First NFL Christmas Day Remains The Best - Miami At K.C. In 1971 Still Longest Game And One Of Greatest Ever

The Christmas holidays are a special time. Therefore, it should not be a time for the regular ... as in regular season NFL games. That just does not fit.

It should be reserved for what used to take place around Dec. 25 - the NFL Playoffs.

Yet, today, on this Christmas Day we get 6-8 Las Vegas at 9-5 Kansas City (1 p.m., CBS) in a regular season game as NFL teams still have multiple games remaining in the too-long, 17-game schedule. But wait, it gets worse. The 5-9 New York Giants play at 10-4 Philadelphia (4:30 p.m., FOX), too.

NFL Games This Christmas Day Features 2 Dogs, 1 Good One

Finally, the nightcap will feature a playoff-type game at least with 11-3 Baltimore visiting 11-3 San Francisco (8:15 p.m., ABC).

The NFL had a more sensible schedule through most of the 1990s with the regular season ending at times before Christmas or at least before the New Year in most seasons. The NFL has not had a regular season end for most of the league before Christmas since 2000 with Dallas finishing the regular season that year with a Christmas Day yawner - a 31-0 win at Tennessee.

Some of the greatest games in NFL postseason history were played over the Christmas holidays. There was nothing like going Christmas shopping as a kid in the 1970s and going to the television section at major stores. Significant games were on, and I got to watch them in color. We had black and white at home until the late 1970s.

I saw Pittsburgh Steeler running back Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" that beat the Oakland Raiders, 13-7, in the AFC Divisional playoffs 12 times simultaneously. That's how many TVs it appeared on within eye shot at a Sears in New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 23, 1972.

The first touchdown pass to become known as a "Hail Mary" happened a little after Christmas, but it was still the holidays. Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach hit Drew Pearson on the 50-yard touchdown in the final moments for a 17-14 win at Minnesota on Dec. 28, 1975, in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.

NFL's Greatest Playoff Moments Happened Over Christmas

The Ice Bowl when the Packers beat Dallas, 21-17, for the NFL title at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Bart Starr's quarterback sneak? New Year's Eve, 1967. Holiday football at its best. Quite a different feeling than what will emanate from New Orleans (7-8) at Tampa Bay (8-7) this New Year's Eve as both end average regular seasons in sunny Tampa.

The three Christmas Day games today will mark only the 28th through 30th NFL games on this day in history. And most of them have not been classics by any means. They seem to resemble most editions of Thursday Night NFL football.

But boy did the NFL start playing on Christmas with a bang heard all the way to the North Pole - in more ways than one.

The first-ever Christmas Day game happened in 1971 when Dallas beat Minnesota, 20-12, in an opening round NFC playoff game in the early afternoon game on CBS from Metropolitan Stadium outside Minneapolis. Not much there.

Miami Dolphins Beat Kansas City Chiefs In Longest Game Ever

But the nightcap was the mother of all nightcaps.

The Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-24, in double overtime on a 37-yard field goal midway through the second quarter of overtime by Garo Yepremian at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. Yes, they played sudden-death overtime at the time with 15-minute quarters. The first overtime went scoreless after a 24-24 tie following the regulation four quarters. The game lasted 82 minutes and 40 seconds on the game clock and for more than seven hours of real time after a 3 p.m. central time kickoff.

Amazingly, it was the first playoff victory in Miami Dolphins history. Miami only started playing in 1966 as an expansion team and lost its only previous playoff game in 1970 - 21-14 at Oakland. Don Shula left head coaching job with the Baltimore Colts before the 1970 season to coach the Dolphins. This was one season following his infamous Super Bowl III to the AFL New York Jets, 16-7, in one of the biggest upsets in sports history on Jan. 12, 1969.

Don Shula Led Miami To Its First-Ever Playoff Win

Shula would go on to become one of the greatest coaches of all time. Following the win over the Chiefs, Shula beat his former Colts, 21-0, to reach Super Bowl VI, but Miami lost to Dallas, 24-3. The only perfect season in NFL history followed for Miami and Shula in 1972 at 17-0 with a 14-7 win over Washington in Super Bowl VII. Miami also won Super Bowl VIII, 24-7 over Minnesota.

While the Miami win marked the beginning of Shula's greatness, for Kansas City coach Hank Stram, though, the overtime loss marked the end of an era. The Chiefs entered that Miami game having won Super Bowl IV just two seasons previously under Stram. He was one of the NFL's best coaches at the time, having won the AFL title in 1962 as coach of the Dallas Texans a year before the franchise moved to Kansas City. Stram's 1966 Chiefs team reached the first Super Bowl before losing to Green Bay.

Stram never coached in another playoff game after the loss to Miami. Kansas City fired him after a 5-9 season in 1974.

Kansas City Chief Felt Like He Played 3 Games That Christmas

"It seemed like we played in three games that day," Kansas City and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Bobby Bell said years later. "We burned up a lot of turkeys that day because the game was still going on. 'Warm it up a little more.' People kept warming up their turkeys."

So many people complained to the NFL offices because of the length of the game delaying Christmas dinner and church services that the league banned any games on Christmas until 1989.

The NFL has lost something by getting away from playoffs over the Christmas holidays. At the time, the Super Bowl was done in January. Now, it's not until February, and too often the game gets stale by then. The NFC and AFC title games tend to be better.

More and later is not always better. The NFL needs to realize that brevity is the soul of wit and of a good football season. Commissioner Roger Goodell added a ridiculous, meaningless 17th regular season game in 2021. So who knows, he may add a couple more over the years.

NFL Season Needs To Be Shorter With Earlier Playoffs

Before you know it, the NFL Playoffs will happen over the Easter holidays.

No, I say. Shorten the regular season back to 14 games, and return the NFL Playoffs to the Christmas holidays.

Until then, here's hoping you don't get too bored.