Christmas Day Game Between Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs Still Holds The Record

Published on November 16th, 2020 2:09 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


What was the longest game that was ever played in the history of the NFL?

Now, the longest ever game from start to finish, in terms of total elapsed time, belongs to the September/2018 game between the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins.

That game, which was delayed twice due to lightning strikes in the area, lasted a total of seven hours and eight minutes.

That result isn't what most people what to hear when they ask about the longest ever NFL game.

Most people want to know which game took the longest in terms of actual playing time.

The record for the longest ever NFL game, in terms of playing time, belongs to a 1971-72 playoff clash between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.

That game, which was won by the Miami Dolphins in double overtime, clocked in at 82 minutes, 40 seconds.

The Miami Dolphins ended up winning that game by a score of 27-24 after Garo Yepremian kicked the winning field goal in the second overtime. The Miami Dolphins eventually made it to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 24-3.

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The NFL has a number of rules in place to make sure that games run in a timely fashion.

Given the extremely high quality of quarterbacks in the NFL these days, playing a lengthy overtime game in the playoffs is quite unlikely, so it will almost certainly be a very long time until the record for longest ever NFL game gets broken.