In the National Football League (NFL), the highest official passer rating that a player can achieve is 158.3, which is called a "perfect passer rating". [1] To qualify, during a single game a player must attempt at least 10 passes, have no interceptions, have a minimum completion percentage of 77.5%, have a minimum of 11.875% of their passes score touchdowns, and have a minimum of 12.5 yards on average per attempt. The passer rating was developed in 1971. [2] [3]
As of the 2024 season, there have been 81 instances of a perfect passer rating in the regular season among 66 players. Eight players have achieved the feat more than once: Ben Roethlisberger and Lamar Jackson four times each; Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Kurt Warner three times each; and Craig Morton, Ken O'Brien and Jared Goff twice each.
Four players have posted a perfect passer rating in a postseason game: Terry Bradshaw, Dave Krieg, Peyton Manning, and Don Meredith. Krieg and Manning are the only players to have a perfect passer rating during the regular season and the postseason. No player has posted multiple perfect passer ratings in the postseason.
Roethlisberger (2007) and Jackson (2019) are the only quarterbacks with multiple perfect ratings in a single regular season. Three teams have had two different quarterbacks achieve a perfect rating in the same season: The 1954 Cleveland Browns with Otto Graham and George Ratterman, the 1973 Atlanta Falcons with Dick Shiner and Bob Lee, and the 1989 San Francisco 49ers with Steve Young and Joe Montana. Peyton Manning had a perfect rating in the 2003 regular season followed by one in the 2003 postseason.
Drew Bledsoe, Robert Griffin III, and Marcus Mariota are the only players to achieve a perfect passer rating in their rookie seasons, with Mariota being the only player to post one in his NFL debut. [4]
Five of these performances were in a losing cause, though Chad Pennington was the only quarterback to play from start to finish and record both a loss and a perfect rating. Fourteen players have had a game in which they earned a perfect 158.3 passer rating and another game in which they earned a 0.0, the lowest possible passer rating, during their career. Geno Smith had a perfect rating and a zero rating in the same season (2014). [5]
| # | Player | Date | Team | Opponent | Result | Comp. | Att. | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Meredith [87] | December 24, 1967 | Dallas Cowboys | Cleveland Browns | W 52–14 | 10 | 12 | 212 | 2 |
| 2 | Terry Bradshaw [88] | December 19, 1976 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Baltimore Colts | W 40–14 | 14 | 18 | 264 | 3 |
| 3 | Dave Krieg [89] | December 24, 1983 | Seattle Seahawks | Denver Broncos | W 31–7 | 12 | 13 | 200 | 3 |
| 4 | Peyton Manning [90] | January 4, 2004 | Indianapolis Colts | Denver Broncos | W 41–10 | 22 | 26 | 377 | 5 |
| # | Player | Date | Team | Opponent | Result | Comp. | Att. | Yards | TDs |
Only Nick Foles has accomplished a perfect passer rating with seven touchdowns thrown. Two players have accomplished a perfect passer rating with six touchdowns thrown: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Jared Goff is the only player to have two 400-yard perfect passer games. Thirteen players have accomplished a perfect passer rating with only two touchdowns thrown: it is impossible to achieve a perfect passer rating with less than two touchdowns because of the 10 attempt minimum to qualify and the minimum 11.875% touchdown-to-attempted-pass ratio.
Six players have accomplished a perfect passer rating with 30 or more attempts: Jared Goff, Ken O'Brien, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner, and Deshaun Watson.
Ryan Tannehill holds the record for highest completion rate in a perfect game, completing 18 of 19 passes (94.7%) in 2015. Chris Chandler has the best rate for a game with at least 20 pass attempts, completing 23 of 26 passes (88.5%)
Jared Goff has the most passing yards in a perfect game, with 465. Six other players – Nick Foles, Ken O'Brien, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and Jared Goff (2nd game) – have each accomplished a perfect passer rating with more than 400 passing yards.
Scott Hunter has the fewest passing yards in a perfect game, with 138. Drew Bledsoe and Rich Gannon also achieved a perfect game with less than 150 yards. The lowest number of yards possible for a perfect game is 125, due to the 10 attempt minimum.
Ben Roethlisberger holds the record of accomplishing a perfect passer rating with most yards per pass attempt (19.8).
Three players have accomplished a perfect passer rating in their rookie season: Drew Bledsoe, Robert Griffin III (commonly known as "RG3"), and Marcus Mariota. Mariota is the only player to do so in his professional debut. Two players have accomplished a perfect passer rating twice in the same season: Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger [91] [92]
On two separate occasions, two players achieved a perfect passer rating on the same day. The first occurrence was on October 29, 1978, when Steve Grogan and Brian Sipe each achieved a perfect passer rating. The second occurrence was on September 8, 2019, when both Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott accomplished the feat.
Tom Brady is the oldest player to have ever post a perfect passer rating, accomplishing the record feat at 43 years, 145 days old. Brady also holds the largest time span between first and last perfect ratings, with 13 years, 66 days.