Okay, so today I was digging into some NFL trivia, and I stumbled upon a question that really got me thinking: what’s the lowest scoring NFL game ever? I mean, we always talk about high-scoring shootouts, but what about those rare defensive battles where points are like gold dust?
So, I rolled up my sleeves and started my little investigation. First thing I did was hit up some NFL history websites, and boy, did I find some interesting stuff.
Turns out, throughout the NFL’s history, there’ve been 73 games that ended scoreless. Can you believe that? 73 games where neither team could get on the board! But I was looking for games with some points, just very, very few.
I narrowed my search to games after the NFL and AFL merger in 1970. And I found out, there have been seven games that finished with a score of 3-0. Seven! That’s incredibly low. One of these games was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins. Man, that must’ve been a tough game to watch if you were a fan of offense.
- 73 NFL games in history have ended in a 0-0 tie.
- Since the 1970 merger, seven games have ended with a 3-0 score.
- One of the lowest scoring games in the 2024 season was Seahawks vs. Bears, ending 6-3.
Key findings from my research
But then I found something even more interesting. During the 2024 season, there was a game between the Seahawks and the Bears that ended 6-3. That’s just nine points total! It was the lowest-scoring game of that season, beating out a Jaguars vs. Titans game that ended 10-6.
I also learned about some scores that are straight-up impossible in the NFL, like 1-0 or 2-1, because of how scoring works. You can’t get those scores with just field goals and safeties. It is just not possible.
Then, for a little fun, I tried to find the lowest scoring college football game. I found a 2008 game between Auburn and Mississippi State that ended 3-2. This is even lower than NFL 3-0 games.
This whole thing was a fun little dive into NFL history. It’s cool to see how much the game has changed over the years, and these low-scoring games are a unique part of that history. Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did!
