Rodgers chases Brady, Brees in passing stat
In the Packers’ loss to the Washington Commanders, QB Aaron Rodgers attempted 35 passes, had a pair of TD passes to Aaron Jones, and did not have a pass intercepted. It was the 45th time in his career that he reached those numbers in an NFL regular season game.
Rodgers 45 games with 35+ pass attempts, two or more TD passes and no interceptions in a game rank third all-time behind Tom Brady and Drew Brees on the NFL list. Brady tops the list with 62 such games; Brees is second with 50.
It’s interest to note that in the two games this season that Rodgers reached those numbers, the Packers lost. The team is now 33-12 in games when Rodgers reaches these passing stats, a .733 winning percentage.
Here is a look at the NFL all-time Top 10 in this category… career games with 35+ passing attempts, two or more TD passes, and no interceptions.
Tom Brady, 62
Drew Brees, 50
Aaron Rodgers, 45
Peyton Manning, 33
Matt Ryan, 32
Brett Favre, 27
Ben Roethlisberger, 24
Matthew Stafford, 22
Philip Rivers, 21
Kirk Cousins, 21
Rodgers and Favre were not the only two Packers’ QBs to reach these stats in a game. Rodgers tops the Green Bay list with his 45 games followed by Favre with 25 during his time with the Pack. Also on the list are: Don Majkowski (two games) and Brett Hundley, Mike Tomczak, Randy Wright and Tobin Rote with one game each.
Today’s Sportstat: February 1, 2020
Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
Quick trivia quiz: Can you name the 12 QBs who have won two or more Super Bowls? Can you also name the eight starting QBs who lost two or more Super Bowls? Finally, who are the four starting quarterbacks that have won two or more Super Bowls and lost two or more Super Bowls?
Answers below.
Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garoppolo will be the starting QBs in this year’s Super Bowl, both making their first starting appearance in the big game.
For the Chiefs, this will be their third appearance in the Super Bowl. The starting QB in their other two Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl I and IV) was Lenny Dawson. For the 49ers, Garoppolo becomes the fourth QB to start a Super Bowl for the franchise (Joe Montana, Steve Young, Colin Kaepernick). This is the 49ers seventh appearance in the Super Bowl.
Tom Brady has made the most Super Bowl starts for a QB with nine… he is followed by John Elway with five. Brady is one of 12 Super Bowl starting QBS with two or more wins in the Super Bowl. The list of Super Bowl QBs who won two or more:
6-Tom Brady
4-Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana
3-Troy Aikman
2-John Elway, Bob Griese, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Jim Plunkett, Ben Roethlisberger, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach
Of these 12 QBs who have won two or more Super Bowls, only Jim Plunkett is not in the Hall of Fame. Brady and Roethlisberger are still active; Eli Manning just retired, and Peyton has been retired for a couple of years.
There have also been eight starting QBs who have lost two or more Super Bowls. They are:
4-Jim Kelly
3-Tom Brady, John Elway, Fran Tarkenton
2-Peyton Manning, Craig Morton, Roger Staubach, Kurt Warner
The only quarterbacks to win two or more Super Bowls and lose two or more Super Bowls? Tom Brady, John Elway, Peyton Manning and Roger Staubach.
It’s interesting to note that there have been three times when a pair of QBs faced off against each other twice in the Super Bowl… Staubach and Bradshaw, Aikman and Kelly, and Brady and Eli Manning. The same QB won both games… Bradshaw, Aikman and Eli Manning.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Today’s Sportstat: August 15, 2019
Highest Passer Rating for QBs at each age
If you follow the NFL, you know that the play of the quarterback is an important part of success in the league. Not only do we have young QB’s who are quickly becoming stars in the NFL (Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff), but we are also seeing QB’s well into their 30’s and 40’s who are performing at a high level.
To put some numbers to this, let’s look at which QBs have had the most success at each age. Specifically, let’s see which QBs have the highest Passer Rating at age 21 all the way up to age 41.
Just last season Los Angeles Rams QB Jared Goff, who turned 24 during the 2018 campaign, ended his age 23 games with a Passer Rating of 109.3, highest of any QB in NFL history at that age. But he wasn’t the only player to set a record last year for the highest Passer Rating at a particular age:
- Los Angeles Chargers QB ended his age 36 NFL games with a 110.2 Passer Rating.
- New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, who was age 39 during the 2018 season, had a 115.7 Passer Rating, highest of any QB at age 39.
- New England Patriots ageless signal-caller, Tom Brady, was age 41 during last season when he compiled a 97.7 Passer Rating, the highest of any QB at age 41.
Following are the quarterbacks who have had the highest Passer Ratings in games at ages 21-41 (minimum of 200 passes attempted to qualify for the list).
Age 21: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay, 84.2, 2015
Age 22: Robert Griffin Jr., Washington, 102.4, 2012
Age 23: Jared Goff, L.A. Rams, 109.3, 2017-18
Age 24: Nick Foles, Philadelphia, 119.2, 2013
Age 25: Milt Plum, Cleveland, 110.4, 1960
Age 26: Brett Favre, Green Bay, 110.5, 1995-96
Age 27: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, 124.7, 2010-11
Age 28: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, 121.1, 2004
Age 29: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, 110.1, 2012-13
Age 30: Tom Brady, New England, 117.2, 2007
Age 31: Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 117.1, 2016
Age 32: Drew Brees, New Orleans, 110.6, 2011
Age 33: Steve Young, San Francisco, 107.0, 1996-97
Age 34: Tony Romo, Dallas, 113.2, 2014
Age 35: Steve Young, San Francisco, 107.0, 1996-97
Age 36: Philip Rivers, L.A. Chargers, 110.2, 2017-18
Age 37: Peyton Manning, Denver, 115.1, 2013
Age 38: Drew Brees, New Orleans, 103.9, 2017
Age 39: Drew Brees, New Orleans, 115.7, 2018
Age 40: Tom Brady, New England, 102.8, 2017
Age 41: Tom Brady, New England, 97.7, 2018
One final note: Jared Goff, who set the record for highest Passer Rating for a QB age 23 last season, could drop down to second place at that age if Patrick Mahomes has anything to say about it. Mahomes who is 23 and won’t turn 24 until September 17, will have two games to play before his 24th birthday. He has a 108.6 Passer Rating at age 23, which is percentage points behind Goff who had a Passer Rating of 109.3 at age 23.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Today’s Sports Stat: January 20, 2018
Here’s a quick trivia question: The New England Patriots on Sunday January 21 will appear in their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game. That means they have appeared in seven championship games since 2011. Which NFL team has appeared in the second most championship games since 2011? (Answer at the end of this column.)
Following are a few “leftover” stats from last week’s NFL playoff games.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers last week became seventh team to lose two playoff games in their history when they scored 30 or more points (the Steelers lost to Jacksonville 45-42 last Sunday). The other teams on this list: Cleveland, Dallas, Green Bay, Kansas City, Miami and New Orleans.
- The Steelers also have now lost 10 home playoff games in their history (since the start of the Super Bowl era in 1966), most in the NFL. Dallas is second with nine home playoff losses followed by Minnesota and San Francisco with eight.
- Teams that are scoreless at halftime in a playoff game have not had much success. Teams that are scoreless at half in a playoff game are 17-88 (.162 winning percentage) since 1966.
- Turnovers are another important part of the NFL’s post-season. Since the 2010 post-season, NFL teams that do not commit a turnover in a playoff game are 29-12 (.707 winning percentage). Teams that have turned the ball over three or more times in a playoff game since 2010 are 5-28 (.152).
- Tom Brady had another playoff game (in the Pats win over Tennessee) where he had three or more TD passes and more than 300 yards passing. That was the seventh time Brady reached those stats in a playoff game in his career, most in league history. Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers have had three or more TD passes and 300 or more yards passing in five different playoff games, tied for second on this list.
- Jacksonville rookie running back Leonard Fournette had three TDs in his team’s big win over Pittsburgh, making him only the fourth rookie in history to score three or more TDs in a playoff game. The others: Craig Baynham (Dallas, 12-24-1967), William Floyd (San Francisco, 1-7-1995) and Ryan Grant (Green Bay, 1-12-2008).
- Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski had a TD reception in New England’s win last week over the Titans. That was his 10th playoff TD in his career. Those 10 playoff TDs since 2010 are the most of any player; Gronkowski also became the 18th player in NFL history to score 10 or more TDs in the post-season. Jerry Rice tops the list with 22 playoff TDs.
- With their 10-3 win over Buffalo in the Wild Card Game and their 45-42 win over Pittsburgh in the divisional round, the Jacksonville Jaguars became the first team in NFL history to win two playoff games in one season…one with 10 or fewer points scored and one with 40 or more points scored.
- With their game tomorrow against the Jacksonville Jags, the Patriots will have appeared in seven championship games since 2011. They are followed by the San Francisco 49ers with three title game appearances since 2011. The Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks have each appeared in two conference title games since 2011. Eight teams will have appeared in one conference championship game from 2011-17 (Arizona, Carolina, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh). Did you get the San Francisco 49ers right in the answer to the trivia question?
Stats on Tapp
Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning: 20 stats you might not know
The marquee matchup in Week #9 is the Denver Broncos hitting the road for a game with the New England Patriots. It also means the 16th time that future Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will face each other. Here’s a look at some of the stats from the previous 15 times that Brady and Manning have squared off in an AFC battle.
1. Brady has won 10 of the 15 games against Manning. The Patriots are 7-2 in home games against a Peyton Manning-led team. The last time Manning defeated Brady when New England was hosting the game was November 5, 2006.
2. Manning has attempted more passes than Brady in 12 of the 15 games. The Patriots are 3-0 in the games where Brady attempted more passes than Manning.
3. Talk about symmetry… Brady has attempted 500 passes in his games against Peyton, completing 334 of them for a 66.8 completion percentage. Manning has attempted 600 passes in games versus Brady, completing 376 for a 62.7 completion percentage.
4. New England has scored 20 or more points in 14 of the 15 games played against Peyton. Peyton’s Indianapolis/Denver teams have scored 20 or more in 11 of the 15 games against the Patriots.
5. Brady and the Pats scored 30 or more points in eight of the games against Peyton; Manning’s teams have scored 30-plus in five games against the Pats.
6. Brady completed 60% or more of his passes in 12 of the 15 games; Manning completed 60% or higher of his passes in eight games.
7. In the 15 matchups, Brady has 27 TD passes and 12 interceptions, a 2.25/1 TD pass to interception ratio. Manning has 31 TD passes and 20 interceptions in the 15 games, a 1.55/1 ratio of TD passes to interceptions.
8. Brady had a QB Rating of 100 or higher in seven of the games (the Pats were 5-2 in those games); Manning had a 100 or higher QB Rating in four games (his teams were 2-2 in those games).
9. Brady had a higher QB Rating in 11 of the 15 games versus Peyton.
10. Peyton had more passing yards than Brady in 11 of the 15 games.
11. The Patriots were 6-2 in games where Brady threw two or TD passes in games versus Peyton. Peyton’s teams were 4-5 in games where he threw two or more TD passes against Brady and the Patriots.
12. Of the 15 contests, Brady had two or more interceptions in only three games; Manning had two or more picks in four games.
13. Manning had 300 or more yards passing in eight of the games. Brady had 300-plus yards passing in only three games.
14. Seven of the Brady-Manning matchups took place in November. The Patriots hold a slight 4-3 advantage in those games.
15. Eight of the 15 games played between Brady and Manning were decided by eight points or less. Only two games in the series were decided by 20 points or more; those were blowout wins by the Patriots in 2001.
16. Brady has had only one game of the 15 where his QB Rating for the game was under 70. Peyton had three games with a QB Rating under 70.
17. In the 10 Patriots wins, Brady has had 19 TD passes and six interceptions. In the five losses he has had eight TD passes and six interceptions. Manning has had 12 TD passes and five interceptions in the five wins over New England. He has had 19 TD passes and 15 interceptions in the 10 losses.
18. Brady is 8-3 versus Peyton in the regular season with New England winning the last three. The two have split four playoff games with Peyton’s teams winning the last two post-season contests.
19. The game this Sunday is being played in New England. Brady has an 87-14 record at home and a 97.3 QB Rating in home games. Manning is 78-44 in road games in his career with a 94.5 QB Rating in away games (6.7 below his QBR at home).
20. Brady has a QB Rating of 99.8 in November games in his career, the highest of any month during the season. Manning has a QB Rating of 90.9 in November games. That is the lowest month (other than his 83.5 QBR in January games) in his career.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Sports Stats 'on Tapp' 