The Game Before the Money Radio Show reviewed the NFL regular season game with the most points scored. The show airs on the SportsMap Radio Network on Saturday mornings at 11 am Eastern, 8 Pacific and is hosted by football historian Jackson Michael.
NFL Team With Most Points in Regular Season Game
What are the most points scored in a regular season NFL game? 72 points!
Many of you likely know that the record for most points in any NFL game is 73, when the Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat team holds the record for most points in a regular season game? Ironically, it’s the Washington Redskins, now known as the Washington Commanders.
NFL Regular Season Game with Most Points
Washington scored 72 points against the New York Giants in a 1966 regular season game, winning 72-41.
A lot of crazy things happened in this game. Despite Washington scoring 72 points, quarterback Sonny Jurgensen only threw for 145 yards. The Giants actually outgained Washington in total offense that day, 389 yards to 341 yards.
Rookie defensive back Brig Owens, who ended up having a 12-year NFL career, scored two defensive touchdowns for Washington. Washington running back A.D. Whitfield scored three touchdowns, which turned out to be half of his career total.
Embed from Getty ImagesOn the second to last play of the game, the score was 69-41. Giants quarterback Tom Kennedy thought it was third down and expected to run out the clock on the next play. It was actually fourth down, however, and the Giants turned the ball over on downs. The mistake gave Washington the ball back. Instead of letting time expire, head coach Otto Graham decided to kick a field goal on the last play of the game.
Charlie Gogolak kicked a 29-yard field goal to push the point total to a record 72 points, surpassing the 70 points that the Rams posted on the Colts in 1950.
After the game, Graham told reporters that he wasn’t trying to run up the score or going for the points record. He said he wanted to give Gogolak some extra practice because he hadn’t attempted a field goal yet that day. Graham noted that Goglak had missed two field goals the previous week against Cleveland.
1966 New York Giants and Washington Redskins
The Giants won only one game during the 1966 NFL season. Ironically, it was a 13-10 win against Washington a few weeks earlier to the record-setting rout they suffered. The Giants held Washington scoreless the entire second half of the prior contest.
The Giants traded for Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton in the offseason and improved to 7-7 the next season under head coach Allie Sherman.
Washington finished 7-7 in 1966 under first-year head coach Otto Graham, who had been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame the previous year. He only served three seasons in that capacity, but the 7-7 record he compiled in 1966 was his best ever. That season marked the first time Washington had a .500 record in ten years, and was only the fourth time the franchise reached that mark since 1949.
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