Just How Good Was Ben Roethlisberger's 503 Yard Passing Performance Against Green Bay?

by Michael Bean on Dec 22, 2009 5:56 AM EST

Well, let's take a look at the top 10 single-game performances in terms of passing yards.

Name	Passing Yards	Date	Result
Norm van Brocklin	554	9/28/1951	W 54-14
Warren Moon	527	12/16/1990	W 27-10
Boomer Esiason	522	11/10/1996	W 37-34
Dan Marino	521	10/23/1988	L 44-30
Phil Simms	513	10/13/1985	L 35-30
Drew Brees	510	11/19/2006	L 31-16
Vince Ferragamo	509	12/26/1982	L 34-26
Y.A. Tittle	505	10/18/1962	W 39-34
Elvis Grbac	504	11/05/2000	L 49-31
Ben Roethlisberger	503	12/20/2009	W 37-36

Pretty remarkable. We just witnessed the 10th best passing day in terms of yards by any quarterback in NFL history. And the 5th best performance by any quarterback in a winning effort. Steelers Nation sized salute to Big Ben!

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Ben

I can’t imagine how good Ben would look behind a top notch offensive line. But maybe just maybe Ben likes the risk/reward this Oline gives him. Operating without a safety net brings out his best. That touchdown pass was his 4th read. Simply remarkable

by royhobbs9 on Dec 22, 2009 7:49 AM EST reply actions

Dang Blitz

You beat me to the punch on a few of my statistics for my statistical post! Blast!

Optimism. Positivity. Win.

by John Stephens on Dec 22, 2009 8:36 AM EST reply actions

How about running the odds on Blitz ruining posts by posting the good stuff first?

by Phantaskippy on Dec 22, 2009 10:51 AM EST up reply actions

pretty solid

are all of those performances in regulation, or are some OT aided?
and the Packers pass D is above average, they hadn’t allowed a 300 yard passer all season. This isn’t like running on a mediocre KC team.

by vherub on Dec 22, 2009 11:03 AM EST reply actions

Am I the only one who thinks...

There is an outside chance Blitz posted this to quietly show us that Drew Brees threw for 510 yards in ’06? (haha)

Congrats to Ben on a historic effort Sunday. I started doing the math on the last drive when they said he had 449 yards an they were at the 49 yard line. I figured he’d keep slinging it, and knew he’d have a good chance at 5 hundo. Good game, great win.

'I’ve learned to become a flat-liner. There’s a lot out there that’ll make your heart jump if you allow it."
-Coach Tomlin

by NYSteelersFan4 on Dec 22, 2009 12:41 PM EST reply actions

Well, one thing to notice

There is an outside chance Blitz posted this to quietly show us that Drew Brees threw for 510 yards in ’06? (haha)

510 in a losing effort (only 16 points).

Our offense can do that…pile up stats but not put up points…which won’t work against BAL

by Twell on Dec 22, 2009 2:37 PM EST up reply actions

LOL

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Dec 22, 2009 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

Some things to consider as well......

Just looking at these superhuman efforts by all of these QB’s and one cannot assume a win if your QB throws for 500+ yds. In fact, 50% of the above QB’s who threw for 500 yds LOST.

I’d also be interested in seeing each team’s leading rusher for that game to see how 1-sided it would look.

Also, in the NFL, this is the passing era….it is. To look at those 10 guys and see that only 2 are active in the league now baffles me. And the only other active guy….Brees…lost 31-16 which probably means that most of his passing yds were garbage yards. This only makes Ben’s feat that much more impressive.

Finally, I think this could actually begin a new post……“Which QB’s are you surprised that are not on the list”??
I’d start with: P. Manning, Dan Fouts, that guy from New England, Mark Rypien, etc etc….What other QB’s that aren’t on this list can anyone think of that we would assume that they would be on the list that they aren’t?

by ToonaSteel on Dec 22, 2009 12:43 PM EST reply actions

Not surprised at all

Single-game statistics can be misleading. First, it takes the right situation that a team is passing from the first quarter, gets a few long bombs, pulls off the two-minute drill before the half and at the end of the game, etc etc. Second, anybody (Elvis Grbac?) can get hot for a game. Heck, some guy off the street just turned in the third-best rushing game ever. So I’m not surprised that some of the marquee names are missing from this list.

by Steelin on Dec 22, 2009 12:53 PM EST up reply actions

Consider these....

Montana, Staubach, Elway and Young to name a few!

Great job Ben!

by Gezarik on Dec 23, 2009 9:02 PM EST up reply actions

How the heck

Did Brees pass for 510 yards and only put up 16 points?

by SteelerFan Ben on Dec 22, 2009 1:00 PM EST reply actions

4 Turnovers

Optimism. Positivity. Win.

by John Stephens on Dec 22, 2009 1:13 PM EST up reply actions

things to add

Not that you need more work, but if you have time I’d love to see: interceptions, quality of opposing defense, opposing team, running yards.

by 57_Varieties on Dec 22, 2009 1:14 PM EST reply actions

Ben , Warren Moon, and Ya Tittle

are the only Qbs on this list who didn’t throw an INT

Steelers football is 60 mins.

by tannofsteel84 on Dec 22, 2009 1:33 PM EST up reply actions

Brocklin 5TDs, 2INTs opponent NY Yanks
Moon 3TDs 0Ints KC Chiefs
Esaison 3/4 Redskins
Marino 3/5 Jets
Simms 1/2 Bengals
Brees 2/3 Bengals
Ferragamo 3/2 Bears
Tittle 7/0 Redskins
Grbac 2/2 Raiders

Optimism. Positivity. Win.

by John Stephens on Dec 22, 2009 2:39 PM EST up reply actions

Hmmm...

I find it hard to believe Joe D and the Mick couldn’t keep up with van Brocklin’s arial attack. But, perhaps they caught Yogi in coverage one too many times. And yes, I’m kidding.

'I’ve learned to become a flat-liner. There’s a lot out there that’ll make your heart jump if you allow it."
-Coach Tomlin

by NYSteelersFan4 on Dec 22, 2009 5:47 PM EST up reply actions