The NFL's weirdest games of all time

[Brian wolf]

Doesnt matter ... Chubb scored and the defense needs to do its job. He is the best back in the league other than Henry. No way Jets receivers should be that wide open. Cleveland quit playing football.

[ShinobiMusashi]

The 2002 Texans vs Steelers I'm glad to see mentioned. I scored a download of the full game about 5 years ago and it is definitely game to be seen to be believed. Jerome Bettis played with a broken nose and Tommy Maddox was recovering from a cervical concussion, still the Steelers were the hottest team in the NFL going in and Houston was expansion team playing their first year, and with all rookies starting at skill positions on offense. Its astonishing how little Houston was able to move the ball all game on offense with them still winning. Like after watching the full game if you told me they even got 47 yards I would find that hard to believe, it felt like they didn't gain a single yard. But there was some legit talent on the defensive side of the ball for Houston that was absolutely wasted there for those expansion years. Aaron Glenn and Jamie Sharper deserve all the credit in the world for going to the Texans and playing their hearts out those 3 years 2002, 2003, and 2004 they were the backbone of that team there was just too tall of a task to ask them to carry that squad to being good.

[Northwoodssportsman]

One of the weirdest games I recall watching was a 2008 game between the Packers and the Vikings.

In that game, the Vikings had two safeties in the second quarter alone. One was on an illegal forward pass penalty in the end zone; the other was a Jared Allen sack. Despite that, Minnesota turned the ball over three times on Gus Frerotte interceptions. Neither quarterback threw for over 200 yards, and the Vikings had more rushing yards than the Packers had total. However, what brought Green Bay back was a 59-yard Nick Collins pick-six and a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown by Will Blackmon in a two-and-a-half-minute span.

Stats from that game:
Vikings Outgained Packers 361-184
17 Combined Penalties for 135 yards
7 for 26 combined on third downs
6 combines sacks
16 points scored by defense and special teams

The only thing normal in that game was Adrian Peterson rushing for 192 yards and a touchdown in a 28-27 Vikings win. The game was decided on a missed 52-yard field goal by Mason Crosby.

[CSKreager]

1986 Chiefs/Steelers

PIT outgained KC 515-171, had 28 1st downs to 8, gave up 1 sack, nearly held the ball for 35 minutes…..

Yet lost 24-19 thanks to a special teams Chernobyl

Kansas City scored touchdowns on a blocked punt, blocked field goal, and kickoff return

[7DnBrnc53]

If Saints simply avert that collapse to Raiders one week earlier, even if they still lose this one, we have ourselves a pretty fun 'NFC West Championship Game' for Week #16!

They needed to beat the Raiders and the Chargers to stay alive for the playoffs. The Rams had a 5-0 division record going into the season finale, while NO's division record was only 3-2. So, they would have needed to be 9-6 like the Rams were to have a shot at the West title.

[Mountaineer Todd]

Well, this is an incredible coincidence. I started this thread four years ago. Today I wanted to reference it and came here figuring I would have to dig through the archives to find it. I was astonished to find it had just been bumped to the top!

[ShinobiMusashi]

Well, this is an incredible coincidence. I started this thread four years ago. Today I wanted to reference it and came here figuring I would have to dig through the archives to find it. I was astonished to find it had just been bumped to the top!

When I bookmarked this forum for some reason I bookmarked a page that is back in 2022 so whenever I load up the forum I'll see threads from back then first, this explains why I keep necro bumping threads from this time. Some good stuff.

[CSKreager]

If Saints simply avert that collapse to Raiders one week earlier, even if they still lose this one, we have ourselves a pretty fun 'NFC West Championship Game' for Week #16!

They needed to beat the Raiders and the Chargers to stay alive for the playoffs. The Rams had a 5-0 division record going into the season finale, while NO's division record was only 3-2. So, they would have needed to be 9-6 like the Rams were to have a shot at the West title.

So essentially they still would have been eliminated even if they don’t blow that Raider game had they lost to San Diego?

the Falcons really saved their bacon- the week 1 dumb luck OT at New Orleans and laying down 2x for LA….

Even more proof how much It would have been an absolute travesty had that Rams team won the SB

[readjack]

1986 Chiefs/Steelers

PIT outgained KC 515-171, had 28 1st downs to 8, gave up 1 sack, nearly held the ball for 35 minutes…..

Yet lost 24-19 thanks to a special teams Chernobyl

Kansas City scored touchdowns on a blocked punt, blocked field goal, and kickoff return

I was wondering if someone would include this! Historic game, as it got KC into the playoffs. Rick Gosselin told me that this is the game that made Chuck Noll hire his first special teams coaches!

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2020/ ... washington

[readjack]

On another thread, a poster on this forum referred to the 1984 game between the Rams and the Giants (in which the Rams scored three safeties) as being the strangest NFL game of all time. Here's some other candidates that I submit for your approval:

1950. Opening Day at Pittsburgh, Giants defeating the Steelers by a score of 18-7. The Giants' first two scores came on safeties, which means that at one point they had the score of 4 on the board. Their two touchdowns both came on fumble recoveries. The first of these plays actually featured three turnovers on one play - the Giants intercepted a pass, fumbled it back to the Steelers, and the Steeler lineman who got the ball wound up fumbling to future HOF Cowboy coach Tom Landry who took it back all the way to paydirt. As strange as that scoring summary is, it pales in comparison to the Steelers' individual and team statistics. Pittsburgh ran the ball 32 times and yet gained a grand total of just 34 yards. That aggregate total includes three players with negative rushing yardage: Bob Gage's 3 for -5, Jerry Shipkey's 4 for -9 and Jerry Nuzum's mind-numbing line of EIGHT for MINUS EIGHTEEN. But the Steelers topped that with their individual passing stats: No less than six players on the offense are credited with pass attempts on the afternoon, with five of those registering completions! Possibly a record.

In 1967, the Packers turned the ball over eight times to the Bears one, and still managed to escape with a 13-10 win. Worst turnover margin ever by a winning team.

A 1968 game between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills saw the Jets outgain Buffalo 427-197. But Joe Namath threw three pick sixes and the Bills upset the Jets 37-35. It would be the Bills' only win of the year, and it came against the eventual Super Bowl champions. It would also be the only win of beleaguered Bill QB Dan Darragh's career.

In 2001, the Chiefs outgained the Raiders 447 yards to 264 AND had a 5 to 1 turnover differential. Yet somehow, they lost 28-26.

A 1986 game between Kansas City and San Diego featured three interception returns for touchdowns (two by Lloyd Burruss) and a fumble return for a touchdown . . . all in the second quarter.

In 1983 Seattle managed just two passing yards against the LA Raiders (153 total), yet put up 38 points.

In a 1970 game against the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay quarterback Don Horn went one-for-eight. His lone completion went for an 89-yard game winning bomb in the final minutes.

In an early 1980 contest, Dan Fouts' San Diego Chargers turned the ball over on SIX consecutive possessions against the Oakland Raiders. Despite this catastrophe, the Chargers managed to hang on for an overtime win. (Even weirder the Chargers later in the season would also turn over the ball on six consecutive possessions, but this time they got buried by the Cowboys.)

In their expansion season of 2002, The Houston Texans got outgained by a count of 422 yards to just 47, but blasted the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-6. The Texans three touchdowns came on two interception returns (both by Aaron Glenn) and a fumble return.

In the Bills’ 16-12 win over the Jets in 1974, only two passes were completed in the game, both by the Jets. The Bills only ATTEMPTED two passes in the game. Joe Namath’s three picks means the game had more INTs than completions.

In a 1975 game, the Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers 13-10 despite throwing six interceptions (three each by Steve Ramsey and John Hufnagel). This is the only time in the Super Bowl era that a team has thrown six interceptions and won the game.

In 1998, playing the San Diego Chargers the Oakland Raiders had their first sixteen drives of the game end in a punt. On their seventeenth and final drive (save for a last play kneeldown) backup quarterback Wade Wilson found receiver James Jett on third-and-ten for a 68-yard touchdown and the Raiders won 7-6. (Totally unrelated, but I once was enrolled in a college class with Jett. He was a no-show).

I love this thread. Great call Todd!

One of my favorite weird ones was the first of two Bears-Vikings games in 2008. Bears won 48-41, the highest scoring game in the series. Bears scored five touchdowns, including:

* Blocked punt return
* Muffed punt recovered in the endzone
* Offensive fumble recovered in the endzone

Bears had a 48-31 lead in the 4th and the Vikings got the ball back with a minute left and a chance to tie. Crazy game.

The weirdest game for an individual that day: Bears rookie Zackary Bowman came back from injury to play his first game of the season, scored the touchdown on the Vikings's muffed punt, had the game-ending interception, and then it turned out he tore his bicep and missed the rest of the season.