Bills upset win over Lions ends with final score that’s never been seen before in NFL history

The Buffalo Bills pulled off a shocker on Sunday with a 48-42 upset win over Detroit. Not only did the two teams combine for the highest scoring game in the NFL this season, but they also combined to make NFL history with a final score that’s never been seen before. 

The final touchdown of the game came with just 12 seconds left when Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams for a three-yard score. That TD ended up being a big one because it gave us a scorigami: The 48-42 final marked the first time in NFL history that a game had ever ended with that exact score. 

As you can see above, it’s the 1,090th unique final score in NFL history. 

Going into the fourth quarter, this game was a shootout, but it didn’t look like it was going to end as the highest scoring game of the season. The Bills led just 35-21 to start the fourth, but the two teams exploded for 34 points in the final quarter to give us the scorigami. 

You always need a few odd things to happen to get a scorigami and this game had that. There were two missed field goals, including an errant 24-yard attempt by Tyler Bass in the second quarter, and if either of those kicks had gone in, then the scorigami wouldn’t have happened. 

A big reason the Bills won is because they got another epic performance from Josh Allen, who totaled 430 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Allen’s performance overshadowed Jared Goff, who threw for 494 yards and five touchdowns. 

As for the unique final score, there have been six scorigamis this season, and the Lions have now been involved in two of them. They also recorded a scorigami back in Week 11 when they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 52-6. 

As for the Bills, this marked the first time that they’ve been involved in a scorigami since a 41-15 loss to the Colts in November 2021. The Bills also made some history becoming the first team in NFL history to score AND allow MORE THAN 40 points in back-to-back games. In Week 14, the Bills lost to the Rams 44-42, which held the title of highest-scoring game for exactly one week. 

With six scorigamis through 15 weeks, it’s looking unlikely that we’re going to see the 2024 season surpass the total from 2023 when there were nine scorigamis, but we could see it happen if we get some bizarre scores over the final three weeks of the season.