Seven years ago, I wrote about game-winning touchdowns. A touchdown qualifies as a game-winning touchdown if all of the following four criteria are met:
- It occurs in the 4th quarter or in overtime;
- The scoring team was not winning prior to the touchdown
- The scoring team was winning after the touchdown, including the extra point [1]However, if a team was down by 7, scored a touchdown, went for two and converted, that touchdown does not count as a game-winning touchdown. So in this Cowboys/Giants game from 2018, Dallas was … Continue reading; and
- If the touchdown (plus point after) gave the winning team more points than the losing team scored all game. So if a team is down 21-17 and scores a touchdown to go ahead 24-21, and that team ultimately wins 31-27, that does not count as a game-winning touchdown. But if they win 31-21, it does.
Got it? Great. I looked at all games, regular and postseason, in the NFL, AFL, and AAFC and counted all game-winning touchdowns by this metric. As it was in 2013, Marcus Allen remains the all-time leader in game-winning touchdowns. He had 10 game-winning touchdowns, in the following games:
11/28/1996: kan 28, det 24
09/22/1996: kan 17, den 14
10/17/1993: kan 17, sdg 14
12/10/1989: rai 16, crd 14
11/20/1986: rai 37, sdg 31
11/17/1985: rai 13, cin 6
09/24/1984: rai 33, sdg 30
10/07/1984: rai 28, sea 14
10/09/1983: rai 21, kan 20
12/18/1982: rai 37, ram 31
The table below lists all players with at least five such touchdowns.
Colts great Jimmy Orr had a whopping 9 game-winning touchdown catches, the most of any receiver in history. Among rushers, Allen, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Emmitt Smith each have 7 game-winning rushing touchdowns. And there are seven players — Dwayne Harris, Patrick Peterson, Dante Hall, Mike Brown, Tamarick Vanover, Elvis Patterson, and Andy Nelson — who each have 2 game-winning touchdowns in other ways (returns, fumble recoveries, etc.).
And a few notable names with big touchdown totals but low game-winning touchdowns. Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and Don Hutson each topped 100 touchdowns but had just three game-winners. Among the 100+ touchdown club, Randy Moss, Jim Brown, Adrian Peterson, Antonio Gates, Shaun Alexander, and Tony Gonzalez each had just two game-winning touchdowns. And Marshall Faulk, Marvin Harrison, and Franco Harris all had just one game-winning touchdown. And Rob Gronkowski and James Lofton each topped 75 touchdowns but had zero game-winning touchdowns. Perhaps that will give Gronkowski something to shoot for in Tampa Bay.
What stands out to you?
References
| ↑1 | However, if a team was down by 7, scored a touchdown, went for two and converted, that touchdown does not count as a game-winning touchdown. So in this Cowboys/Giants game from 2018, Dallas was down 35-28 with just over a minute to play when Cole Beasley caught a touchdown pass. After the play, the Cowboys went for 2 and converted, and won 36-35. But I am not crediting Beasley with a game-winning touchdown catch. Had Dallas been down 34-28 when Beasley caught his touchdown, he would receive credit for a game-winning touchdown assuming the Cowboys hit the ensuing extra point. |
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