An NFL game should go somewhat more than 3 hours. As previously stated, the longest average in recent years came in 2015, when the average game time was 3 hours and 9 minutes. That's 1 hour and 51 minutes per quarter. The average time per play is 20 minutes, or one quarter of football. Add up all the time between plays, and you get the total length of the game. The average NFL game lasts 3 hours and 9 minutes, or 90 minutes. In fact, the last few seasons have seen games end as early as 80 minutes and as late as 4 hours and 40 minutes. This means that about a third of NFL games are played with a clock time of less than 2 hours. In terms of actual playing time, almost half (46%) of NFL games are played for at least three quarters. However, only 16% of games are played for four quarters or more. The shortest game ever played was a college football game between Florida State and Miami on November 23, 1995. The game ended after the first quarter because it was considered to be over when FSU took control of the ball with just under seven minutes left in the period. Florida State won the game 44-6.