NFL quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott are perfect in Week One

Dallas QB Dak Prescott and Baltimore signal-caller Lamar Jackson were perfect last weekend in the first week of NFL games for 2019. In fact, together, they did something that has never been done in NFL history.

Prescott and Jackson each had a 158.3 Passer Rating (the highest and “perfect” Passer Rating a QB can get) in their opening-season games last Sunday. Prescott had four TD passes and passed for 405 yards in his perfect contest against the New York Giants, a game won by the Cowboys, 39-17. Jackson led the Ravens to a 59-10 win over Miami with five TD passes and 324 yards passing on his way to a perfect Passer Rating. It was the first time in NFL history that two QBs had a perfect Passer Rating in the first game of an NFL season.

Prescott and Jackson became only the fourth and fifth QBs to have a perfect Passer Rating (158.3) in the first game of an NFL season (minimum of 15 pass attempts to qualify). Here are the five with the dates of their accomplishment.

Len Dawson, Kansas City, (AFL), September 7, 1963

Dick Shiner, Atlanta, September 16, 1973

Marcus Mariota, Tennessee, September 13, 2015

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore, September 8, 2019

Dak Prescott, Dallas, September 8, 2019

If we drop the Passer Rating to 140 or above, John Hadl leads the league with most first games of the year with a Passer Rating of 140 or above. He did it three times. Five other QBs did it twice: Tom Brady, Len Dawson, Sonny Jurgensen, Don Meredith and Ben Roethlisberger.

If we make the criteria a Passer Rating of 100 or above in the first game of the year, a pair of current QBs top the list; in fact, both added to their totals this past weekend. New England’s Tom Brady had a Passer Rating of 124.9 in the Patriot’s Week One win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, giving him 10 career games with a Passer Rating of 100 or better in a Week One contest.

Not to be outdone, New Orleans QB Drew Brees had a Passer Rating of 105.8 in the Saints’ win over Houston. It was his league-leading 11^th career game with a Passer Rating of 100 or better in the first week. Brees and Brady are followed by Brett Favre with eight games and Fran Tarkenton with seven games with a 100 of better Passer Rating in the first game of a season.

All total, there were 18 QBs who had a Passer Rating of 100 or better in Week One of the 2019 season. Eleven of those QBs saw their team win. The four quarterbacks last weekend who had a Passer Rating under 100 but their team were still victorious were Aaron Rodgers (GB, 91.4), Jimmy Garoppolo (SF, 80.2), Josh Allen (Buffalo, 71.2) and Jared Goff (LA Rams, 69.0).

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