What is the most common scorigami in the NFL?

The Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts had a scorigami on Sunday night, 4th December, which occurs when a game finishes with a scoreline that has never occurred in league history. As a result, there was little suspense throughout the final quarter of the game.

There are infinite ways a football event's scoreline could turn out. Most clubs generate points by collecting field goals, touchdowns, and extra points. But since there are other ways to score, some games end with puzzling totals.

The word 'scorigami', employed to identify point totals that have never happened in a league game, was coined by SB Nation's innovation editor, Jon Bois. In a clip from 2017, he provided a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Bois reviewed all the tallies that have occurred and delved into what is achievable on an NFL scoreboard.

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In Super Bowl XLVIII, the Seattle Seahawks' 43-8 victory against the Denver Broncos was a scorigami since no NFL game ever ended that way.

A Twitter chatbot has monitored every such scoreline in the league since the word came into existence and, as of December 7, 2022, there had been 1,074 different results. The Dallas Cowboys' 54-19 win over the Indianapolis Colts on December 4, 2022, was the latest scorigami for a league game.

The first incident of scorigami this season occurred during the Seattle Seahawks' 48-45 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 4. The second occurred during the Cowboys-Colts game on Sunday night.

Although the most recent blank tie occurred in November 1943, the lowest achievable scoreline, 0-0, has occurred 73 times.

No team has ever amassed more than 73 points in a league game. The Chicago Bears not only scored the most points in a single contest, but they also shut out the Washington Redskins to secure the biggest victory margin ever in a league game in 1940.

Most common scorelines we have seen in the NFL

Here are the top 10 final results, ranked by the number of times they have appeared throughout history:

1. 20-17: 274 times

2. 27-24: 224 times

3. 17-14: 198 times

4. 23-20: 193 times

5. 24-17: 170 times

6. 13-10: 166 times

7. 24-21: 156 times

8. 17-10: 141 times

9. 16-13: 141 times

10. 24-14: 139 times

About the author

Habib Timileyin has been an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda for 2 years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English, and found himself drawn to the NFL about a decade ago.

Habib's favorite team is the Cincinnati Bengals and he particularly enjoyed their run to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. The 2016 Super Bowl between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots is his most favorite of all time, and if given a chance to go back in time, he would love to witness the Patroits’ incredible comeback from being 28-3 down to winning 34-28.

Habib admires Tom Brady for his journey from being in a low draft position to achieving immense success in the game. His favorite coach of all time is Bill Belichick.

Habib likes to study intricate details of a story before reporting on it, and compares information among several reputable sources to ensure accuracy. When he's not writing about the NFL, Habib is likely watching Soccer, Basketball or enjoying a good movie on sports.

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Edited by Akshay Saraswat