Matthew Stafford is the 12th quarterback in NFL history to reach 50,000 passing yards in his career, accomplishing the feat in his 183rd career game. Stafford matched Drew Brees for the fastest in NFL history to hit the 50,000-yard mark with his 23-yard completion to Cooper Kupp in the first quarter on Thursday, entering the game with 49,995 career passing yards — 12th in NFL history.
The next player for Stafford to reach on the all-time passing yardage list is John Elway, who ended his career with 51,475 yards. Stafford entered the season just 1,480 yards behind Elway and averages 274.7 yards a game. With that passing yardage pace, he should pass Elway by the Rams‘ sixth game of the season.
Stafford threw for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns in his first season with the Rams, ranking in the top three in the NFL in both categories. He set the franchise record for passing yards in a season and set a new mark for most single-season completions in team history (404). Stafford also tied Tom Brady’s mark as the only quarterbacks to lead the league in passing touchdowns in a season (regular season and postseason) to win a Super Bowl (50). He’s the first quarterback in NFL history with 6,000 passing yards, 50 passing touchdowns and a Super Bowl win in the same season (regular season and postseason stats combined).
Stafford was even better in the fourth quarter, throwing for 14 touchdowns to zero interceptions with a 123.2 passer rating last season (regular season and postseason). He’s only the third quarterback in NFL history to win the Super Bowl in his first year with a new team. Through his first 182 games, Stafford’s 49,995 career passing yards are the most in NFL history and his 323 touchdowns are sixth most in that span. Stafford’s 34 fourth-quarter comebacks are fifth most in NFL history, and his 42 game-winning drives are tied for seventh most in league history.
Building a Hall of Fame resume, Stafford keeps climbing up the record books and rewriting NFL history in the process.
