There has arguably never been a better time to be a quarterback with NFL teams using the passing game more and more, and there is likely to be some pretty high-scoring games from here on in.
Whether we will see scores of the like of our top five remains to be seen, with some pretty big numbers coming up.
4 = New Orleans Saints 52 – 49 New York Giants (Nov 1, 2015)
We only have to go back six years for the first game on our list with the Saints and the Giants playing out a humdinger in a tie for fourth place.
Both quarterbacks from that thriller are sadly now retired but they treated their fans to some glorious football, with the two offences combing for 1,030 yards.
Saints’ Drew Brees passed for 505 of those and enjoyed a record-tying seven touchdowns although he may not have expected the seventh to be needed as he led his side into a 42-28 lead going into the final quarter.
However, Eli Manning, who threw six touchdowns in total, rallied the Giants with a three-touchdown salvo in a little over five minutes to put Big Blue on the verge of a famous win.
Brees was not to be outdone as he tied the scores with a pass to CJ Spiller before Kai Forbath secured the home win with a 50-yard field goal.
4 = Oakland Raiders 52 – 49 Houston Oilers (Dec 22, 1963)
That epic Superdome clash matched the exact scoreline from the Oakland Raiders’ clash with the Houston Oilers at Frank Youell Field more than 50 years previously.
In another see-saw battle, the Oilers rallied from 7-0 to establish a 21-7 lead in the second quarter before the Raiders stepped up with four touchdowns in an explosive second quarter to tie the scores up at half-time at 35-35.
The point-scoring was stemmed to a degree in the second period with the Oilers edging the third stanza to forge a 49-42 advantage going into the final quarter but as unlikely as it appeared, the Raiders’ defence stepped up to shutout their opponents at the business end with Tom Flores’ sixth touchdown pass tying the scores before Mike Mercer landed a 39-yard field goal to seal the win.
3 – Los Angeles Rams 54 – 51 Kansas City Chiefs (Nov 19, 2018)
After this game, LA Rams’ fans might have considered you crazy if you had suggested Jared Goff would be traded out just three years later as Sean McVay looked for a signal-caller to lead them to Super Bowl glory.
In the season after their last Super Bowl appearance, Goff outshone Patrick Mahomes in his MVP season to land a famous win, even if the Chiefs went on to end the campaign with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The Rams QB threw four touchdown passes as he went 31-49 for 413 yards with no interceptions to see his side through in a real shootout, with a 40-yard beauty to Gerald Everett in the final two minutes sealing the deal.
Mahomes managed six touchdowns and 478 yards to keep his side very much in the hunt, but three interceptions ultimately proved too much to overcome.
Although this game is only third in the all-time list, it still ranks as the highest-scoring encounter on Monday Night Football.
2 – Cincinnati Bengals 58 – 48 Cleveland Browns (Nov 28, 2004)
High-scoring games don’t necessarily require the involvement of elite quarterbacks as the number two-ranked game on our list proves, with the Bengals outlasting the Browns 17 years ago.
The Browns, who ended the campaign with a 4-12 record, were more than a match for the Bengals in this one, but unfortunately for them at the time, a 60-minute game was just a touch too long.
Carson Palmer threw for 251 yards and four touchdowns but three interceptions undermined his figures somewhat, although Rudi Johnson proved the Bengals’ star man as he powered for 202 yards on the ground from 26 carries, scoring two touchdowns, including the crucial go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
Kelly Holcomb, who had previously played one season for the Barcelona Dragons, did his best to keep the Browns in it, throwing for 413 yards and five touchdowns, but one of his two interceptions came late on when chasing the game with Deltha O’Neal returning it all the way for a touchdown to make sure of the Bengals’ win.
1 – Washington Redskins 72 – 41 New York Giants (Nov 27, 1966)
The benchmark comes from a game 55 years ago when the rules from a defensive standpoint were a little more relaxed making it a little surprising on that front.
However, the New York Giants were enduring a terrible season, ending the campaign with just a solitary win to their names with a 1-12-1 record, easily the worst in the NFL, while they conceded 501 points.
Washington were not exactly the stellar side that year, finishing 7-7, while almost a fifth of their season’s points tally came in this one game, but they certainly enjoyed themselves that night.
The Giants could just not stop Washington that night with the home side establishing a 13-0 first-quarter lead before adding another 21 points in the second, while there was no let-up with Washington scoring 24 in the final stanza.
Although the Giants did put points on the board in the final three quarters, they were always playing catch-up and that pressure led to problems as they turned the ball over on six occasions, two of which went all the way for a touchdown.
Given the mammoth score, it is perhaps surprising to know that Washington QB Sonny Jurgensen only threw 10 of 16 passes for 145 yards, with three touchdowns, while neither team passed 400 yards total.
