# Most unusual (US) football score **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 7, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793 "2014-09-07T19:19:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/1 "2014-09-07T19:19:27Z")
There was a trivia challenge to come up with the most unusual final score for a football game. You could not use 1 as either team’s score. Unstated rules in original, but this being SD, I’ll add: We’re using current NFL scoring rules, and high scores are not to be considered. Let’s say neither team scores more than 50. My answer: The official answer was 4-4 requiring each team scoring 2 safeties. My answer was 6-4 OT requiring same thing plus a safety in OT. A big debate ensued as to whether specifying overtime was part of the score. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/2 "2014-09-07T19:43:42Z")
Asked and answered a year and a half ago. > [@What is the most common number of points scored by a football team?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-number-of-points-scored-by-a-football-team/649147/14): > > More trivia from [this table](http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/game_scores.cgi): > > The most common points by winning team are, in order, 24, 27, 20, 31, 17, 23, 28, 21, 34, 30. > The most common points by losing team are, in order, 7, 10, 14, 0, 17, 13, 21, 3, 20, 6. > The most common points by tieing team are, in order, 0, 7, 10, 17, 20, 13, 24, 28, 14, 21, 6, 3 > The most common total scores are, in order, 37, 41, 44, 34, 51, 38, 31, 30, 27, 45. > The most common score differences are, in order, 3, 7, 10, 4, 6, 14, 17, 1, 21, 11, 13, 2. > > The least common small total scores are, in order, 1, 4, 11, 2, 5, 8, 18, 15, 12, 3, 9, 0. (1 and 4 never occurred.) 4-4 never occured, nor did 2-2. 4-x of any sort is rare, but a 1923 game between Racine Legion and Chicago Cardinals finished 10-4. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/3 "2014-09-07T21:44:33Z")
As a semi-related aside, there was a 7-5 game the other night in a thunderstorm in Ottawa, the lowest total score in a Canadian Football League game in over 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/4 "2014-09-07T22:53:47Z")
In the 1970 NFC playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions by a final score of… 5-0. The only scoring consisted of a safety and a field goal. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/5 "2014-09-07T23:01:43Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Asked and answered a year and a half ago. I’d have thought it was obvious by my saying we’re using current NFL rules, that I was not talking about historical occurrences, but improbable possibilities. But that old thread was interesting. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/6 "2014-09-07T23:02:46Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > As a semi-related aside, there was a 7-5 game the other night in a thunderstorm in Ottawa, the lowest total score in a Canadian Football League game in over 40 years. CFL scores can be weird by NFL standards due to those singles. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/7 "2014-09-08T00:44:51Z")
My answer has always been the same as the OP’s. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/8 "2014-09-08T02:54:38Z")
A local high school game here in San Antonio finished 42-4 this past Friday. Another notable score I saw over the weekend: Texas A&M-Commerce 98 East Texas Baptist 20 in a Division II v. Division III matchup. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/9 "2014-09-11T19:32:14Z")
Up until last year, it was possible to score 1 point in high school football without the game being a 1-0 forfeit, if the only point a team scored was when the other team scored a touchdown and then got a safety on the extra point attempt. This may still be the rule in college; I don’t see anything in the NCAA rules that says the defense can’t score on a safety on an extra point attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/10 "2014-09-11T19:52:39Z")
It’s gotta be 4-4. With the OT option, I think 9-4 would be even rarer then 6-4. First team getting ball scores a field goal to make it 7-4. Other team gets ball and QB is sacked in the end zone to end the game. 9-4 final ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/11 "2014-09-11T23:09:04Z")
There apparently have been two games in NFL history that ended with a 2-0 score. And it was the same two teams playing: the Bears and the Packers. Green Bay beat Chicago on October 16, 1932 and Chicago beat Green Bay on September 18, 1938. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/12 "2014-09-11T23:12:19Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/13 "2014-09-11T23:25:34Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > CFL scores can be weird by NFL standards due to those singles. CFL rules seem to make for a more interesting game. The goal posts are on the goal line, meaning kicking a field goal from inside the 5 might be a bit of a challenge, especially if you have to kick from a wide angle. But a missed field goal can yield a rouge (one point) if it lands in the end zone and is downed there by the D (note that the CFL endzone is 20yds deep). I kind of like the rouge-point idea, in that it forces the receiving teams to run the ball out of the endzone – touchbacks only occur if the ball flies out of the endzone, which means the punter in Canadian games sometimes scores a point for the team. ---
**Author:** ![Cognoscant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Cognoscant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cognoscant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/14 "2014-09-12T01:37:02Z")
There was a 6-4 game in college football not too long ago, I think between Penn State and Iowa, but that was in regulation (two field goals vs two safeties). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/15 "2014-09-12T01:44:40Z")
Only one game in NFL history has ever ended 43-8. (I know the OP was looking for theoretical likelihood, rather than historical records. I just think it’s kinda interesting.) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/16 "2014-09-13T05:50:52Z")
The criteria of the OP notwithstanding, college football holds the record:About 1916 Georgia Tech won a game 222-0! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-us-football-score/697793/17 "2014-09-14T00:58:01Z")
In 2008, the Steelers beat the Chargers 11-10. The only such score in NFL History. > **[2008 Pittsburgh Steelers Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees |...](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2008.htm)** > > Check out the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers Roster, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.