NFL ran a marathon on Sunday

By: Grant Gorden

Across two continents, four time zones and 14 games, the league’s Week 5 Sunday was the longest day of NFL football in the last 50 years, per NFL Research.

From kickoff in London for the Atlanta Falcons’ win over the New York Jets to the end of the Buffalo Bills’ victory against the host Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, there was 15 hours and one minute of football, per NFL Research.

The aforementioned two games were no doubt the catalysts for the lengthy day, as the Falcons’ win in England provided an earlier start to the day and the Bills’ triumph didn’t come until after a weather delay of more than an hour.

Throughout the 14-game, 15-hour slate, 702 points and 80 touchdowns were scored with 10,512 yards tallied, per NFL Research. There could have been quite a few more points, too, as there were 11 missed field goals and 11 missed point-after attempts.

Long as the day might well have been, it was plenty exciting with five games decided in the final three minutes of regulation or overtime.