List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating

In the National Football League, the highest official passer rating that a quarterback can achieve is 158.3, which is considered a perfect passer rating. Thirty-five different quarterbacks have had a "perfect game" since the advent of passer ratings in 1973. Four games have occurred in the post-season. Seven men have achieved the feat more than once: Peyton Manning has thrown four, Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner have thrown three, and Craig Morton, Dave Krieg, Ken O'Brien, and Tom Brady have two. Of these, only Roethlisberger has had more than one in a single regular season, when he had two perfect ratings in 2007. Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Bob Griese, James Harris, Bob Lee, Craig Morton, and Eli Manning had at least one game with a perfect passer rating and at least one game with a passer rating of zero, the lowest possible passer rating. The 1989 season was the only season in which two different QBs threw a perfect game for the same team, the San Francisco 49ers, accomplished by Steve Young (week 7) and Joe Montana (week 10). To qualify, a QB must attempt at least 10 passes, a minimum of a 77.5% completion percentage, 11.875% touchdown passes percentage, a minimum of 12.5 yards per attempt, and zero interceptions. This is a list-in-progress of NFL perfect games (list complete back to 1960):

List

Quarterback	Date	Team	Opponent	Result	CMP	ATT	YDS	TDS	Notes
Ray Mallouf	01948-10-17 17, 1948	Chicago Cardinals	@New York Giants	W 63–35	14	18	252	4
Sammy Baugh	01949-10-16 16, 1949	Washington Redskins	New York Bulldogs	W 38–14	16	20	254	4
Len Dawson	01963-09-07 7, 1963	Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos	W 59–7	12	15	278	4
Y.A. Tittle	01963-11-10 10, 1963	New York Giants	Philadelphia Eagles	W 42–14	16	20	261	3
Frank Ryan	01964-12-12 12, 1964	Cleveland Browns	New York Giants	W 52–20	12	13	202	5
Sonny Jurgensen	01965-10-24 24, 1965	Washington Redskins	@St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–20	12	14	195	3
Joe Namath	01967-10-22 22, 1967	New York Jets	@Miami Dolphins	W 33–14	13	15	199	2
Johnny Unitas	01967-11-12 12, 1967	Baltimore Colts	Atlanta Falcons	W 49–7	17	20	370	4
Don Meredith	01967-12-12 12, 1967	Dallas Cowboys	Cleveland Browns	W 52–14	10	12	212	2	NFL Divisional
Craig Morton	01969-10-05 5, 1969	Dallas Cowboys	@Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–7	14	18	261	3
Fran Tarkenton	01970-10-25 25, 1970	New York Giants	St. Louis Cardinals	W 35–17	15	18	280	5
Daryle Lamonica	01972-09-17 17, 1972	Oakland Raiders	@Pittsburgh Steelers	L 34–28	8	10	172	2	Did not start game
Dick Shiner	01973-09-16 16, 1973	Atlanta Falcons	New Orleans Saints	W 62–7	13	15	227	3	Had an unofficial 0.0 game (9 attempts) the following week
Bob Lee	01973-10-14 14, 1973	Atlanta Falcons	Chicago Bears	W 46–6	11	13	181	2	Had a 0.0 game later that season
James Harris	01974-10-20 20, 1974	Los Angeles Rams	San Francisco 49ers	W 37–14	12	15	276	3
Ken Anderson	01974-11-03 3, 1974	Cincinnati Bengals	Baltimore Colts	W 24–14	17	21	297	3
Jim Hart	01975-11-23 23, 1975	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Jets	W 37–6	11	13	242	2
Dan Fouts	01976-09-26 26, 1976	San Diego Chargers	St. Louis Cardinals	W 43–24	15	18	259	4
Scott Hunter	01976-10-31 31, 1976	Atlanta Falcons	New Orleans Saints	W 23–20	10	11	138	2
Terry Bradshaw	01976-12-19 19, 1976	Pittsburgh Steelers	Baltimore Colts	W 40–14	14	18	264	3	AFC Divisional
Steve Grogan	01978-10-29 29, 1978	New England Patriots	New York Jets	W 55–21	15	19	281	4
Brian Sipe	01978-10-29 29, 1978	Cleveland Browns	Buffalo Bills	W 41–20	12	15	217	3
Bob Griese	01978-12-18 18, 1978	Miami Dolphins	New England Patriots	W 23–3	12	13	171	2	Monday Night Football
Vince Evans	01980-12-07 7, 1980	Chicago Bears	Green Bay Packers	W 61–7	18	22	316	3
Craig Morton (2)	01981-09-27 27, 1981	Denver Broncos	San Diego Chargers	W 42–24	17	18	308	4
Dave Krieg	01983-12-24 24, 1983	Seattle Seahawks	Denver Broncos	W 31–7	12	13	200	3	AFC Wild Card
Steve Bartkowski	01984-09-23 23, 1984	Atlanta Falcons	Houston Oilers	W 42–10	11	13	195	3
Ken O'Brien	01986-11-02 2, 1986	New York Jets	Seattle Seahawks	W 38–7	26	32	431	4	Only 400 yard game with a perfect rating
Steve Young	01989-10-22 22, 1989	San Francisco 49ers	New England Patriots	W 37–20	11	12	188	3
Joe Montana	01989-11-12 12, 1989	San Francisco 49ers	Atlanta Falcons	W 45–3	16	19	270	3
Ken O'Brien (2)	01990-12-23 23, 1990	New York Jets	New England Patriots	W 42–7	11	12	210	2
Rich Gannon	01992-10-15 15, 1992	Minnesota Vikings	Detroit Lions	W 31–14	8	10	146	2
Bobby Hebert	01993-09-12 12, 1993	Atlanta Falcons	New Orleans Saints	L 34–31	14	18	243	3	1st known QB to start and lose game w/perfect rating
Mike Buck	01993-10-17 17, 1993	New Orleans Saints	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 37–14	10	11	164	2	Did not start game
Drew Bledsoe	01993-12-26 26, 1993	New England Patriots	Indianapolis Colts	W 38–0	9	11	143	2	Rookie season
Craig Erickson	01994-09-11 11, 1994	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Indianapolis Colts	W 24–10	19	24	313	3
Dave Krieg (2)	01994-11-24 24, 1994	Detroit Lions	Buffalo Bills	W 35–21	20	25	351	3
Chris Chandler	01995-09-25 25, 1995	Houston Oilers	Cincinnati Bengals	W 38–28	23	26	352	4
Jeff Blake	01995-10-19 19, 1995	Cincinnati Bengals	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–9	18	22	275	3
Kurt Warner	01999-10-23 23, 1999	St. Louis Rams	Cincinnati Bengals	W 38–10	17	21	310	3
Kurt Warner (2)	02000-10-01 1, 2000	St. Louis Rams	San Diego Chargers	W 57–31	24	30	390	4
Peyton Manning	02000-10-22 22, 2000	Indianapolis Colts	New England Patriots	W 30–23	16	20	268	3
Doug Flutie	02000-12-24 24, 2000	Buffalo Bills	Seattle Seahawks	W 42–23	20	25	366	3
Peyton Manning (2)	02002-11-10 10, 2002	Indianapolis Colts	Philadelphia Eagles	W 35–13	18	23	319	3
Kerry Collins	02002-12-22 22, 2002	New York Giants	Indianapolis Colts	W 44–27	23	29	366	4
Peyton Manning (3)	02003-09-28 28, 2003	Indianapolis Colts	New Orleans Saints	W 55–21	20	25	314	6
Chad Pennington	02003-11-16 16, 2003	New York Jets	Indianapolis Colts	L 38–31	11	14	219	3	2nd known QB to start and lose w/perfect rating
Trent Green	02003-12-14 14, 2003	Kansas City Chiefs	Detroit Lions	W 45–17	20	25	341	3
Peyton Manning (4)	02004-01-04 4, 2004	Indianapolis Colts	Denver Broncos	W 41–10	22	26	377	5	AFC Wild Card
Ben Roethlisberger	02005-09-11 11, 2005	Pittsburgh Steelers	Tennessee Titans	W 34–7	9	11	218	2
Donovan McNabb	02007-09-23 23, 2007	Philadelphia Eagles	Detroit Lions	W 56–21	21	26	381	4
Tom Brady	02007-10-21 21, 2007	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	W 49–28	21	25	354	6
Ben Roethlisberger (2)	02007-11-05 5, 2007	Pittsburgh Steelers	Baltimore Ravens	W 38–7	13	16	209	5	Monday Night Football
Ben Roethlisberger (3)	02007-12-20 20, 2007	Pittsburgh Steelers	St. Louis Rams	W 41–24	16	20	261	3	2nd perfect game in the 2007 season
Kurt Warner (3)	02008-09-14 14, 2008	Arizona Cardinals	Miami Dolphins	W 31–10	19	24	361	3
Eli Manning	02009-10-11 11, 2009	New York Giants	Oakland Raiders	W 44–7	8	10	173	2	Left game before half-time
Drew Brees	02009-11-30 30, 2009	New Orleans Saints	New England Patriots	W 38–17	18	23	371	5	Monday Night Football
Tom Brady (2)	02010-11-25 25, 2010	New England Patriots	@Detroit Lions	W 45–24	21	27	341	4	Thanksgiving Classic

Frequency of a perfect game

Games with a perfect passer rating are rare in the NFL. Before the start of the 2010 NFL season, there have been 14,633 regular season games played and 467 postseason games, meaning that NFL passers have had over 30,000 opportunities to reach the perfect rating milestone. Of the rare number of times this has happened, only Ken O'Brien has achieved it in a 400 yard game, another rare performance for an NFL QB. However, with the league's increasing passing efficiency, these performances are starting to become more common in recent decades.

Decade	Perfect Games
1940s	2
1950s	0
1960s	8
1970s	13
1980s	7
1990s	10
2000s	17
2010s	1

Perfect games have been thrown by two quarterbacks on the same day only once: October 29, 1978, when both Steve Grogan of the New England Patriots and Brian Sipe of the Cleveland Browns achieved the feat.

Statistics

Only two quarterbacks have accomplished a perfect passer rating with 30-or-more attempts. Ken O'Brien threw 26-for-32 in his perfect game for a completion rate of 81%, while Kurt Warner threw 24-for-30 in his perfect game for a completion rate of 80%. Dave Krieg and Frank Ryan share the record for completion rate in a perfect game; both threw 12-for-13 for 92%.

Only two quarterbacks have accomplished a perfect passer rating with six touchdowns thrown. Peyton Manning was the first to achieve the record on 28 Sept 2003 against the New Orleans Saints, while Tom Brady matched the feat on 21 Oct 2007 against the Miami Dolphins. Thirteen quarterbacks have accomplished a perfect game with only two touchdowns thrown. It is impossible to achieve a perfect game with only one touchdown because of the 10 passing attempt minimum to qualify, combined with the minimum 11.875% touchdown-to-attempted-pass ratio.

Only one quarterback has accomplished a perfect passer rating with more than 400 passing yards. Ken O'Brien threw for 431 yards on 2 Nov 1986 against the Seattle Seahawks. Only three quarterbacks have accomplished a perfect game with fewer than 150 passing yards. Scott Hunter threw for 138 yards on 31 Oct 1976 against the New Orleans Saints, Drew Bledsoe threw for 143 yards on 26 Dec 1993 against the Indianapolis Colts, and Rich Gannon threw for 146 yards on 15 Oct 1992 against the Detroit Lions.

See also

• Perfect game (baseball)
• Shutout (ice hockey)
• 300-point game (bowling)
• Maximum break (snooker)
• Nine dart finish (darts)
• List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a passer rating of zero
• List of NFL quarterbacks who have passed for 400 or more yards in a game