List of 500-yard passing games in the NFL

In the history of the National Football League (NFL), 22 different quarterbacks have passed for at least 500 yards in a single game 27 times, a feat also referred to as the "500 Club".^[1][2][3][4]

History

Norm Van Brocklin was the first to do so, whose 554-yard performance in a 1951 game remains the league record for most passing yards in a game.^[5]

Only three quarterbacks have thrown for over 500 yards more than once in their career; Drew Brees and Tom Brady did so twice (both of Brees' 500-yard games occurred in regular season games, while Brady had one 500-yard game each in both a regular season game and a postseason game), and Ben Roethlisberger did so four times (three times in the regular season and once in the postseason).^[6] Kirk Cousins became the latest member of the club, after a 509-yard performance on October 3, 2024 against Tampa Bay. No quarterback has thrown for 600 yards in a league game during regulation, but Tom Brady was the first player to total 600 or more yards passing over four consecutive quarters.^[7] If counting interception return yards, then Jameis Winston holds the league record with a 668-yard game (497 passing + 171 return yards). ^[8]

Brady and Roethlisberger are the only quarterbacks to have thrown for over 500 yards in a postseason game during the modern era; Brady did so in a Super Bowl LII loss to the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2017–18 playoffs while Roethlisberger did so in a Wild Card round loss to the Cleveland Browns during the 2020–21 NFL playoffs.^[9] Quarterbacks throwing for 500 yards have amassed 15 wins and 12 losses while doing so. Over time, the frequency of quarterbacks throwing for 500 or more yards in a game has increased, with 17 of 27 such performances occurring since 2010.

List

Norm Van Brocklin threw for an NFL record 554 yards in a 1951 game.

Tom Brady threw for 505 yards in Super Bowl LII, the most in NFL playoff history.

Ben Roethlisberger has thrown for at least 500 yards an NFL record four times.

Playoff performance

No.	Quarterback	Date	Team	Opponent	Result	Comp.	Att.	Comp. %	Yards	Y/A	TDs	INTs	Passer rating	Ref.
1	Norm Van Brocklin	September 28, 1951	Los Angeles Rams	New York Yanks	W 54–14	27	41	65.9	554	13.51	5	2	128.3	[5]
2	Y. A. Tittle	October 28, 1962	New York Giants	Washington Redskins	W 49–34	27	39	69.2	505	12.94	7	0	151.4	[10]
3	Vince Ferragamo	December 26, 1982	Los Angeles Rams	Chicago Bears	L 34–26	30	46	65.2	509	11.07	3	2	106.2	[11]
4	Phil Simms	October 13, 1985	New York Giants	Cincinnati Bengals	L 35–30	40	62	64.5	513	8.27	1	2	82.3	[12]
5	Dan Marino	October 23, 1988	Miami Dolphins	New York Jets	L 44–30	35	60	58.3	521	8.68	3	5	68.8	[13]
6	Warren Moon	December 16, 1990	Houston Oilers	Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–10	27	45	60.0	527	11.71	3	0	123.1	[14]
7	Boomer Esiason	November 10, 1996	Arizona Cardinals	Washington Redskins	W 37–34 (OT)	35	59	59.3	522	8.85	3	4	77.1	[15]
8	Elvis Grbac	November 5, 2000	Kansas City Chiefs	Oakland Raiders	L 49–31	39	53	73.6	504	9.51	2	2	99.9	[16]
9	Drew Brees	November 19, 2006	New Orleans Saints	Cincinnati Bengals	L 31–16	37	52	71.2	510	9.81	2	3	91.0	[3]
10	Ben Roethlisberger	December 20, 2009	Pittsburgh Steelers	Green Bay Packers	W 37–36	29	46	63.0	503	10.93	3	0	121.9	[6]
11	Tom Brady	September 12, 2011	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	W 38–24	32	48	66.7	517	10.77	4	1	121.6	[3]
12	Matthew Stafford	January 1, 2012	Detroit Lions	Green Bay Packers	L 45–41	36	59	61.0	520	8.81	5	2	103.8	[3]
13	Eli Manning	September 16, 2012	New York Giants	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 41–34	31	51	60.8	510	10.00	3	3	89.5	[17]
14	Matt Schaub	November 18, 2012	Houston Texans	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 43–37 (OT)	43	55	78.2	527	9.58	5	2	121.7	[18]
15	Tony Romo	October 6, 2013	Dallas Cowboys	Denver Broncos	L 51–48	25	36	69.4	506	14.06	5	1	140.0	[19]
16	Ben Roethlisberger	October 26, 2014	Pittsburgh Steelers	Indianapolis Colts	W 51–34	40	49	81.6	522	10.65	6	0	150.6	[6]
17	Philip Rivers	October 18, 2015	San Diego Chargers	Green Bay Packers	L 27–20	43	65	66.2	503	7.74	2	0	99.7	[20]
18	Drew Brees	November 1, 2015	New Orleans Saints	New York Giants	W 52–49	39	50	78.0	505	10.10	7	2	131.7	[21]
19	Matt Ryan	October 2, 2016	Atlanta Falcons	Carolina Panthers	W 48–33	28	37	75.7	503	13.59	4	1	142.0	[22]
20	Derek Carr	October 30, 2016	Oakland Raiders	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 30–24 (OT)	40	59	67.8	513	8.69	4	0	117.4	[23]
21	Ben Roethlisberger	December 10, 2017	Pittsburgh Steelers	Baltimore Ravens	W 39–38	44	66	66.7	506	7.67	2	0	99.7	[6]
22	Tom Brady	February 4, 2018	New England Patriots	Philadelphia Eagles	L 41–33	28	48	58.3	505	10.52	3	0	115.4	[9]
23	Jared Goff	September 29, 2019	Los Angeles Rams	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 55–40	45	68	66.2	517	7.60	2	3	80.3	[24]
24	Dak Prescott	October 4, 2020	Dallas Cowboys	Cleveland Browns	L 49–38	41	58	70.6	502	8.7	4	1	112.9	[25]
25	Ben Roethlisberger	January 10, 2021	Pittsburgh Steelers	Cleveland Browns	L 48–37	47	68	69.1	501	7.4	4	4	85.5	[26]
26	Joe Burrow	December 26, 2021	Cincinnati Bengals	Baltimore Ravens	W 41–21	37	46	80.4	525	11.4	4	0	143.2	[27]
27	Kirk Cousins	October 3, 2024	Atlanta Falcons	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 36-30 (OT)	42	58	72.4	509	8.8	4	1	114.8	[28]
No.	Quarterback	Date	Team	Opponent	Result	Comp.	Att.	Comp. %	Yards	Y/A	TDs	INTs	Passer rating	Ref.

See also

• List of NFL quarterbacks with seven touchdown passes in a game
• List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
• List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a passer rating of zero

References

1. "500-yard NFL passers in a game". Newsday. November 18, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
2. "List of quarterbacks to throw over 500 yards". Reuters. February 5, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
3. "The NFL's 500-Yard Passers". Sports Illustrated. October 7, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
4. "500 Club". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
5. Battista, Judy (September 27, 2011). "Still the Biggest Passing Day". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
6. Fowler, Jeremy (December 11, 2017). "Ben Roethlisberger becomes first QB with three 500-yard games". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
7. Easterling, Luke (December 29, 2020). "Tom Brady's last 4 quarters of football have been historic". Bucs Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
8. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/browns-jameis-winston-makes-nfl-history-against-broncos-by-becoming-first-qb-to-pull-off-this-unusual-feat/ar-AA1vbZGh?cvid=2aac8552d9764edeef99d8c28f205cec&ocid=hpmsn
9. "Brady takes his 3rd Super Bowl loss, despite 500-yard game". USA Today. Associated Press. February 5, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
10. "Tittle's Aerials Rip Skins". The Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press. October 29, 1962. p. 3. Retrieved May 9, 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
11. Rapoport, Ron (December 28, 1982). "Ferragamo record show wasted". The Morning News. p. 27. Retrieved September 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Dodd, Mike (October 14, 1985). "Defense Makes Big Plays, Overcomes Simms' Big Day". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 19. Retrieved September 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Marino's 521 Passing Yards Not Enough as Dolphins Lose". The Atlanta Constitution. Associated Press. October 24, 1988. p. 41. Retrieved September 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Oilers' Moon Is Shining With Pride". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. December 17, 1990. p. 141. Retrieved September 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Esiason revives status with 522-yard showing". The Daily Times. Associated Press. November 12, 1996. p. 11. Retrieved September 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Raiders overcome Grbac's 500 yards". Detroit Free Press. November 6, 2000. p. 41. Retrieved September 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Worthington, Dan (September 18, 2012). "Just the Facts: A closer look at Eli Manning's first 500-yard game". NJ.com. The Star Ledger. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
18. Rosenthal, Gregg (November 18, 2012). "Matt Schaub's passing keys Houston Texans' OT win". NFL.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
19. Wilson, Ryan (October 6, 2013). "Cowboys QB Tony Romo throws for 506 yards in loss to Broncos". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
20. Williams, Eric D. (October 19, 2015). "Philip Rivers throws for more than 500 yards in loss to Packers". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures, LLC. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
21. Orr, Conor (November 1, 2015). "Drew Brees ties single-game record with 7 TD passes". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
22. "Falcons' Matt Ryan: Throws for career-high 503 yards in rousing victory". CBS Sports. October 3, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
23. "Raiders' Derek Carr: Surpasses 500 yards in overtime victory". CBS Sports. October 31, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
24. Klein, Gary (September 30, 2019). "Jared Goff throws three interceptions as turnover-plagued Rams lose to Buccaneers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
25. Farrar, Doug (October 4, 2020). "Dak Prescott becomes third QB in NFL history to reach an unfortunate statistical mark". Touchdown Wire. USA Today. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
26. Florio, Mike (January 11, 2021). "Ben Roethlisberger joins a very small club". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
27. Hobson, Geoff (December 26, 2021). "Santa Burrow Delivers With Club-Record 525 Yards As Bengals On Verge of AFC North Title". Bengals.com. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
28. "Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons - October 3rd, 2024". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

External links

• NFL Passing Yards Single Game Leaders