The First One-Point Safety in NFL History Nearly Happened Last Night

The Monday Night Football game last night between the Patriots and Bills nearly made National Football League history – and, surprisingly, it wasn’t for Buffalo’s offensive futility.

Towards the end of the 25-6 snoozer that saw New England beat Buffalo once again, the first one-point safety in the history of the NFL was almost scored.

Yes, there actually is a one-point safety in the NFL. This is how it can happen:

On a two-point conversion attempt, the offensive team throws an interception or fumbles into the end zone. The defender who intercepts or recovers the ball runs out of the end zone, then fumbles back into it almost immediately. One of his teammates recovers, is touched down by the team attempting the conversion and Bob’s your uncle. What would normally be a two-point safety only counts for one because it comes on a two-point conversion attempt instead of a regular play from scrimmage.

That sequence nearly happened last night when Tom Brady was picked in the end zone by Bills linebacker Julian Stanford on a two-point conversion attempt. He was hit and fumbled and the Bills recovered, but Stanford never made it out of the end zone. Hence the Patriots did not get a point. (Had they recovered the ball, it would have been a successful two-point conversion.)

Though it has never happened in the pros, one-point safeties have been recorded in college football in the past.

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”