The 14 Biggest Blowouts In The NFL Since The Start Of The Super Bowl Era

The NFL boasts significantly more parity than you’re going to find at the college level, but that only does so much to prevent lopsided games where one team absolutely steamrolls the competition. You can usually expect a few blowouts to unfold during every season, but there are some particularly brutal ones that really stand out.

I think most college football fans are aware that Georgia Tech still holds the record for the largest margin of victory in a game thanks to its 222-0 romping of Cumberland all the way back in 1916.

There aren’t any NFL games that have come close to that difference (or, for that matter, one in triple digits), but there have been more than a few bloodbaths since the 1966 season—the cutoff I’m using here when you consider that marked the first campagin where the Super Bowl was used to determine the greatest football team in the land.

T-13th. The Raiders Beat The Broncos By 51 Points In 1967

The first entry on this list transpired one year after the cutoff point and saw the Raiders give the Broncos a very rude welcome when the team that was still based in Oakland hosted Denver for its season opener on September 10, 1967.

The Broncos had gotten off to a 1-0 start and already had some experience under its belt against a team that was playing its first game of the year.

However, that didn’t really matter much when you consider the Raiders walked away with a 51-0 win to kick off a season where they went 13-1 before losing to the Packers in Super Bowl II.

T-13th. The Browns Beat The Steelers By 51 Points In 1989

The Steelers do have a fairly decisive edge over the Browns in a rivalry where Pittsburgh currently boasts an all-time record of 82-64-1, but Cleveland can take some solace in knowing it’s responsible for the biggest beatdown in the history of the series.

It came when the two teams opened the season at Three Rivers Stadium on September 10, 1989 for a game where the hometown crowd watched the Steelers get spanked in a 51-0 shutout.

If you’re curious, Pittsburgh almost returned the favor a decade later with a 43-0 win that remains the biggest thrashing Cleveland has endured at their hands.

T-10th. The Dolphins Beat The Patriots By 52 Points In 1972

The Dolphins became the first team in NFL history to go undefeated in 1972, and no team bore the brunt of that dominant run quite like the Patriots.

Miami was 8-0 when New England headed down to the Orange Bowl on November 12th, and they didn’t have much trouble maintaining that spotless record with a 52-0 shutout.

T-10th. The Giants Beat The Eagles By 52 Points In 1972

It turns out November 1972 was a pretty big month for massive blowouts, as the Giants also delivered a punishing blow to their longtime rivals in Philadelphia on the 26th day of that month.

The Eagles were facing an uphill battle with the 2-7-1 record they were sporting against the 6-4 Giants in a game that was held at Yankee Stadium, and that unique venue was the site of Philly’s 62-10 shellacking at the hands of New York.

T-10th. The Rams Beat The Raiders By 52 Points In 2014

The Raiders didn’t have anything left to play for when they made the trek to St. Louis, as the team was sporting a 1-10 record heading into their showdown with the Rams on November 30, 2014.

The home team that was sitting 4-7  hadn’t exactly dazzled that season, but they looked like an absolute juggernaut while steamrolling their opponents in a 52-0 rout.

T-8. The Packers Beat The Falcons By 53 Points In 1966

The Falcons played their inaugural season in 1966, and it’s safe to say the team that posted a 6-35 record over the course of its first three years of existence got a pretty rude welcome to the NFL.

That was definitely the case when Atlanta faced off against the juggernaut that was the Packers for the first time on October 23, 1966 before dropping to 0-7 thanks to the 56-3 loss to the team that would go on to win the very first Super Bowl a few months later.

T-8th. The Patriots Beat The Jets By 53 Points In 1979

The Patriots and the Jets both headed into their showdown on September 9, 1979 hoping to get a win after starting the season at 0-1.

New England ended up being the team that was able to earn one in a game where Patriots QB Steve Grogan set what was then a franchise record with five passing touchdowns while leading his squad to the 56-3 victory.

T-6th. The Bears Beat The Packers By 54 Points In 1980

We’ve got yet another instance where a team that trails its rival in the overall series secured some bragging rights thanks to what the Bears did against the Packers on December 7, 1980.

There’s never been any love lost between those two teams, and that was once again the case after Chicago rolled to a 61-7 win before Green Bay coach Bart Starr confronted Bears skipper Neill Armstrong after the final whistle over his decision to keep blitzing after the Packers waved the white flag by putting in their backup QB.

T-6th. The Bengals Beat The Oilers By 54 Points In 1989

Chicago’s 61-7 victory was a case of “Scorigami” that was replicated close to a decade later courtesy of the Bengals, who dispatched the Oilers by the same score on December 17th, 1989.

T-4th. The Falcons Beat The Saints By 55 Points In 1973

The Falcons were still a pretty hapless franchise heading into the 1973 campaign, and while they missed the playoffs that year, it marked the first time the franchise finished with a winning record.

They went 9-5 with the help of the victory they got over the Saints on September 16, 1973 in a game where Atlanta scored 62 points and New Orleans settled for a lone touchdown.

T-4th. The Saints Beat The Colts By 55 Points In 2011

The Saints were involved in both NFL games that have been decided by exactly 55 points via a 62-7 outcome, and they ended up on the right side of things when they beat the Colts by that margin on October 23, 2011.

3. The Seahawks Beat The Cardinals By 58 Points In 2012

There has only been one occasion where an NFL team beat its opponent by exactly 58 points, and the Seahawks were responsible for doing so by scoring that many in a shutout while committing some bird-on-bird crime against the Cardinals on December 9, 2012.

T-1. The Rams Beat The Falcons By 59 Points In 1976

As things currently stand, 59 points is the mark to beat when it comes to the biggest margin of victory posted in an NFL game.

Two teams have checked that box, and the Rams became the first on December 4, 1976 with a 59-0 win over the Falcons.

T-1. The Patriots Beat The Titans By 59 Points In 2009

As you can likely surmise, Tom Brady played a central role in the other game where a team won by 59 points, as he threw six touchdowns for the second time in his career when the Patriots destroyed the Titans on October 18, 2009.

Things probably could have been even worse for Tennessee, as the Patriots were up 52-0 with eight minutes to go in the third quarter before Bill Belichick called off the dogs by replacing Brady with Brian Hoyer.

He threw a touchdown of his own to put New England up by 59 right before the final frame got underway, and the score remained unchanged until the final whistle blew.

The craziest part is that the game was played as a snowstorm swept through Foxborough in the middle of October, but that obviously didn’t do much to impact the Patriots.