Nfl Christmas Day Scores

Here's everything you need to know for the Friday afternoon game on Christmas Day: What time does Vikings at Saints start? The game is set to kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. Welcome to the Yahoo Sports 2020 NBA Christmas Day tracker. In this post, we’ll break down all the scores, highlights and hullabaloo from the league’s five-game slate throughout the holiday. Let's take a look at the sports schedule for Christmas Day in 2020, which includes an NFL matchup between the Saints and the Vikings. Here is a look at all Christmas Day games over the years since the first was played in 1971. Cowboys 2019 Official New Era NFL Youth Sideline Home 1960 Hat.

The NFL regular season is in its last month of play already. We’ve been handing out winners throughout the season on the best NFL odds and parlay plays, and the Christmas Day showdown between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints is our next target. We’ll break down this matchup and give the best combination of bets for you to score with in Week 16.

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints

Friday, December 25, 2020 – 04:30 PM EST at Mercedes-Benz Superdome

The return of Drew Brees is going to be carefully scrutinized in these last two games before the playoffs. The Saints have gone cold with two straight close losses, and the passing game is a big reason for their demise. Brees was just 15-of-34 against Kansas City and his arm looked cooked for much of the game.

If Brees looks like that from here on out, my guess is we're about to witness the last three or four games of his career. The offense is vertically challenged enough with him back there but the efficiency usually overcomes his limited arm strength. It was apparent this past week that a good team will load up passing lanes to keep Brees' game under control and reliant on screens.

This Saints teams relies heavily on the run game and Alvin Kamara's open-field talent. Both offenses are wanting to run the ball a lot and simply ask the passing game to connect on a few big plays in between efficient attempts. Neither offense is comfortable getting into a shootout.

That's usually a recipe for an under total and low-scoring game, but neither of these defenses has been overly effective in recent weeks. The Saints have the upside to be dominant but the Vikings seem to impose their will in the run game better than anyone even when it's known it's coming at heavy doses. Dalvin Cook has been tremendous and Kirk Cousins continues to be a productive even if flawed passer.

The presence of Cook and star receiver Justin Jefferson will certainly be an issue for the Saints defense. They must apply a ton of pressure to Cousins to keep Jefferson from taking over. He's the key for the Saints to stop if they want to cover this spread.

It's a tough call. The Saints have a talented secondary and can certainly get after the quarterback with a variety of pass rushers. Their usage of Malcolm Jenkins, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Marshon Lattimore in particular highlight how talented this back end is. They've built up a modern pass defense but are still fantastic against the run, so keep that in mind when making your NFL picks.

I think that pays off for the Saints. Their offense won't have to be brilliant against a defense that's been porous in almost every game. The Vikings simply lack the top-end talent on the interior defensive line and cornerback positions to force the big plays they need.

This could be a damning loss for Mike Zimmer and company. His future looked clearer after a good midseason recovery but two straight losses against the Bucs and Bears put a dagger in their playoff hearts. In retrospect, there's no reasonable reason to have thought this roster would win at a high enough level because the defense is transitioning all over with young players.

They're still tough-nosed even if undermanned, though. If you can get this line under seven, certainly jump on it. I love the over this week as well since the trends show that both teams are good to score in the high twenties. The SBR parlay calculator is showing a juicy payout for this one.

Free NFL Parlay:Saints -6.5 (-117) and Over 52 (-110) for (+254) parlay odds at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Christmas Day Nfl Scores

As the NFL schedule didn’t even run into December for the longest time, it took the league more than 50 years to hold a game on Christmas Day. The first time it happened was in 1971 and there were actually two games on December 25 that year, both divisional round playoff games. The first game saw the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys defeat the Minnesota Vikings on the NFC side of the bracket, which was followed by an AFC playoff matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.

And what a matchup it was.

In what at the time was just the second double-overtime game in NFL playoff history, the Dolphins and Chiefs went back and forth all game long that muddy Christmas Day in Kansas City with Miami finally coming out on top in what is still the longest game in NFL history.

Nfl Christmas Day Scores 2020

There have been six double-overtime games in NFL playoff history

Before we get to the details of that 1971 Christmas Day matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs, let’s take a quick look at the other five NFL playoff games that went into double overtime. Obviously, this isn’t a common occurrence in the league as regular-season games can actually end in a tie. So it’s always a treat to get double-extra football, at least for fans anyway.

• December 23, 1962: Dallas Texans-20, Houston Oilers-17 — the game ended 2:54 into the second overtime
• December 24, 1977: Oakland Raiders-37, Baltimore Colts-31 — the game ended 43 seconds into the second overtime
• January 3, 1987: Cleveland Browns-23, New York Jets-20 — the game ended 2:02 into the second overtime
• January 10, 2004: Carolina Panthers-29, St. Louis Rams-23 — the game ended 10 seconds into the second overtime
• January 12, 2013: Baltimore Ravens-38, Denver Broncos-35 — the game ended 1:42 into the second overtime

The Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs played the longest game in NFL history on Christmas Day in 1971

At the end of the 1971 NFL regular season, both the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs had 10-3-1 records, which were good enough to give both teams a division title.

The two teams matched up in the second-ever Christmas Day NFL game on December 25, 1971, at Kansas City Municipal Stadium (the Chiefs moved to Arrowhead the following season) and it was an unseasonably warm day with temperatures in the 60s. It was also a very muddy day, which certainly made for some entertaining football.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter behind a Jan Stenerud 24-yard field goal and a seven-yard touchdown pass from Len Dawson to Ed Podolak. But the Dolphins scored 10 points of their own in the second quarter, a one-yard TD run from Larry Csonka and a 14-yard field goal from Garo Yepremian, to tie the game heading into halftime.

Is Nfl On Christmas Day

Kansas City struck first in the third quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Jim Otis but the Dolphins came right back to tie on a one-yard TD run of their own from Jim Kiick. The Chiefs took another seven-point lead in the fourth quarter on a three-yard TD run from Podolak but the Dolphins again came right back and tied it up on a five-yard touchdown pass from Bob Griese to Marv Fleming.

With 35 seconds to play, the Chiefs had a chance to take a three-point lead but Stenerud missed a 31-yard field goal, his second miss of the day, sending the game into overtime. After both teams missed kicks in the first overtime period, Yepremian finally ended things 7:40 into the second overtime, hitting a 37-yard field goal to give Miami a 27-24 win and a trip to the AFC Championship Game.

At 82:40, that Christmas Day classic remains the longest game in NFL history.

The Dolphins and Chiefs have each played two Christmas Day games since then

RELATED: Does the NFL Always Play Games on Christmas?

Since that classic battle on Christmas Day in 1971, both the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs have played two more games on December 25. The Dolphins defeated the Detroit Lions, 27-20, in 1994 and lost to the New York Jets, 13-10, in 2006.

The Chiefs played their next Christmas Day game in 2004, edging out the Oakland Raiders, 31-30, and then defeated the Denver Broncos, 33-10, in 2016.

Stats and scores courtesy of Pro Football Reference

Has There Ever Been An Nfl Game On Christmas Day