happened.
The lowest possible score in which a team could finish with just one point is 6-1, since a one-point play can only follow a touchdown.
As for more realistic outcomes, the lowest score to never occur in NFL history is 14-8. There are multiple ways this score could happen, for example, the winning team could score two touchdowns, or one touchdown with a two-point conversion and two field goals.
Meanwhile, the losing side could reach eight points either by scoring a touchdown with a two-point conversion or by kicking two field goals and recording a safety.
A full list of all scores to have never happened can be found on nflscorigami.com.
How Could Teams Score Four Points in a Game?
There are only two ways an NFL team can score four points, and neither is remotely common. In fact, it’s happened just once in league history, back in 1923, when the Chicago Cardinals scored four points against the Racine Legion.
The Cardinals accomplished this by recording two safeties. The only other possible way to reach four points would be by kicking a field goal and then adding a one-point safety by returning an extra-point attempt to the opposing end zone.
