Stats › Quarterbacks: career passing statistics
Quarterbacks: career passing statistics
Career regular-season passing totals for the 16 quarterbacks in the game, ranked by passing yards. The last two columns are derived: touchdown passes per interception, and passing yards per touchdown pass.
| # | Quarterback | Teams | Pass yards | Pass TD | INT | TD per INT | Yards per TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Brady | NE / TB | 89,214 | 649 | 212 | 3.06 | 137 |
| 2 | Drew Brees | SD / NO | 80,358 | 571 | 244 | 2.34 | 141 |
| 3 | Peyton Manning | IND / DEN | 71,940 | 539 | 251 | 2.15 | 133 |
| 4 | Brett Favre | GB / NYJ / MIN | 71,838 | 508 | 336 | 1.51 | 141 |
| 5 | Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | 64,088 | 418 | 211 | 1.98 | 153 |
| 6 | Philip Rivers | SD / LAC / IND | 63,440 | 421 | 209 | 2.01 | 151 |
| 7 | Matt Ryan | ATL / IND | 62,792 | 381 | 183 | 2.08 | 165 |
| 8 | Dan Marino | MIA | 61,361 | 420 | 252 | 1.67 | 146 |
| 9 | Eli Manning | NYG | 57,023 | 366 | 244 | 1.50 | 156 |
| 10 | John Elway | DEN | 51,475 | 300 | 226 | 1.33 | 172 |
| 11 | Warren Moon | HOU / MIN / SEA / KC | 49,325 | 291 | 233 | 1.25 | 170 |
| 12 | Fran Tarkenton | MIN / NYG | 47,003 | 342 | 266 | 1.29 | 137 |
| 13 | Dan Fouts | SD | 43,040 | 254 | 242 | 1.05 | 169 |
| 14 | Johnny Unitas | BAL / SD | 40,239 | 290 | 253 | 1.15 | 139 |
| 15 | Steve Young | TB / SF | 33,124 | 232 | 107 | 2.17 | 143 |
| 16 | Troy Aikman | DAL | 32,942 | 165 | 141 | 1.17 | 200 |
Reading the table
Tom Brady leads passing yards (89,214) and passing touchdowns (649), and has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (3.06). Brett Favre threw the most interceptions (336). The closest pair in passing yards is Peyton Manning (71,940) and Brett Favre (71,838), separated by 102 yards, and Philip Rivers (421 touchdowns) edges Dan Marino (420) by a single touchdown pass.
The yards-per-touchdown column shows how many yards a quarterback needed to produce each scoring pass. Peyton Manning (133.5) and Fran Tarkenton (137.4) and Tom Brady (137.5) were the most efficient, while Troy Aikman (199.6) and John Elway (171.6) needed the most. Teams, offensive design and the running game all affect this number, so treat it as a description and not a verdict.