The Cleveland Browns entered its 2021 NFL Wild Card Round game against Pittsburgh as 6-point underdogs. The online sports betting community jumped on this line with the Steelers struggling down the final stretch of the regular season.
Not many could have predicted what was about to happen, though.
Cleveland jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and took a 35-10 advantage into halftime. It was blowout city, which led us to wondering if we could be witnessing the biggest blowout in NFL playoff history.
To Pittsburgh’s credit, the Steelers climbed back into the game in the second half and lost by a respectable score of 48-37.
But that didn’t stop us from researching the most lopsided wins in the playoffs.
10 Biggest NFL Playoff Blowouts
Games included are after the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.
T9. New England 45, Indianapolis 7 (38 points) — 2015
The Patriots dominated in this AFC Championship game. Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns while LeGarrette Blount ran for three more scores.
T9. Dallas 38, Tampa Bay 0 (38 points) — 1982
Tampa Bay's Doug Williams threw four interceptions, and four different Dallas players scored rushing touchdowns in this Divisional-Round game.
T6. San Francisco 44, New York Giants 3 (41 points) — 1994
San Francisco held a 413-194 total yards advantage in its Divisional-Round win. New York’s Phil Simms threw four interceptions, and San Francisco’s Ricky Watters rushed for five TDs.
T6. New York Jets 41, Indianapolis 0 (41 points) — 2003
In the Wild Card round, Chad Pennington outplayed Peyton Manning, throwing for three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Manning had a 0:2 TD-to-INT ratio.
T6. New York Giants 41, Minnesota 0 (41 points) — 2001
This NFC Championship game was never close. Kerry Collins threw five touchdowns while Daunte Culpepper passed for just 78 yards with three interceptions.
5. Washington 51, Los Angeles Rams 7 (44 points) — 1984
Washington held a 38-7 halftime lead in the Divisional Round. John Riggins rushed for three touchdowns, and Joe Theismann threw for 302 yards and two scores.
4. San Francisco 55, Denver 10 (45 points) — 1990
There wasn’t a whole lot of suspense in this Super Bowl. Jerry Rice was unstoppable, catching three of Joe Montana's five touchdown passes.
3. New York Giants 49, San Francisco 3 (46 points) — 1987
In the Divisional Round, Phil Simms threw four touchdowns on just nine completed passes and 19 attempts.
2. Buffalo 51, Los Angeles Raiders 3 (48 points) — 1991
This was the start of Buffalo’s four consecutive Super Bowl appearances, dominating the Raiders in the AFC Championship game. Kenneth Davis led the way with three rushing TDs.
1. Jacksonville 62, Miami 7 (55 points) — 2000
In the Divisional Round, the Jaguars raced out to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and didn’t look back. Jacksonville had 520 total yards to Miami’s 131. Mark Brunell and Jay Fiedler both threw two touchdowns, and three Jaguars rushed for one TD.
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Sam Herder is a writer for BetMGM and HERO Sports. A North Dakota State journalism grad, he spent several years in the print media industry before writing for online outlets. Sam has covered sports at all levels — high school, college, and professional — since 2011.
