Has an NFL game ever ended 40-20?
It has. 40-20 has been a NFL final 6 times in 18,236 games. The first was Buffalo Bills beat San Diego Chargers on November 11, 1962; the latest was Houston Texans beat Arizona Cardinals on December 14, 2025.
That makes 40-20 the 485th most common final score out of 1,090 that have ever occurred in NFL. One point away, 41-20 has happened 15 times and 40-21 has happened 9 times. At one point the score disappeared for 29 years, between 1990 and 2019.
Every 40-20 in NFL history
| Date | Result | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-14 | Houston Texans over Arizona Cardinals | 2025 | |
| 2023-10-05 | Chicago Bears over Washington Commanders | 2023 | |
| 2019-12-08 | Atlanta Falcons over Carolina Panthers | 2019 | |
| 1990-12-23 | Cincinnati Bengals over Houston Oilers | 1990 | |
| 1973-09-30 | Los Angeles Rams over San Francisco 49ers | 1973 | |
| 1962-11-11 | Buffalo Bills over San Diego Chargers | 1962 |