List of NFL tied games

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In the National Football League (NFL), a tied game occurs when a regular season game ends with both teams having an equal score.[1] If a game is tied after regulation (60 minutes, divided into four quarters of 15 minutes), a 15-minute sudden-death overtime period is held. Under current overtime rules adopted in 2012, "Teams . . . have the opportunity to possess the ball at least once in the extra period unless the team that receives the [first] overtime kickoff scores a touchdown on its first possession." The game can also automatically end on a safety. If the team that received the first opening kickoff instead scores a field goal, the other team has an opportunity to tie or surpass that score; if they are able to tie the score, the next team to score any points wins.[2] Prior to the rule change, any score by either team in overtime would win the game,[3] which was proved to grant a substantial advantage to the team that won the coin toss.[4] Ties have counted as a half-win and half-loss in league standings since 1972; before that, ties were not counted in the standings at all.[5] Since the National Hockey League eliminated ties by adopting the shootout following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the NFL is the only one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America to have tied games in regular-season play, as Major League Baseball (in the modern era since 1900) and the National Basketball Association have historically played until there is a winner.

Tie games were once frequent in the NFL, but have become uncommon because of a rule change in 1974 that extended the existing sudden-death overtime period for post-season games into the regular season.[6] Only seven ties have occurred since the 1989 season, a statistic that has been attributed to the increasing accuracy of kickers.[7] Unlike in soccer (association football), where teams routinely play for a draw (due to benefit of a point in the standings), NFL teams rarely play for ties. In general, tied games in the NFL are frowned upon by both teams and fans.[8] Due to the rarity of tied games, some players have not known they were allowed in the NFL, such as former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who said after a tie game against the Cincinnati Bengals that he did not know a tie was a possible result.[1][9]

From 1920 to 1973, the NFL had a total of 258 tied games. Only three seasons (1934, 1950, 1952) went without a tied game, while five seasons (1920, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1932) had at least ten ties. The most ties, 17, occurred in the 1920 season.[10] Since 1974 there have only been 20 tied games, the most recent occurring in the 2014 season when the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals played to a 37–37 draw. A tie game happened in each of the first three seasons after the overtime rules were altered in 2012. The Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Seattle Seahawks are the only current NFL teams that have never recorded a tied game; the New England Patriots have never recorded a tie in an NFL game, but recorded nine ties as members of the American Football League (AFL). The Chicago Bears have played to 42 ties (all prior to 1974), the most of any NFL team,[11] while the Green Bay Packers have recorded the most ties since the 1974 introduction of overtime with five.

Tied games (1920 to 1973)

Season No. of ties
1920[upper-alpha 1][10] 17
1921 7
1922 9
1923 13
1924 7
1925 9
1926 14
1927 6
1928 6
1929 10
1930 7
1931 3
1932 10
1933 5
1934 0
1935 4
1936 2
1937 3
1938 3
1939 3
1940 4
1941 2
1942 1
1943 3
1944 3
1945 1
1946 3
1947 2
1948 1
1949 3
1950 0
1951 3
1952 0
1953 3
1954 2
1955 3
1956 2
1957 1
1958 3
1959 1
1960 5
1961 3
1962 4
1963 5
1964 6
1965 2
1966 5
1967 9
1968 4
1969 5
1970 9
1971 8
1972 5
1973 7

Tied games (1974 to 2011)

Key
Symbol Meaning
Team (#) Denotes the number of times the team has tied a game since 1974.
No. Date Home team Away team Score Note(s)
1 September 22, 1974 Denver Broncos Pittsburgh Steelers 35–35 First regular-season overtime game in NFL history.[7]
2 September 19, 1976 Minnesota Vikings Los Angeles Rams 10–10 With about a minute left in overtime, Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton's pass is intercepted by Rams linebacker Rick Kay at the Los Angeles 1-yard line. The Rams then concede the tie with the ball deep in their own territory.[13]
3 November 26, 1978 Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings (2) 10–10 Both teams finished the season with an 8–7–1 record. Minnesota won the NFC Central over Green Bay by virtue of a 1–0–1 head-to-head record.[8]
4 October 12, 1980 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Green Bay Packers (2) 14–14
5 October 4, 1981 Miami Dolphins New York Jets 28–28 Jets kicker Pat Leahy missed a 48-yard field goal as time expired in overtime.[14]
6 December 19, 1982 Baltimore Colts Green Bay Packers (3) 20–20 Baltimore, which eventually finished its season at 0–8–1,[upper-alpha 2] overcame a 20–6 fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime. Packers' Jan Stenerud missed wide right from 47 yards with 2:00 left to seal the draw.[16]
7 October 24, 1983 St. Louis Cardinals New York Giants 20–20 Only overtime tie to date on Monday Night Football.[17] Cardinals' Neil O'Donoghue missed three field-goal attempts in the extra period from 45, 20 and 42 yards, the last two in the final 66 seconds.[18]
8 November 4, 1984 Detroit Lions Philadelphia Eagles 23–23
9 October 19, 1986 Atlanta Falcons San Francisco 49ers 10–10
10 December 7, 1986 Philadelphia Eagles (2) St. Louis Cardinals (2) 10–10
11 September 20, 1987 Green Bay Packers (4) Denver Broncos (2) 17–17
12 October 2, 1988 New York Jets (2) Kansas City Chiefs 17–17
13 November 19, 1989 Cleveland Browns Kansas City Chiefs (2) 10–10 Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery, one of the most accurate kickers during the 1989 season, played poorly on the sloppy turf of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. He missed a 45-yard field goal that would have won it for Kansas City with four seconds left in regulation. In overtime, he had a chance to win the game on a 47-yard attempt with 3 seconds left, but missed that one as well.[19]
14 November 16, 1997 Baltimore Ravens Philadelphia Eagles (3) 10–10 Each team had an unsuccessful field-goal attempt in the overtime; Ravens' Matt Stover missed wide right from 53 yards with 2:21 remaining, Eagles' Chris Boniol also wide right from 40 yards on the last play of the match.[20]
15 November 23, 1997 Washington Redskins New York Giants (2) 7–7 Only overtime tie to date on a Sunday night and lowest-scoring one under modern rules. Redskins' Gus Frerotte injured himself by headbutting a stadium wall while celebrating his team's lone touchdown.[21]
16 November 10, 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers (2) Atlanta Falcons (2) 34–34 Atlanta mounted a 17-point comeback to force overtime. Pittsburgh wide receiver Plaxico Burress was stopped a yard short of the end zone on the final play of overtime.[22]
17 November 16, 2008 Cincinnati Bengals Philadelphia Eagles (4) 13–13 Bengals kicker Shayne Graham missed a 47-yard field goal with seven seconds left in overtime. Eagles QB Donovan McNabb infamously stated at the post-game press conference that he didn't know games could end in a tie.[23]

Tied games (2012 to present)

No. Date Home team Away team Score Note(s)
1 November 11, 2012 San Francisco 49ers (2) St. Louis Rams (2) 24–24 While this was the first tie under the modified overtime rules, it would have been a tie under the old rules as neither team scored in the extra period. St. Louis had a game-winning field goal taken away because of a penalty. Both teams missed field goal attempts in the overtime period.[24]
2 November 24, 2013 Green Bay Packers (5) Minnesota Vikings (3) 26–26 The Packers scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 23 and force overtime. Both teams scored a field goal in the overtime period, resulting in a final score of 26–26. First tied game in which both teams converted field goal attempts in the extra period.[25]
3 October 12, 2014 Cincinnati Bengals (2) Carolina Panthers 37–37 Both teams scored a field goal in the overtime period. Bengals kicker Mike Nugent missed a 36-yard field goal attempt as the overtime period expired. The game was the highest-scoring tie game in NFL history since the institution of overtime[26] as well as the first one since 1988 to occur in a month other than November.

Notes

Notes
  1. ↑ No official standings were recorded throughout the 1920 season and teams played games against opponents outside of the league.[12]
  2. ↑ The 1982 season was reduced from 16 to 9 games because of a 57-day players' strike.[15]
Footnotes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Christopulos, Mike. "Packers blow lead; Colts earn 20–20 tie," Milwaukee Sentinel, Monday, December 20, 1982.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Litsky, Frank. "Mistakes Hurt Giants in Tie," The New York Times, Wednesday, October 26, 1983.
  19. ↑ "Lowery, Chiefs Fit to Be Tied, 10-10," The Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1989.
  20. ↑ "Eagles 10, Ravens 10," Chicago Tribune, Monday, November 17, 1997.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

General references

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External links

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