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NFL history was made on October 12 when the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers played to a 37-37 overtime tie at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The game sets a new record for the highest-scoring tie game in league history. It’s also the third consecutive year that the league has entered a tie game into the record books. The last time there was a tie game in three straight NFL season was from 1987 to 1989. The most recent stalemate between the Bengals and Panthers finished 34-34 after regulation time.

There were only three drives during the overtime period and both teams kicked a field goal with their first possession. Cincinnati took the lead with a 42-yard field goal in the opening drive and Carolina tied it up with a 36 yarder with 2:19 to go. Cincinnati then had a glorious chance to win the game late in overtime, but missed on a 36-yard field goal just as time ran out on the contest.

The highest tie game before the Bengals and Panthers contest came back in the 1974 campaign when the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos played to a 35-35 sister-kisser. In addition, the Steelers vs Broncos tie was the first one ever under the league’s modern-day overtime rules. There were 16 tie games between 1975 and 2011, but 13 of them ended with each team scoring 21 points or fewer.

Up until the Bengals/Panthers contest, the last seven tie games have all taken place in the month of November. And oddly enough, they all took place between November 10 and November 24. This tie game was the first to be played in any month other than November since back in October of 1988 when the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets played to a 17-17 draw.

The decade that featured the most tie games was the 1980s when a total of 10 of them were played. There was a tie game every year of the decade except in 1985. There were just seven tie games combined in the 1970s, the 1990s and the 2000s. The latest one could have some implications at the end of the season since both Cincinnati and Carolina appear to be playoff teams this year. The Bengals last tied at home in 2008 when they played to a 13-13 game with the Philadelphia Eagles.