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Joe Burrow's eye-popping stat line from his game against the Baltimore Ravens got people talking about the single-game NFL passing yards record. In the game, Joe Burrow completed 80.4 percent of his passes for 525 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
He completed 37 of 46 pass attempts to lead the Bengals to a 41-21 beatdown of the Baltimore Ravens in a performance that put the Bengals squarely in first place in the AFC North. It was an awe-inspiring NFL performance, but where does it land among the greatest NFL performances of all time? Here's a look at the record, as well as a feel for where Burrow's performance lands him on the list.
NFL record for passing yards in a game
The highest number of passing yards in an NFL game came in 1951, thanks to a performance by Norm Van Brocklin. Playing for the Los Angeles Rams, he threw for 554 yards en route to a victory over the New York Yanks, according to NBC Chicago. Van Brocklin played from 1949 to 1960. In his career, he threw for 173 touchdowns and 178 interceptions.
There are a number of surprises about this. The first surprise is that a passing game from 1951 still holds the record for passing yardage in the NFL 70 years later. The second surprise is that, for all of the talk about how the passing game has advanced through the years, one of the biggest NFL passing records comes from a time when running the ball was preferable to passing it.
The next closest player was Matt Schaub in 2012, when he threw for 527 yards. Both he and Warren Moon are tied at this number. Warren Moon is a well-known player who had a full NFL career that ran from 1984 to 2000. Matt Schaub played from 2004 to 2020.
Warren Moon went on to start 203 games and threw for 291 touchdowns and 233 interceptions, according to Pro Football Reference. Matt Schaub went on to play in 155 games and threw for 136 touchdowns and 91 interceptions.
Joe Burrow's 525-yard game in 2021 lands as the fourth-most passing yards in a game in the history of the NFL. Burrow's performance was truly historic and is one of only 24 games in the league's history to have a quarterback throw for more than 500 yards. The full list of quarterbacks to have a 500-yard passing game is below, courtesy of NBC Sports and Pro Football Reference.
1. Norm Van Brocklin, 1951: 554 yards
T-2. Matt Schaub, 2012: 527
T-2. Warren Moon, 1990: 527
4. Joe Burrow, 2021: 525
T-5. Ben Roethlisberger, 2014: 522
T-5. Boomer Esiason, 1996: 522
7. Dan Marino, 1988: 521
8. Matthew Stafford, 2012: 520
T-9. Jared Goff, 2019: 517
T-9. Tom Brady, 2011: 517
T-11. Derek Carr, 2016: 513
T-11. Phil Simms, 1985: 513
T-13. Eli Manning, 2012: 510
T-13. Drew Brees, 2006: 510
15. Vince Ferragamo, 1982: 509
T-16. Ben Roethlisberger, 2017: 506
T-16. Tony Romo, 2013: 506
T-18. Drew Brees, 2015: 505
T-18. Y.A. Tittle, 1962: 505
20. Elvis Grbac, 2000: 504
T-21. Matt Ryan, 2016: 503
T-21. Philip Rivers, 2015: 503
T-21. Ben Roethlisberger, 2009: 503
24. Dak Prescott, 2020: 502
