How many NFL quarterbacks have thrown for 500 yards in a game since 2000?

An exceptionally rare single-game achievement, quarterbacks have thrown for 500 yards in a game on just 27 occasions in NFL history – 20 of which have come since 2000.

For essentially my entire lifetime, the NFL has been a pass-heavy league with an undue amount of attention given to the quarterback position on each team – a phenomenon that only grew in the last decade as dual-threat quarterbacks became more common.

With quarterbacks playing a significant role in their team’s performance, individual benchmarks set by quarterbacks are typically followed more closely than those for running backs or wide receivers – with the 4,000-yard passing season seen as the hallmark of a productive season.

In a similar vein to the 4,000-yard passing season, the 400-yard passing game is viewed as an exceptional single-game achievement, with the league’s leaders in passing typically putting up a few of those each season – many of which come in very close games where every bit of production is needed.

Although rare, there have been 15 occasions where a quarterback has eclipsed 5,000 passing yards in a season, coming in as a bit more rare than the 500-yard passing game – which has now occurred 27 times in NFL history.

Despite the fact that 20 of these 27 games have come since the turn of the century, the all-time single-game passing record still safely belongs to Norm Van Brocklin, who threw for 554 passing yards and five touchdowns for the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 28, 1951 against the New York Yanks – who became the Dallas Texans the following season.

The closest a quarterback has come to reaching Van Brocklin’s mark is 527 yards – which was done by Warren Moon on Dec. 16, 1990 and again by Matt Schaub on Nov. 18, 2012.

A quarterback has thrown for 500 or more yards in a playoff game on just two occasions – with Tom Brady doing so in a losing effort in Super Bowl LII while Ben Roethlisberger also reached the mark in a loss to the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 10, 2021.

Furthermore, just three quarterbacks have accomplished the feat more than once – with Roethlisberger throwing for at least 500 yards on four different occasions, while Tom Brady and Drew Brees both reached the milestone twice in their careers.

The most recent 500-yard passing game came from the arm of Kirk Cousins on Oct. 3, 2024, who threw for 509 yards with the Atlanta Falcons in a 36-30 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With NFL fans awaiting their first 500-yard game in over two years, here’s a look at the twenty 500-yard games that have occurred in the 21st century, listed in chronological order:

1. Elvis Grbac, Kansas City Chiefs: 504 yards vs. Oakland Raiders, Nov. 5, 2000 (49-31 loss)
2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: 510 yards vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Nov. 19, 2006 (31-16 loss)
3. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: 503 yards vs. Green Bay Packers, Dec. 20, 2009 (37-36 win)
4. Tom Brady, New England Patriots: 517 yards vs. Miami Dolphins, Sept. 12, 2011 (38-24 win)
5. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions: 520 yards vs. Green Bay Packers, Jan. 1, 2012 (45-41 loss)
6. Eli Manning, New York Giants: 510 yards vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sept. 16, 2012 (41-34 win)
7. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans: 527 yards vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, Nov. 18, 2012 (43-37 OT win)
8. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys: 506 yards vs. Denver Broncos, Oct. 6, 2013 (51-48 loss)
9. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: 522 yards vs. Indianapolis Colts, Oct. 26, 2014 (51-34 win)
10. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers: 503 yards vs. Green Bay Packers, Oct. 18, 2015 (27-20 loss)
11. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: 505 yards vs. New York Giants, Nov. 1, 2015 (52-49 win)
12. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: 503 yards vs. Carolina Panthers, Oct. 2, 2016 (48-33 win)
13. Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders: 513 yards vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oct. 30, 2016 (30-24 OT win)
14. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: 506 yards vs. Baltimore Ravens, Dec. 10, 2017 (39-38 win)
15. Tom Brady, New England Patriots: 505 yards vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Feb. 4, 2018 (41-33 loss in Super Bowl LII)
16. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams: 517 yards vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sept. 29, 2019 (55-40 loss)
17. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: 502 yards vs. Cleveland Browns, Oct. 4, 2020 (49-38 loss)
18. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: 501 yards vs. Cleveland Browns, Jan. 10, 2021 (49-38 loss in AFC Wild Card Game)
19. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: 525 yards vs. Baltimore Ravens, Dec. 26, 2021 (41-21 win)
20. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons: 509 yards vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oct. 3, 2024 (36-30 OT win)