Eight 3-0 NFL games in last 80 years
December 14, 2023
Neil O'Donoghue (Google Images)
On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Las Vegas Raiders 3-0 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on a game-winning field goal by Greg Joseph of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was the lowest scoring game in the NFL since 1943 when the New York Giants and Detroit Lions played to a 0-0 tie. Since then, we have had seven other games where only a field goal was scored in the entire game. Let’s take a look.
Chicago Bears 3, Detroit Lions 0
Roger LeClerc of Springfield, Massachusetts scored the only points in a 3-0 shutout win for the Chicago Bears over the Detroit Lions on December 16, 1962. The field goal was only nine yards and came in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota Vikings 3, Green Bay Packers 0
The last time prior to Sunday the Vikings won by a 3-0 score was November 14, 1971. The Purple People Eaters got a 25-yard home field goal from Fred Cox of Monongahela, Pennsylvania. The Vikings actually blocked a 23-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter.
Buffalo Bills 3, Atlanta Falcons 0
The Bills blanked the Falcons in western New York on October 16, 1977. Neil O’Donoghue of Dublin, Ireland kicked the game-winning 30-yard field goal in the second quarter. It was the Bills’s first win of the 1977 season, after losing their first four games. They finished the year at 3-11.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3, Kansas City Chiefs 0
On December 16, 1979, the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in central Florida. Just like two years prior, O’Donoghue was the hero. This time the Irishman kicked a 19-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Steve Fuller only had 46 yards passing for Kansas City.
New England Patriots 3, Miami Dolphins 0
This AFC matchup during the strike abbreviated season of 1982, saw the Patriots win by a field goal at home in Massachusetts. John Smith of Leafield, England, was the Patriots’s hero, as he made a 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter on December 9. New England won despite only 13 passing yards from quarterback Steve Grogan.
New York Jets 3, Washington Redskins 0
This field goal came in the first quarter by the late Cary Blanchard of Fort, Worth Texas on December 11, 1993 at RFK Stadium. The Jets rush defense was exceptional, as they limited the  Redskins to 39 rushing yards.
Pittsburgh Steelers 3, Miami Dolphins 0
Like the game on Sunday, the Steelers scored their only points late in the fourth quarter. Jeff Reed of Kansas City, Missouri kicked a game-winning field goal with 17 seconds left. The game on November 26, 2007 was titled the ‘Monday Night Mudder’ as torrential rain forced the teams to play in awful conditions.
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