The Highest-Scoring NFL Games in History

The highest-scoring NFL game ever played is Washington 72, New York Giants 41, on November 27, 1966 at D.C. Stadium. The two teams combined for 113 points, a record that has stood for 60 seasons and has never been seriously threatened. Only one game since has even reached 106.

Below is the complete list of every NFL game with 90 or more combined points, plus the separate records for the postseason, the Super Bowl, and the most points a single team has ever scored.

The Short Answer

Every NFL Game With 90 or More Combined Points

These are the 27 games in professional football history that have produced at least 90 points between the two teams. The list follows the NFL's own record-keeping convention, which counts American Football League games (1960–1969) as major-league results and includes All-America Football Conference games from the 1940s in the historical database.

No game played in the 2025 season cracked this list. The most recent addition is Buffalo's 48-42 win over Detroit in December 2024.

Washington 72, N.Y. Giants 41: The Record That Won't Move

The 1966 game is stranger than the score suggests. Neither team was any good. The Giants came in at 1-8-1 and finished the season 1-12-1, allowing 501 points in 14 games — still the most any team has ever given up in a 14-game season. Washington finished 7-7 under first-year head coach Otto Graham. The two sides combined for 16 touchdowns, nine of them on plays of 30 yards or more.

The finish is the part people still argue about. With Washington ahead 69-41 and the outcome settled, the home team sent out kicker Charlie Gogolak for one more field goal in the closing seconds, pushing the total to 113. Graham said afterward that he wanted the reps because Gogolak had missed twice the week before. Linebacker Sam Huff later claimed he was the one who called the timeout that made the kick possible. Giants coach Allie Sherman was livid. Those three points are the reason the record reads 113 instead of 110.

Sixty years later, nothing has come within seven points of it. The closest anyone has gotten is Cincinnati's 58-48 win over Cleveland in 2004.

The Modern Shootouts

Scoring across the league is far higher now than it was in 1966, yet the individual outlier games have not kept pace. Three modern games stand out:

L.A. Rams 54, Kansas City 51 (Nov. 19, 2018). The best of them. The game was moved from Mexico City's Estadio Azteca to the Los Angeles Coliseum six days before kickoff because of poor field conditions, and it remains the only game in NFL history in which both teams scored at least 50 points. Patrick Mahomes threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions; Jared Goff threw for 413 and four. The two teams produced 14 touchdowns and 56 first downs, and Goff's 40-yard throw to Gerald Everett with 1:49 left decided it. It is the highest-scoring Monday night game ever played.

Cincinnati 58, Cleveland 48 (Nov. 28, 2004). The highest-scoring game of the last 60 years, and the only one since 1966 to reach 106 points.

New Orleans 52, N.Y. Giants 49 (Nov. 1, 2015). Drew Brees threw seven touchdown passes for 511 yards, and Eli Manning answered with six. Their 13 combined touchdown passes are an NFL record, the teams gained 1,030 yards, and Kai Forbath won it with a field goal on the final play.

For the flip side of these games, see The Biggest Blowouts in NFL Playoff History, where the points went almost entirely one way.

The 70-Point Club: Most Points by a Single Team

Only four teams in professional football history have scored 70 or more points in a game.

The 73 belongs in its own category. It came in the 1940 NFL Championship Game at Griffith Stadium, a title game rather than a regular-season game, so it is properly listed as a postseason record. It is also the largest margin of victory in league history and the largest shutout ever recorded in a championship game. The Bears scored eleven touchdowns and intercepted eight passes. Three weeks earlier, the same Washington team had beaten Chicago 7-3.

Miami's 70-20 rout of Denver in 2023 was the first time in 57 years an NFL team had reached 70, and it finished two points shy of Washington's regular-season record. Rookie running back De'Von Achane ran for 203 yards, Tyreek Hill caught nine passes for 157, and Tua Tagovailoa completed his first 17 attempts of the game.

The Highest-Scoring Playoff Games

Postseason football is tighter by nature — two good teams, better defenses, colder weather. Only one playoff game has ever cleared 90 points.

The Cardinals-Packers game is the outlier of outliers. Arizona led 17-0 after a quarter and 31-10 in the third, Green Bay tied it at 38, Arizona went ahead 45-38, and Aaron Rodgers threw an 11-yard touchdown with 1:52 left to force overtime. Kurt Warner finished 29 of 33 for 379 yards and five touchdowns without his top receiver. The extra period lasted one snap: Michael Adams stripped Rodgers and Karlos Dansby returned the fumble 17 yards to end it. Under the current overtime rules, a defensive touchdown still ends a playoff game immediately, so the same finish would stand today.

The Colts' 45-44 win over Kansas City in January 2014 is also the second-largest comeback in playoff history — Indianapolis trailed 38-10 in the third quarter. It shows up again in The 10 Greatest Comebacks in NFL History.

The Highest-Scoring Super Bowls

Super Bowl XXIX has held the top spot for more than 30 years. Steve Young threw a Super Bowl-record six touchdown passes, San Francisco was up 14-0 inside the first five minutes, and the 10 touchdowns scored that day are still a Super Bowl record.

Super Bowl LII is the better football game of the group. Philadelphia and New England combined for 1,151 yards, the most in any NFL game ever played, breaking a record that had stood since 1950. It also produced the Philly Special, the fourth-down trick play on which backup quarterback Nick Foles caught a touchdown pass.

At the other end, Super Bowl LIII in 2019 produced only 16 points, New England 13, Los Angeles Rams 3 — the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever. The most recent, Super Bowl LX, was Seattle 29, New England 13 on February 8, 2026, a modest 42 combined points. You can see the full venue history in Every Stadium That Has Hosted a Super Bowl.

Why 113 Points Is So Hard to Beat

League-wide scoring is far higher now than it was in the 1970s. Rules protecting quarterbacks and receivers, better kickers, and the near-disappearance of the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense have all pushed the average game total up. So why hasn't the record fallen?

Three reasons. First, the clock. A modern NFL broadcast runs about three hours and change, but the ball is only in play for a fraction of it — see How Long Is an NFL Game for the breakdown. There is a hard ceiling on how many possessions two teams can get.

Second, modern offenses are efficient rather than fast. Teams that score a lot also tend to hold the ball, which suppresses the opponent's opportunities.

Third, and most simply, 1966 required a historically bad defense to face a competent offense on a day when nothing went right. The Giants that year allowed 501 points in 14 games. No defense since has been that far below the league standard for a full season while the offense in front of it also scored 41.

This page updates whenever a game enters the top 27 or a postseason record changes, typically once a season in January.

FAQ

What is the highest-scoring NFL game of all time? Washington 72, New York Giants 41 on November 27, 1966, for 113 combined points. It is the only game in league history above 106.

Has any NFL team scored more than 73 points? No. The Chicago Bears' 73-0 win over Washington in the 1940 NFL Championship Game is the most points any team has scored in a professional football game. Washington's 72 in 1966 is the regular-season high.

What is the highest-scoring playoff game? Arizona 51, Green Bay 45 in overtime on January 10, 2010, for 96 combined points. It is the only postseason game over 90.

What is the highest-scoring Super Bowl? Super Bowl XXIX, San Francisco 49, San Diego 26, on January 29, 1995 — 75 combined points. Super Bowl LII (74) and Super Bowl LVII (73) are next.

Has a game ever had both teams score 50 points? Once. The Rams beat the Chiefs 54-51 on November 19, 2018. No other NFL game has had both teams reach 50.

Do AFL and AAFC games count in these records? AFL games from 1960 through 1969 count as official NFL records after the merger. AAFC games from 1946 through 1949 are carried in the historical database and appear on most all-time lists, which is why the 1948 49ers-Dodgers game shows up at No. 4. They are marked in the table above.

What is the lowest-scoring Super Bowl? Super Bowl LIII, New England 13, Los Angeles Rams 3, on February 3, 2019 — 16 combined points.