The NFL season kicked off with a clash between two bitter divisional rivals: The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. And it started with a bang. The atmosphere was electric, the emotions raw, and the competitive spirit fiery.
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Tempers flared, punches were thrown, ejections followed… For a while, it looked like the opener at Lincoln Financial Field might spiral into a full-blown brawl. Then nature intervened.
With just under five minutes left in the third quarter, lightning struck near Philadelphia, forcing an immediate halt to play. The Eagles held a slim 24–20 lead at the time, and the sudden stoppage cooled both the players and the crowd. Fortunately, the delay didn’t last long.
After one hour and five minutes, the game resumed. For some, the pause might have felt endless. But in the history of the NFL, this was far from the longest delay.
As per ESPN, that distinction belongs to a 2018 game between the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans, which dragged on for seven hours and eight minutes due to multiple lightning delays.
The first stoppage, late in the second quarter, lasted nearly two hours. The second, in the third quarter, stretched just over two hours more. By the time it was over, more than four hours had been lost, and the Dolphins emerged with a 27–20 win.
Before that, the record belonged to a Ravens-Bears game from 2013 that stretched to five hours and sixteen minutes.
Thankfully, fans in Philadelphia didn’t have to endure anything close to that marathon. The opener resumed and finished without any further disruption, with the Eagles winning 24-20.
