A brief history of NFL Games played on Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and luckily enough this year we are given the opportunity to watch a 4-3 Cincinnati Bengals team that just lost star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase's injury for the next 4-6 weeks take on a 2-5 Cleveland Browns team lead by running back Nick Chubb. While the Bengals have an absolutely stacked wide receiver room, will they be able to get the win without their star, or will the Browns be able to get a much-needed win against a division opponent on the ground? This made me wonder, what were the outcomes of some of the most famous and memorable NFL games played on Halloween within the past 30 years? In this article, we will explore just that.

1993 – Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles

In an absolute downpour on the 1993 Halloween Night in Philadelphia, an Emmitt Smith lead Dallas Cowboys ran all over the Philadelphia Eagles. Having a 62-yard touchdown run as the main highlight, Emmitt Smith had a career-high 237 rushing yards as the Cowboys dominated the Eagles on the ground 23-10. Defensively, if the Eagles had played something else besides Cover 2, then maybe the game’s outcome would have been different if Troy Aikman had to through the ball more.

1994 – Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

In the theme of Halloween and costumes, the Packers and Bears both dressed in jersey versions of what the teams wore in the 1920s. The Chicago Bears retired both Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus’ jerseys at halftime, but it just wasn’t enough to rally their team as a Brett Favre lead Packers stomped the Bears 33-6 on a rainy Monday night.

2004 – Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles

This Halloween game had some tempers flaring as a recently acquired in the offseason by the Philadelphia Eagles Terrell Owens faced off against the team he was supposed to go to in the original trade from the 49ers. (If you didn’t know, Terrell Owens was supposed to be traded from the San Francisco 49ers to the Baltimore Ravens, but he protested the trade enough that he was able to become a free agent and sign with the Philadelphia Eagles). To add more fuel to the fire, Terrell Owens mimicked Ray Lewis’ pregame dance for his touchdown celebration during the game. The Eagles ended up winning this one 15-10 over the Ravens and started their season 7-0.

2004 – New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers

In what many people call magic, a Pittsburgh Steelers team led by rookie Ben Roethlisberger encouraged by the crowd, ended up defeating the New England Patriots 34-20. This Patriots loss snapped a 21-game win streak that dated back to the previous season and paved the way to a Super Bowl run for a young Ben Roethlisberger lead Steelers.

2005 – Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

In a low-scoring affair between the two teams that saw almost only field goals all game, a Jeff Reed 37-yard field goal with 1:36 left in the game ended up putting the Pittsburgh Steelers in the driver’s seat, winning 20-19 over the Ravens.

2010 – Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints

As many know, the city of New Orleans tends to go all out when it comes to Halloween. This game had tons of fans dressed up for the occasion as well, potentially helping their home team Saints pull off the 20-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. (But seriously, go look up this game, there were some crazy Halloween costumes).

2011 – San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

In what looked to be another loss for an early 2010s Kansas City Chiefs team, Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers had the game tied at 20-20 with the ball on the Chiefs' 15-yard line, practically ready to score at moment’s notice. In the spirit of Halloween and tricks, the Chiefs were able to force a Philip Rivers fumble, which the Chiefs recovered and forced the game to go into overtime. To end off the game, a Ryan Succop 30-yard field goal sealed the game 23-20 in an absolute treat for the Chiefs.

2013 – Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins

In a game that couldn’t have ended in more of a Halloween nightmare for the Cincinnati Bengals, Andy Dalton was sacked for a safety in overtime by Cameron Wake giving the Miami Dolphins the 22-20 win on this Thursday night.

2019 – San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals

What looked to be total domination on the San Francisco 49er’s part, the Arizona Cardinals, led by a rookie Kyler Murray ended up keeping the game a lot closer than what the stats usually would have indicated. However, the 49ers with 4 minutes left in the game were able to run out the rest of the clock and secure the 28-25 win over the Cardinals.

Some interesting things I noticed while making this article are, out of the 9 games, the home team is 6-3. The most frequent team that showed up ended up being the Pittsburgh Steelers, who went 2-1 (the one loss being to the Saints in New Orleans). So, with this information will the home team Cleveland Browns win the game at home on Halloween, or will the Cincinnati Bengals pull off what looks to possibly be a Halloween upset?

I hope you all enjoyed the article and have a great rest of your day!