- NFL passer rating meaning
- Passer rating formula
- Passer rating calculator
- What is considered a good passer rating in NFL?
- When was passer rating introduced to NFL?
- History of passer rating in NFL
- How NFL passer rating is different from NCAA
- Passer rating vs. QBR
- Has anyone had a perfect passer rating?
- Highest single-season passer ratings in NFL history
- Highest career passer ratings in NFL history
Football is a numbers game, and that especially holds at the highest level of the sport.
Analytics play a major role in down-to-down decision making, while more raw statistics are important in determining award winners and identifying the league's most elite performers. Among those statistics is passer rating, a metric that is attained by a formula and, since 1973, has been the official statistic to determine the league's passing leader.
However important, passer rating is not necessarily the most straightforward statistic. There is a formula with a number of variables involved. Here is everything to know about passer rating, including its meaning, how it is determined and some of the best passer ratings in league history.
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NFL passer rating meaning
Passer rating is a metric used to measure the performance of passers, mostly quarterbacks, in football. It became the official formula to determine the NFL's passing leader in 1973.
Passer rating formula
The passer rating formula includes five variables: pass attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdown passes and interceptions.
Each variable is scaled to a value between 0 and 2.375, and on that scale, 1.0 is considered statistically average. Here is a breakdown of the passer rating variables and how they contribute to the formula.
- a = [(Completions/Attempts) - 0.3] x 5
- b = [(Yards/Attempts) - 3] x 0.25
- c = (TD/Attempts) x 20
- d = 2.375 – [(Interceptions/Attempts) x 25]
Results greater than 2.375 are set to 2.375. Results that are negative numbers are set to zero.
From those calculations, this formula is used:
Passer Rating = [(a + b + c + d) / 6] x 100
Written out, here is how passer rating is found:
1. Complete passes divided by pass attempts. Subtract 0.3, then multiply by 5
2. Passing yards divided by pass attempts. Subtract 3, then multiply by 0.25
3. Touchdown passes divided by pass attempts, then multiply by 20
4. Start with 2.375, and subtract interceptions divided by attempts. Multiply the difference by 25
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Passer rating calculator
While the formula was applied retroactively to games that date back to the 1930s, Atlanta Falcons QB Dick Shiner attained the first perfect passer rating of the 1973 season, which was the year it was officially adopted by the NFL.
Using the above formula, here is how Shiner's perfect passer rating was achieved.
Dick Shiner stats vs. Saints (Sept. 16, 1973)
Final score: Falcons 62, Saints 7
- Completions/Attempts: 13/15
- Yards: 227
- Touchdowns: 3
- Interceptions: 0
a = [(13/15) - 0.3] x 5 = 2.833 (Set to 2.375)
passeb = [(227/15) - 3] x 0.25 = 3.033 (Set to 2.375)
c = (3/15) x 20 = 4.000 (Set to 2.375)
d = 2.375 - [(0/15) x 25] = 2.375
[(2.375 + 2.375 + 2.375 + 2.375) / 6] x 100 = 158.3
Pro-Football-Reference offers an NFL Passer Rating Calculator here.
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What is considered a good passer rating in NFL?
In the 2024 season, the league average passer rating was 92.3.
Of quarterbacks who appeared in at least 10 games that season, 19 had a passer rating above the league average. Based on that metric, anything above the average mark is considered a good passer rating, though there is more beyond those numbers.
When was passer rating introduced to NFL?
The passer rating became official during the 1973 NFL season. This official adoption of the metric came after a two-year process to standardize official statistics and determine an annual passing leader.
Don Smith is credited with determining the formula.
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History of passer rating in NFL
In 1971, the NFL was in its second season post-merger. Then-commissioner Pete Rozelle asked the league's statistical committee to develop an improved system to crown an annual passing leader.
Smith, a member of the statistical committee, explained the formula this way: "A rusher's record isn't affected by what anybody else does. Why should a passer's?"
The formula was retroactively applied to QB data that dated back to the 1930s, paving the way for the metric to go official in 1973.
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How NFL passer rating is different from NCAA
The formula to calculate passer rating is similar in the NFL and NCAA, but the parameters are different. Limits are not imposed on the four components of the formula.
As such, NCAA passer efficiency has an upper limit of 1,261.6 and a lower limit of -731.6, both of which are highly unlikely and based on statistical anomalies.
This is the NCAA formula:
[{(8.4 x yards) + (330 x TDs) - (200 x interceptions) + (100 x completions)} / Attempts]
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Passer rating vs. QBR
Passer rating is a different metric from QBR, an abbreviation for total quarterback rating.
QBR was created by ESPN in 2011 as an alternative metric that incorporates "all of a quarterback's contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers and penalties."
While passer rating is more of a raw number derived from a straightforward formula, QBR accounts for play results, difficulty of the play, game situations and opponents, among other factors.
Formula-wise, QBR calculation accounts for throwing distance, sacks, fumbles, designed runs, scrambles and EPA, which is expected points added per play.
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Has anyone had a perfect passer rating?
Yes, a perfect passer rating has been attained over 80 times in the regular season and multiple times in the playoffs.
Highest single-season passer ratings in NFL history
The list of the highest single-season passer ratings is headlined by Aaron Rodgers, owner of the best two single-season passer ratings in league history. Drew Brees is the other QB to appear in the top 10 twice.
- Aaron Rodgers (2011): 122.5
- Aaron Rodgers (2020): 121.5
- Peyton Manning (2004): 121.1
- Lamar Jackson (2024): 119.6
- Nick Foles (2013): 119.2
- Ryan Tannehill (2019): 117.5
- Tom Brady (2007): 117.2
- Matt Ryan (2016): 117.1
- Drew Brees (2019): 116.3
- Drew Brees (2018): 115.7
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Highest career passer ratings in NFL history
The list of top 10 career passer ratings is complete with players who have played into the 2025 NFL season. Here is a look at the top 10 as it looked going into 2025.
The following list is through Week 18 of the 2024 NFL season.
- Aaron Rodgers: 102.6
- Patrick Mahomes: 102.1
- Lamar Jackson: 102.0
- Joe Burrow: 101.2
- Russell Wilson: 99.8
- Deshaun Watson: 98.8
- Drew Brees: 98.7
- Dak Prescott: 98.1
- Tua Tagovailoa: 97.9
- Jimmy Garoppolo: 97.6
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