How Miami and Kansas City Played Into a Second Overtime
Miami beat Kansas City 27-24 after 82:40 on the game clock; the weather-delayed 2018 Tennessee-Miami game is an elapsed-time distinction.
The longest game in NFL history by official playing time was the Miami Dolphins’ 27-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1971 AFC Divisional Playoff. Played on Christmas Day, it consumed 82 minutes and 40 seconds of game-clock time—60 minutes of regulation and 22:40 of overtime—and ended on Garo Yepremian’s 37-yard field goal in the second overtime, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 1971 chronology.
The longest NFL game: the answer at a glance
Miami and Kansas City met on December 25, 1971, with a place in the AFC Championship Game at stake. Regulation ended 24-24, neither team scored in the first overtime, and Yepremian won the game 7 minutes and 40 seconds into the second overtime.
| Fact | Record |
|---|---|
| Teams | Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs |
| Final score | Dolphins 27, Chiefs 24 |
| Date | December 25, 1971 |
| Round | 1971 AFC Divisional Playoff |
| Official playing time | 82 minutes, 40 seconds |
| Overtime played | 22 minutes, 40 seconds |
| Winning play | Garo Yepremian’s 37-yard field goal in the second overtime |
The duration breaks down as follows:
- Regulation: 60:00
- First overtime: 15:00
- Second overtime: 7:40
- Total: 82:40
The record measures official game-clock playing time. It does not mean the entire event, from kickoff to the final whistle, lasted only 82 minutes and 40 seconds.
How the game reached 82 minutes and 40 seconds
The route to double overtime is documented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s account of “The Longest Day”:
- First quarter: Kansas City scored on its first two possessions and led 10-0.
- Second quarter: Miami answered with 10 points, producing a 10-10 halftime tie.
- Third quarter: Both teams scored touchdowns, leaving the game tied 17-17.
- Fourth quarter: Kansas City took a 24-17 lead, but Miami scored with 1:25 remaining to tie the game again.
- End of regulation: Ed Podolak returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to Miami’s 22-yard line. The Chiefs moved to the 15, but Jan Stenerud missed a potential winning field goal.
- First overtime: Kansas City had a 42-yard field-goal attempt blocked, and Miami missed a 52-yard attempt. The period ended without a score.
- Second overtime: Yepremian converted a 37-yard field goal 7:40 into the period, giving Miami a 27-24 victory.
The fourth quarter provided Kansas City with one chance to avoid overtime, and the first extra period gave both teams another opportunity to end the game. None produced points. Because the score remained tied after the first overtime, play continued into a sixth period.
Yepremian’s kick came after 22 minutes and 40 seconds of overtime. Added to the 60 minutes of regulation, that produced the official record of 82:40.
Playing time is not the same as elapsed time
Official playing time is the time registered on the game clock. It does not include halftime, commercial breaks, timeouts, injuries, intervals between periods or other stoppages when the game clock is not running.
That distinction is essential when comparing claims about the “longest” NFL game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame and ESPN identify Miami–Kansas City as the record-holder using game-clock time: 60 minutes of regulation plus the overtime required to decide the playoff.
A different game is sometimes cited when the measurement changes to elapsed wall-clock time. A secondary commercial account reports that the Tennessee Titans’ 2018 game at Miami lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes from kickoff to completion because of two lengthy lightning delays. Miami won 27-20. Because that exact duration is not established here through an official historical record, it should be treated as a reported elapsed-time distinction rather than a replacement for the 1971 playing-time record (reported duration breakdown).
| Metric | Game |
|---|---|
| Longest by official playing time | Miami 27, Kansas City 24 in 1971 — 82:40 on the game clock |
| Commonly cited longest by elapsed time | Miami 27, Tennessee 20 in 2018 — reportedly 7 hours, 10 minutes including lightning delays |
The claims answer different questions. The 1971 playoff required the most official game-clock time. The 2018 game reportedly occupied a longer span of real-world time because play was suspended by weather.
How the record compared with other marathon playoff games
Before Christmas Day 1971, the professional-football playing-time record belonged to the 1962 AFL Championship Game. The Dallas Texans defeated the Houston Oilers 20-17 after 77 minutes and 54 seconds, with Tommy Brooker’s 25-yard field goal ending the game after 17:54 of overtime.
That contest was played in the pre-merger American Football League, so it should not be labeled an NFL game without qualification. It nevertheless was the direct predecessor to the Miami–Kansas City professional-football record. The 1971 game lasted 4 minutes and 46 seconds longer:
82:40 − 77:54 = 4:46
The comparison below reproduces ESPN’s list of six postseason games that required two overtime periods. Because ESPN includes the 1962 AFL Championship, the table is best read as its historical NFL-and-AFL comparison rather than an independently verified ranking of every professional game.
| Season and round | Result | Playing time |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 AFC Divisional | Miami Dolphins 27, Kansas City Chiefs 24 | 82:40 |
| 1962 AFL Championship | Dallas Texans 20, Houston Oilers 17 | 77:54 |
| 1986 AFC Divisional | Cleveland Browns 23, New York Jets 20 | 77:02 |
| 2012 AFC Divisional | Baltimore Ravens 38, Denver Broncos 35 | 76:42 |
| 1977 AFC Divisional | Oakland Raiders 37, Baltimore Colts 31 | 75:43 |
| 2003 NFC Divisional | Carolina Panthers 29, St. Louis Rams 23 | 75:10 |
Miami–Kansas City stands well beyond the next entry rather than leading by only a few seconds. Its second overtime continued for 7:40, carrying the total almost five minutes past the 1962 mark.
The league labels also preserve an important historical distinction. The AFL Championship belongs in the development of modern professional football and in the history that preceded the completed AFL-NFL merger, but it was an AFL contest. The other five games in ESPN’s table were NFL postseason games.
Ed Podolak’s 350-yard performance
Chiefs running back Ed Podolak produced the game’s standout individual statistical performance, accumulating 350 combined yards across rushing, receiving, kickoff returns and punt returns. The Hall of Fame’s statistical account gives the following breakdown:
| Category | Yards |
|---|---|
| Rushing | 85 |
| Receiving | 110 |
| Kickoff returns | 153 |
| Punt returns | 2 |
| Combined total | 350 |
Podolak gained his 85 rushing yards on 17 carries and caught eight passes for 110 yards. He also returned three kickoffs for 153 yards and two punts for 2 yards.
His most consequential return came immediately after Miami tied the game with 1:25 left in regulation. Podolak took the kickoff 78 yards to the Miami 22, and three more plays moved Kansas City to the 15. Stenerud then missed the field goal that could have won the game before overtime.
The 350-yard total supplies historical context for Podolak’s role in the marathon, but the available Hall of Fame account does not establish it as a particular formal league record. It is therefore best described as an exceptional all-purpose performance within the record-setting game.
Why a playoff game could last that long
A postseason game must produce a winner. If the score remains tied after one overtime period, play continues into another period until the tie is broken. That structure allowed Miami and Kansas City to play 22:40 beyond regulation.
Regular-season overtime is different because it is capped and may expire with the game still tied. ESPN’s historical overview notes both that postseason play continues until a winner is determined and that the NFL introduced overtime to the regular season in 1974.
The 1974 date does not mark the beginning of all overtime football. The 1962 AFL Championship and the 1971 Dolphins–Chiefs playoff had already reached second overtime. The change specifically brought overtime to NFL regular-season games; postseason competition already had a way to continue when regulation ended level.
Modern overtime procedures should not be projected backward onto the 1971 game. The relevant historical point is narrower: this was a playoff, its 24-24 tie could not stand, and the teams continued until Yepremian scored.
Miami’s 27-24 Christmas Day victory over Kansas City therefore remains the longest NFL game by official playing time at 82 minutes and 40 seconds. Regulation ended tied, the first overtime was scoreless, and a 37-yard field goal in the second overtime finally decided it. Claims about the weather-delayed 2018 Tennessee–Miami game use elapsed real-world time instead of the record book’s game-clock measure.