Highest scoring game in NFL history
With offensive schemes becoming more complex and players becoming increasingly bigger, stronger and faster, scoring records in the NFL are being set on a regular basis.
However, the record for the highest scoring game in NFL history has held up for over 50 years.
We head back to November 27, 1966 in an Eastern Division battle between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants.
What goes into making a nfl game high or low scoring ? >>>NFL OVER UNDERS – PREDICTING SCORING
The Redskins improved to 6-6 on the season in a 72-41 rout over the 1-9-1 Giants.
Washington struck first with a five-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen to A.D. Whitfield. After a missed extra point, Washington was ahead, 6-0. The Redskins took a 13-0 lead after Whitfield found the endzone again, this time on a 65-yard run.
The Redskins defense got in on the scoring in the second quarter after Brig Owens returned a fumble 62-yards to put Washington ahead, 20-0. Allen Jacobs got the Giants on the scoreboard with a six-yard scamper to cut the lead to 20-7.
Two more first-half rushing touchdowns by Whitfield and Joe Don Looney gave the Redskins a 34-7 lead. A late one-yard plunge by the Giants’ Gary Wood ended the half with the Redskins up, 34-14.
Jurgensen hooked up with his favorite target Charley Taylor in the third quarter with touchdowns of 74 and 32 yards.
The Giants answered with two scores of their own on a Wood 41-yard pass to Joe Morrison and 50-yard strike to Homer Jones. The third quarter ended with the Redskins still well in control, 48-28.
Washington put the game out of reach with two scores, one on special teams and one on the defensive side of the ball.
Rickie Harris returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown and Brig Owens scored his second touchdown, this time on a 60-yard interception return.
With the score 62-28, the Giants tried to make the final outcome more respectable, scoring on an 18-yard pass from Tom Kennedy to Aaron Thomas and one-yard run by Dan Lewis.
Washington closed out the scoring with a 45-yard run by Bobby Mitchell and 29-yard field goal by Charlie Gogolak.
The Giants actually outgained the Redskins, 389 to 341 yards, but turned the ball over six times, leading to their downfall.
For the Giants, Tom Kennedy threw for 165 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions and Gary Wood completed 7-of-12 for 146 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Joe Morrison lead the team in yards rushing with 59 and receiving yards with 98, while Homer Jones paced the team in receptions with six.
For the Redskins, Sonny Jurgensen made the most of 16 pass attempts, completing 10 for 145 yards and three touchdowns.
Charley Taylor was on the receiving end of six of those passes for 124 yards and two scores. A.D.
Whitfield lead the team with 74 yards rushing on only six carries, while Joe Don Looney added 46 on a team high 10 attempts.
The Redskins scored a relatively modest 21.5 points per game in their other 13 games. The Giants allowed an average of 33 points per game in the other 13 games they played.
Washington finished at 7-7 and in fifth place, while the Giants were the worst team in the league at 1-12-1.