Perfect Passer Rating: What is it? How many have there been? How is it worked out?

Liam Williams Published: 17 Sep 24 10:57

Since 1973, the NFL has used its 'passer rating' metric to determine its passing leader, using passing attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions.

Each game is measured on a scale from 0 to 158.3, and a quarterback achieving a passer rating of 158.3 is said to have posted a perfect passer rating.

What is a perfect passer rating?

Using passing attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions, each quarterback is given a rating.

For context, in the 2023 NFL season, only six players averaged a passer rating over 100.0, with Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray and Josh Allen all below 95.0.

Perfect passer rating formula

Though it looks tricky to work out, fans can calculate a player's passer rating if they know the formula, which is worked out as follows:

A - ((Completions/Attempts) - 0.3 x 5)
B - ((Yards/Attempts) - 3) x 0.25
C - (Touchdowns/Attempts) x 20)
D - 2.375 - ((Interceptions/Attempts) x 25))

Note: the maximum and minimum numbers a calculation can come to are 2.375 and 0; if one of the criteria comes to 2.5, it must be set to 2.375. A player needs all four categories to add up to at least 2.375 for a perfect passer rating.

An easier way to identify a perfect passer rating is as follows:

A - Total completions = 77.5% or better
B - Total passing yards per attempt = 12.5 or better
C - Touchdown passes per attempt = 0.12 or better
D - No interceptions

You then combine the above sums, divide by 6 and multiply by 100.

Using the above example, if a quarterback had the below numbers:

- 20 attempts
- 15 completions
- 100 yards
- 2 touchdowns
- 1 interception

You'd get:

A - (0.75-0.3) x 5 = 2.25
B - (5-3) x 0.25 = 0.5
C - 0.1 x 20 = 2
D - 2.375 - (0.05 x 25) = 1.125

Add those numbers up to get 5.875, divide by 6 to get 0.979. Multiply that by 100 to get a passer rating of 97.9.

Has there ever been a perfect passer rating?

There have been a total of 79 games with a perfect passer rating in the regular season and four more in the play-offs. The most recent post-season perfect passer rating was in 2004 via Peyton Manning.

Seven players have more than one game with a perfect passer rating in the regular season. Ben Roethlisberger leads the way with four, ahead of Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner with three each.

Kyler Murray posted the most recent perfect passer rating in week two of the 2024 NFL season as the Arizona Cardinals beat the LA Rams 41-10.

Only three rookies have ever posted perfect passer ratings: Drew Bledsoe, Robert Griffin III and Marcus Mariota, with the latter doing it in his NFL debut.

Only Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger have posted more than one perfect passer rating in a regular season.

Players with a perfect passer rating in the regular season

	Player	Team	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns
1	Ray Mallouf	Chicago Cardinals	14	18	252	4
2	Sammy Baugh	Washington Redskins	16	20	254	4
3	Otto Graham	Cleveland Browns	14	18	266	3
4	George Ratterman	Cleveland Browns	10	11	208	3
5	Milt Plum	Cleveland Browns	13	14	197	2
6	M.C. Reynolds	Chicago Cardinals	8	10	170	2
7	Len Dawson	Kansas City Chiefs	12	15	278	4
8	Y.A. Tittle	New York Giants	16	20	261	3
9	Frank Ryan	Cleveland Browns	12	13	202	5
10	Sonny Jurgensen	Washington Redskins	12	14	195	3
11	Joe Namath	New York Jets	13	15	199	2
12	Johnny Unitas	Baltimore Colts	17	20	370	4
13	Don Meredith	Dallas Cowboys	10	12	212	2
13	Craig Morton	Dallas Cowboys	14	18	261	3
14	Fran Tarkenton	New York Giants	15	18	280	5
15	Daryle Lamonica	Oakland Raiders	8	10	172	2
16	Dick Shiner	Atlanta Falcons	13	15	227	3
17	Bob Lee	Atlanta Falcons	11	13	181	2
18	James Harris	Los Angeles Rams	12	15	276	3
19	Ken Anderson	Cincinnati Bengals	17	21	297	3
20	Jim Hart	St. Louis Cardinals	11	13	242	2
21	Dan Fouts	San Diego Chargers	15	18	259	4
22	Scott Hunter	Atlanta Falcons	10	11	138	2
23	Steve Grogan	New England Patriots	15	19	281	4
24	Brian Sipe	Cleveland Browns	12	15	217	3
25	Bob Griese	Miami Dolphins	12	13	171	2
26	Vince Evans	Chicago Bears	18	22	316	3
27	Craig Morton (2)	Denver Broncos	17	18	308	4
28	Steve Bartkowski	Atlanta Falcons	11	13	195	3
29	Ken O'Brien	New York Jets	26	32	431	4
30	Steve Young	San Francisco 49ers	11	12	188	3
31	Joe Montana	San Francisco 49ers	16	19	270	3
32	Ken O'Brien (2)	New York Jets	11	12	210	2
33	Rich Gannon	Minnesota Vikings	8	10	146	2
34	Bobby Hebert	Atlanta Falcons	14	18	243	3
35	Mike Buck	New Orleans Saints	10	11	164	2
36	Drew Bledsoe	New England Patriots	9	11	143	2
37	Craig Erickson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	19	24	313	3
38	Dave Krieg	Detroit Lions	20	25	351	3
39	Chris Chandler	Houston Oilers	23	26	352	4
40	Jeff Blake	Cincinnati Bengals	18	22	275	3
41	Kurt Warner	St. Louis Rams	17	21	310	3
42	Kurt Warner (2)	St. Louis Rams	24	30	390	4
43	Peyton Manning	Indianapolis Colts	16	20	268	3
44	Doug Flutie	Buffalo Bills	20	25	366	3
45	Peyton Manning (2)	Indianapolis Colts	18	23	319	3
46	Kerry Collins	New York Giants	23	29	366	4
47	Peyton Manning (3)	Indianapolis Colts	20	25	314	6
48	Chad Pennington	New York Jets	11	14	219	3
49	Trent Green	Kansas City Chiefs	20	25	341	3
50	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers	9	11	218	2
51	Donovan McNabb	Philadelphia Eagles	21	26	381	4
52	Tom Brady	New England Patriots	21	25	354	6
53	Ben Roethlisberger (2)	Pittsburgh Steelers	13	16	209	5
54	Ben Roethlisberger (3)	Pittsburgh Steelers	16	20	261	3
55	Kurt Warner (3)	Arizona Cardinals	19	24	361	3
56	Eli Manning	New York Giants	8	10	173	2
57	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	18	23	371	5
58	Tom Brady (2)	New England Patriots	21	27	341	4
59	Robert Griffin III	Washington Redskins	14	15	200	4
60	Nick Foles	Philadelphia Eagles	22	28	406	7
61	Alex Smith	Kansas City Chiefs	17	20	287	5
62	Geno Smith	New York Jets	20	25	358	3
63	Marcus Mariota	Tennessee Titans	13	16	209	4
64	Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins	18	19	282	4
65	Kirk Cousins	Washington Redskins	20	25	324	4
66	Jared Goff	Los Angeles Rams	26	33	465	5
67	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	14	17	248	3
68	Ben Roethlisberger (4)	Pittsburgh Steelers	22	25	328	5
69	Lamar Jackson	Baltimore Ravens	17	20	324	5
70	Dak Prescott	Dallas Cowboys	25	32	405	4
71	Deshaun Watson	Houston Texans	28	33	426	5
72	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	25	31	429	5
73	Lamar Jackson (2)	Baltimore Ravens	15	17	223	3
74	Tom Brady (3)	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	22	27	348	4
75	Josh Allen	Buffalo Bills	21	25	320	4
76	Brock Purdy	San Francisco 49ers	21	25	333	3
77	Baker Mayfield	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	22	28	381	4
78	Lamar Jackson (3)	Baltimore Ravens	18	21	321	5
77	Kyler Murray	Arizona Cardinals	17	21	266	3
77	Lamar Jackson (4)	Baltimore Ravens	16	19	280	3
78	Jared Goff (2)	Detroit Lions	24	29	412	4

Players with a perfect passer rating in the play-offs

	Player	Team	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns
1	Don Meredith	Dallas Cowboys	10	12	212	2
2	Terry Bradshaw	Pittsburgh Steelers	14	18	264	3
3	Dave Krieg	Seattle Seahawks	12	13	200	3
4	Peyton Manning	Indianapolis Colts	22	26	377	5