Has an NFL game ever been won or tied by a team coming from behind by scoring a last-minute 4th Quarter safety?
I believe that the Bears won an overtime game last year on a safety, which is close to what you’re asking.
Do you mean a team that was trailing say 17-16 and won 18-17 because of a late safety?
I would be surprised if it’s ever happened that way. I think there have been two OT wins because of safeties. In addition to the one the Bears won, the Vikings once beat the Rams (L.A. version) 23-21 on seven field goals and a safety in OT.
I realize this isn’t what you want, but it could be of interest.
Many years ago there was a game the Dolphins were leading right at the end, by six points and it was first and ten at about their own 15. Three of the most stupid plays were then run, losing ground. It was so bad, even the announcer made a comment about it. That is, until we saw the fourth down play, a deliberate safety.
The subsequent free kick drove the opponents deep into their end of the field and with so little time left, the play virtually guaranteed the four point victory that did occur. It became instantly apparent, seeing the fourth down play, coach Don Shula had chosen the three preceeding plays, to make the deliberate safety easier while running more time off the clock.
The delibrate end-of-game safety by the offensive team is a well known, if not common practice (certainly more common than a team winning on a late game safety, I’d wager!). A couple of weeks ago, the Wisconsin Badgers took one at the end of the game against North Carolina. The Badgers were ahead 14-3, and had 4th down deep in their own territory with about 5 seconds left in the game. Rather than risk actually punting, the punt took the snap, then ran to the corner of the end zone, running out the clock and giving Carolina a free 2 points. There was a non-zero chance for Carolina to do something miraculous if they blocked the punt and recovered it for a touchdown, so the run-out-the-clock safety was the safest play.
Has any football game ever ended with a score of 2-0?
Back in the old days (say pre-WW2), it was very common for games to end 0-0, 7-0, and so on, so I’m quite sure there were several 2-0 games.
A quick search found Texas 0, Oklahoma 2 in 1905. Surely there are more.
The Bears defeated the Packers 2-0 in an exnibition game as recently as 1971. I don’t know when the last 2-0 regular season game was in the NFL but perhaps somebody with a searchable database of scores can answer.
Concerning college football, one of the most famous games in college football history occurred when the University of Chicago defeated Michigan 2-0 in 1905, ending a long Michigan undefeated streak during which they had won most of their games by 50 or 60 points. But again, I know of no way to search for the most recent 2-0 game. The most recent 0-0 game was between Oregon and Oregon State in 1983; there will never be another since they play overtime now.
As regards the OP, the late Cleveland Rams once won an NFL championship game 15-14 by virtue of a safety, but the safety occurred relatively early in the game. I don’t know of any game when the lead changed hands in the last minute because of a safety (as opposed to a safety in overtime) and know of no way of searching for one. If you’re one point ahead and deep in your own territory you generally play conservatively enough to avoid a safety, so I’m sure it hasn’t happened very often, if at all.
The safety in that game, the 1945 NFL championship, occurred in the first quarter. Sammy Baugh of Washington threw a pass from his own end zone that hit the goalpost and fell back into the end zone, which was a safety at the time (I believe that woud just be an incomplete pass now even with the goal posts on the end line.)
The Rams got to 15 with two touchdown, 1 PAT, and a safety. They edged Washinton who had 2 TDs and 2 PATs.
There was a crowd of around 37,000 in Cleveland to watch the game. Game time temperatures were -2. And World War II was going on.
Well, the game was played on December 16, 1945. By most accounts, the war was over, as V-E Day and V-J Day had been celebrated earlier in the year. However, President Truman did not officially end the state of hostilities until December 31, 1946. So you’re technically correct.