In the history of the National Football League (NFL), there have been twelve starts streaks of at least 100 consecutive games by eleven different quarterbacks, with four of those with a regular season streak of at least 200 games. [1] [2]
Brett Favre has held the record since November 7, 1999, when he made his 117th consecutive start against the Chicago Bears. [3] His consecutive starts streak is also the longest all-time for a non-special teams player. [4] On December 5, 2010, playing for the Minnesota Vikings against the Buffalo Bills, Favre was knocked out of the game on the first drive with a sprained SC joint injury to his right shoulder, caused by a hit from linebacker Arthur Moats. After a snowstorm delayed the following Sunday's game against the New York Giants to Monday, December 13, Favre was ruled inactive, ending his streak at a record 297 games (321 including playoffs). [5] [6]
Below is a list of the top 25 quarterbacks to achieve the longest consecutive regular season starts at their position.
Bold denotes an active streak.
Rank | Quarterback | Streak start | Streak end | Teams | Regular season | Playoffs | Total | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brett Favre | September 27, 1992 | May 12, 2010 | GB/NYJ/MIN | 297 | 24 | 321 | [6] [7] [8] |
2 | Philip Rivers | November 9, 2006 | March 1, 2021 | SD/LAC/IND | 240 | 12 | 252 | [9] [10] |
3 | Eli Manning | November 21, 2004 | November 23, 2017 | NYG | 210 | 12 | 222 | [11] [12] |
4 | Peyton Manning | June 9, 1998 | February 1, 2011 | IND | 208 | 19 | 227 | [6] [13] [14] |
5 | Matt Ryan | December 20, 2009 | October 20, 2019 | ATL | 154 | 9 | 163 | [15] [16] |
6 | Russell Wilson | September 9, 2012 | July 10, 2021 | SEA | 149 | 16 | 165 | [17] [18] |
7 | Matthew Stafford | November 9, 2011 | March 11, 2019 | DET | 136 | 3 | 139 | [19] [2] |
8 | Joe Flacco | September 7, 2008 | November 22, 2015 | BAL | 122 | 15 | 137 | [20] [21] |
9 | Ron Jaworski | September 18, 1977 | November 25, 1984 | PHI | 116 | 7 | 123 | [6] [22] [23] [24] |
10 | Tom Brady | September 14, 2009 | January 3, 2016 | NE | 112 | 14 | 126 | [25] [26] |
11 | September 30, 2001 | September 7, 2008 | NE | 111 | 17 | 128 | [6] [27] [28] [29] | |
12 | September 10, 2016 | January 16, 2023 | NE/TB | 110 | 16 | 126 | [30] | |
13 | Joe Ferguson | September 18, 1977 | September 23, 1984 | BUF | 107 | 3 | 110 | [6] [31] [32] |
14 | Dan Marino | October 25, 1987 | October 10, 1993 | MIA | 95 | 4 | 99 | [6] [33] [34] |
15 | Derek Carr | October 15, 2017 | December 24, 2022 | OAK/LV | 91 | 1 | 92 | [35] |
16 | Roman Gabriel | November 28, 1965 | September 17, 1972 | LAR | 89 | 2 | 91 | [6] [36] |
17 | Johnny Unitas | September 27, 1959 | July 11, 1965 | BAL | 88 | 3 | 91 | [6] [37] [38] |
18 | Josh Allen | November 25, 2018 | Active | BUF | 90 | 10 | 100 | [39] |
19 | Jim Everett | April 9, 1988 | October 23, 1993 | LAR | 87 | 4 | 91 | [6] [40] |
20 | Richard Todd | September 9, 1979 | February 12, 1984 | NYJ/NO | 86 | 4 | 90 | [41] |
21T | Aaron Brooks | November 26, 2000 | December 12, 2005 | NO | 82 | 2 | 84 | [42] |
Drew Brees | January 16, 2010 | September 20, 2015 | NO | 82 | 8 | 90 | [43] [44] | |
23 | Trent Green | September 9, 2001 | October 9, 2006 | KC | 81 | 1 | 82 | [45] |
24T | Drew Brees | August 1, 2005 | December 27, 2009 | SD/NO | 79 | 3 | 82 | [46] |
Kirk Cousins | September 13, 2015 | December 23, 2019 | WAS/MIN | 79 | 1 | 80 | [47] |
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019. In his final three seasons, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time.
Elisha Nelson Manning is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest son of Archie and younger brother of Peyton. Manning played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels, where he won the Maxwell and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards as a senior. He was selected first overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers and traded to the Giants during the draft.
Drew Christopher Brees is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is second all-time in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, career pass completions, and career completion percentage. Brees also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, breaking the record held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Philip Michael Rivers is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack and was selected fourth overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the New York Giants, who traded him to the San Diego Chargers during the draft. Rivers was a member of the Chargers for 16 seasons and played his final season for the Indianapolis Colts. Since 2021, he has served as the head football coach at St. Michael Catholic High School.
Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, before being selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, spending 18 seasons with the team. He is regarded among the greatest and most talented quarterbacks of all time.
Brett Lorenzo Favre is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, the most in league history. He was also the first NFL quarterback to obtain 70,000 yards, 10,000 passes, 6,000 completions, 500 touchdowns, and victories over all 32 teams.
John Matthew Stafford is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL draft. Ranking in the top 12 of all time in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, Stafford is currently fourth all-time in passing yards per game and is the fastest player in NFL history to have reached 40,000 career passing yards.
The 2007 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 89th overall and 87th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Packers finished the regular season with a 13–3 record and clinched their first winning season, playoff appearance and division title since 2004. They received for the first time since 1997 a bye for the first round of the playoffs, won their divisional round playoff game, and lost in the NFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It was the first time the Packers had lost a home NFC Championship game, and only their third home playoff loss ever. This was the last season for quarterback Brett Favre as a Green Bay Packer, as he initially retired following the season but came out of retirement and was subsequently traded to the New York Jets during the offseason.
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins and has worked with them since 2014 as a special advisor. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning first-team All-American honors in 1981. Marino was the last quarterback taken in the first round of the famed quarterback class of 1983. He held or currently holds dozens of NFL records associated with the quarterback position, and despite never being on a Super Bowl-winning team, he is recognized among the greatest quarterbacks in American football history.
Joseph Vincent Flacco is an American professional football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Jameis Lanaed Winston is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, becoming the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy and leading his team to victory in the 2014 BCS National Championship Game during his freshman year. Declaring for the NFL after his sophomore season, Winston was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL draft.
The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL), and the 50th in the Super Bowl era. To celebrate the 50th season of the Super Bowl, a gold-plated NFL logo and other various gold-themed promotions were used throughout the season. It began on Thursday, September 10, 2015, with the annual kickoff game featuring the defending Super Bowl XLIX champion New England Patriots defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers. The season concluded with Super Bowl 50, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with the Denver Broncos defeating the Carolina Panthers.
The Broncos–Patriots rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. Nowadays, the two teams do not play every year due to them playing in different intraconference divisions – Denver in the AFC West and New England in the AFC East; instead, they play at least once every three years and at least once every six seasons at each team's home stadium when their divisions are paired up, sometimes more often if they meet in the playoffs, or if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions.
The Tom Brady–Bill Belichick era, also known as the Brady–Belichick era, the New England Patriots dynasty, or the Patriots dynasty, was a sports dynasty of the New England Patriots in the National Football League (NFL) that lasted from the 2000 to the 2019 season. The dynasty is named after quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, who are regarded as among the greatest in their respective positions. Belichick and Brady are consistently credited with the Patriots' success and are considered responsible for one of the sport's longest and most dominant dynasties. They are also credited with helping to create and sustain the culture around the team, dubbed the "Patriot Way", where there is an emphasis on personal accountability, consistent improvement, and a focus on team success over personal gain.
On October 3, 2021, during week 4 of the 2021 NFL season, the defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the hosting New England Patriots by a score of 19–17 on NBC Sunday Night Football. The game was highly anticipated as Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady played his first game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts against his former team, his long-time former head coach Bill Belichick, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Brady had previously spent 20 seasons with the Patriots between 2000 and 2019, leading the Patriots to a league-tying record of six championships. NBC Sports marketed the game with the tagline "The Return" in promotional material.