The longest game in NFL history came over half a century ago, in a 1971 Divisional playoff match between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.

“The Longest Game” In NFL

Miami’s clash against Kansas City in 1971 lasted so long that after the match it would be named “The Longest Game”, which is a record that it has held onto in the NFL until the present day.

The AFC Divisional match lasted a total of 82 minute, 40 seconds after double overtime and it is by far and away the longest ever match in the NFL.

A regular season NFL game is capped at 70 minutes total, as the teams will tie with each other if no score can be found in the additional 10 minute period – for this reason all the longest games in NFL history are playoff games.

Unlike regular season matches, playoff games cannot have a tie so teams keep playing until a sudden death score is found, which is how the Dolphins-Chiefs game went on for so long in 1971.

The game swung in the Chiefs direction to begin with, as the hosts took up a 10-0 lead during the first quarter with Miami not able to get a point on the board.

In the second period the Dolphins managed to find their feet a bit more and they had things tied up at 10 points a peace going in at half time, setting up for an exciting second half.

Both sides traded touchdowns through the second half with the game swinging back and forth by a close margin, but eventually proceedings went to overtime with the score level at 24-24.

The sides still couldn’t be separated in overtime and with no tie possible in a playoff game the extremely rare double overtime came into place, during which the divisional match became the longest game in history.

Miami kicker Garo Yepremian stepped up to kick the winning field goal during double overtime, with a sweet strike from 37 yards securing victory for the Dolphins in the longest NFL game ever.

Dolphins vs Chiefs In 2024

The Chiefs have already faced off with the Dolphins this season, as Patrick Mahomes came out on top at Arrowhead Stadium by just seven points at the end of last year.

Miami and Kansas City will go head to head yet again in the post season this year, with two of the top teams from the AFC facing off in the Wild Card playoff round this weekend.