Over the last 105 years, over 18,000 NFL games have come and gone. Plenty have carved out spots in the history books thanks to postseason stakes, unbelievable highlights or record-breaking performances. But looking purely at the scoreboard, there is one very simple way for an otherwise run-of-the-mill contest to stand out from the crowd: Scorigami.
There are still Scorigami happening in 2026, after over a century of professional football. Here is an explainer of what Scorigami is, as well as a tracker of all the instances of unique scores this season:
How Does Scorigami Work?
Scorigami was invented by SB Nation executive producer Jon Bois back in 2014. It is a combination of the words of “score” and “origami” used to describe a final score that has never been seen before.
For example, there has never been an NFL game that has ended 18-9. Should the one team beat another by that score next week, that would constitute a Scorigami.
There is currently an interactive graphic available at nflscorigami.com that charts out every possible score and how many times it has occurred. The horizontal axis represents the winning team’s score and goes up to 73, since that is the most points scored by one team in league history. The vertical axis represents the losing team’s score and goes up to 51, since that it the most points scored by a losing team in league history.
There is a triangle of impossible scores in the bottom left of the chart, since the losing team cannot score more than the winning team. There are other impossible scores blotted out, too, such as 7-1 and 1-1.
Have There Been Any Scorigami in 2026?
Yes! It didn’t take too long to notch one, either, with the Chicago Bears doing so via a runaway victory over the Carolina Panthers in the early window of Sunday’s Week 1 contests. The second Scorigami came mere hours later.
Here is an updated list of all the NFL Scorigami in 2026 so far:
- Sept. 13, 2026: Chicago Bears def. Carolina Panthers 59-37
- Sept. 13, 2026: Minnesota Vikings def. Green Bay Packers 39-22
- Highest-scoring season opener in NFL history
Dave Mattingly started an X account that posts the score of every NFL game as it goes final and notes if it is a Scorigami or not. If it isn’t, he adds how many times the score has happened and when it last happened. The account suffered through some bugs last season, though, and did not issue updates for Week 1 this year, either.
What Are Some Notable Scorigami Still Remaining?
There are plenty of Scorigami gaps in the lower range, most of which include the losing team scoring one or four points. No team has ever scored exactly one point, since that would require a safety on either a two-point conversion or point after attempt. Only one team has ever scored exactly four points, with the Chicago Cardinals doing so on November 25, 1923, en route to a 10-4 loss against the Racine Legion (Yes, that was a real team).
When it comes to larger numbers that are common in play in the modern game, 25-18, 32-15 and 32-22 have never been achieved. 14-8, 15-8, 18-8, 25-8, 27-8, 29-8 and 32-8 are all on the board, as well.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 302 games have ended with a 20-17 score, which makes it the most common final score in professional football history.
