Interesting and True NFL Factoids Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. During the 1970s there were two division teams that played each other every year, with only one victorious team during the whole decade. Who were these teams?

Answer: Dolphins over Bills

In the AFC Eastern Division, the Bills squared off twice a year with the Miami Dolphins. The Bills did not come away with even one victory. The Bills changed this trend in the late 80s and 90s when they went to four straight Super Bowls and defeated Miami several times including two playoff appearances.

2. During the 1980s this kicker tied the Super Bowl record at the time, for the longest field goal made and broke the record for the shortest field goal missed. He is _______ ?

Answer: Rich Karlis

In Super Bowl XXI, Rich Karlis missed a 23-yard field goal that set the record for a shortest field goal ever missed. An extra point is only 17 yards. His earlier 48 yard field goal tied the record with Jan Stenerud who kicked one against Minnesota in Super Bowl IV. Adam Vinatieri defeated the St. Louis Rams at the end of Super Bowl XXXVI with a 48-yard field goal, 20-17.

3. Between 1920 and 2000, how many playoff appearances did the Cardinals make (Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, Arizona, and even their Card-Pitt year combined)?

Answer: 6

That's right: 6! This franchise started playing in the NFL in 1920 and is the only team still around from that year (that did not change its team name). The last championship during this stretch was 1947 (a 28-21 win for the Chicago Cardinals over the Philadelphia Eagles) and last playoff win was in 1997 (a 20-7 wildcard victory in Dallas before succumbing to the Vikings 41-21 in Minnesota.

They did win the NFC East twice, in 1974-1975, but were eliminated in both of their first round playoff games.

They moved to the NFC West in 2002.

4. Only one team in the NFL at the end of the 2002 season still used a band much in much in the same way that college football teams do. Who was this team?

Answer: Redskins

The Washington Redskins still employed a marching band that could be heard loud and clear as they played "Hail to the Redskins", whenever the Redskins scored any points. College schools have fight songs that are all played by bands, but this was a rare sight in the NFL.

5. In only their second year in existence, these two franchises made it all the way to their respective championship games. Which teams am I talking about?

Answer: Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars

Both of these teams entered the NFL in the 1995 season. Jacksonville went 4-12 and Carolina finished with a respectable 7-9 record. The following year was strong for Carolina, as they won a competitive NFC West with a 12-4 record. Kerry Collins was their quarterback and they eliminated the Dallas Cowboys 26-17 in the divisional playoffs.

The Jaguars won a string of games at the end of the season to gain a wildcard appearance in a game at Buffalo, which they won in a thriller, 30-27. Mark Brunell was behind the helm and directed his team to another 30-27 victory in Denver over Elway's Broncos.

The Cinderella story ended the following week for both teams however as the New England Patriots knocked off the Jaguars 20-6 and the Green Bay Packers knocked off the Panthers 30-13 to enter Super Bowl XXVII, which Green Bay won 35-21.

The Jaguars made it back to the AFC Championship with a 14-2 record in 1999 but lost to the Tennessee Titans 35-14, in Jacksonville, before the St. Louis Rams won Super Bowl XXXVI 23-16 over Tennessee.

6. Which "memorable play" does not match up with its playmaker?

Answer: "Touchdown to win Super Bowl XXIII with seconds left" - Jerry Rice

Joe Montana went the length of the field for the 49ers to win with 39 seconds remaining 20-16, but threw the winning touchdown pass to John Taylor. Jerry Rice was the game's MVP though with 215 receiving yards. I have seen on NFL films, Randy Cross, who was on the offensive line at the time, tell a reporter that Joe Montana was so cool in the pocket, that during a huddle, he pointed at that stands, and said, "Hey, that's John Candy!"

7. Many people know that the first two teams that met on Monday Night Football were the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns. The Browns won 31-21. However, who were the first two teams that met on "Sunday Night Football", hosted by ESPN, and stands as the first cable broadcast?

Answer: New England Patriots at New York Giants

ESPN was awarded their first slate of games in 1987 and they hosted them on "Sunday Night Football" at 8 EST. The first participants were Lawrence Taylor and the New York Giants, who were hosting the New England Patriots. The Giants won a rather unassuming game 17-10. Three years later, the Sunday Night package was split in-between ESPN and TNT. TNT would carried the first half of the season and ESPN carried the second half. ESPN retained sole rights of "Sunday Night Football" in 1998.

8. During the four decades from the 1960s to the 1990s, there has been an overtime game that ended on a safety?

Answer: True

The Vikings won the game 23-21 in OT when Mike Merriweather recorded a safety after 6 Rich Karlis field goals had given them 21 points. They also set a record that day for most points in a victory without scoring a touchdown. This was in 1989.

9. In the infamous "coin flip" game, one team protested the coin flip. The referee misheard the team that called it correctly and handed it to the other team. The team that should have had the ball never got a chance on offense. Which was the losing team?

Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers

This was a Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit in 1998, so the entire nation was watching. Jerome Bettis, the running back for the Pittsburgh claimed that he called tails while Phil Luckett, the infamous referee, claimed that he heard "heads". However, the ball was awarded to the Lions and they had the ball for one overtime possession and won the game 19-16.

10. Following its introduction in 1994, the Vikings were the first team to attempt a two point conversion when trailing by one, with under two minutes remaining?

Answer: False

The Vikings were the first successful team to score on a 2-point conversion in this scenario (a 32-31 victory in New Orleans), but two teams had attempted it before: the 1997 Chicago Bears (against Green Bay) and the 1995 Jacksonville Jaguars (against Tampa Bay). This halted a 17 game road-losing streak for the Vikings.

Source: Author superferd

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

I have been a long time NFL fanatic and seem to remember specifics about many games in the past. Here are 10 factoids; do you know the answers?

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