Jump to content

List of NFL players who have posted a passer rating of zero

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National Football League has seen a passer rating of zero posted 148 times in either regular season or postseason play.[1]

To achieve a passer rating of zero in a game, a player must have no touchdowns, complete no more than 30% of his pass attempts, average less than three yards per attempt, throw an interception on at least 9.5% of attempts, and attempt at least ten passes.

Terry Bradshaw posted a zero rating on a record three occasions, while eight other players have two games of zero; Gary Keithley is the only player ever to post zero ratings in two straight weeks (1973).

There have been three occasions where a starting quarterback and his mid-game replacement have both earned a zero rating in the same game: starter Joe Namath and replacement Richard Todd with the New York Jets (1976), starter Vince Evans and replacement Bob Avellini with the Chicago Bears (1981), and starter Terry Bradshaw and replacement Cliff Stoudt with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1982).

On one occasion, players on opposing teams both posted a zero rating: Gary Keithley and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated Bob Lee and the Atlanta Falcons (1973). No starting quarterback with a passer rating of zero has won the game since Brent Pease in 1988.

Thirteen players who had a zero passer rating also earned a perfect (158.3) passer rating during their careers: Otto Graham, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Bob Griese, James Harris, Bob Lee, Scott Hunter, Dan Fouts, Craig Morton, Vince Evans, Rich Gannon, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, and Geno Smith.[2]

The Buffalo Bills have held opposing players to a zero passer rating more than any other franchise, having accomplished the feat eight times, as of 2021.

List

[edit]
Overview of NFL quarterbacks with a zero passer rating
# Quarterback Date Team Opponent Result CMP ATT YDS INT Notes
1 Otto Graham[3] December 27, 1953 Cleveland Browns Detroit Lions L 17–16 2 15 20 2 NFL Championship Game.
2 King Hill[4] October 2, 1960 St. Louis Cardinals New York Giants L 35–14 3 13 25 2
3 John Brodie[5] October 22, 1961 San Francisco 49ers Chicago Bears L 31–0 3 10 23 2
4 Al Dorow[6] September 9, 1962 Buffalo Bills Houston Oilers L 28–23 4 17 44 3
5 John Hadl[7] October 13, 1962 San Diego Chargers Buffalo Bills L 35–10 2 12 17 2
6 Cotton Davidson[8] October 14, 1962 Oakland Raiders Denver Broncos L 23–6 2 10 22 1
7 Cotton Davidson[8] November 18, 1962 Oakland Raiders Buffalo Bills L 10–6 5 20 25 2 Second career 0.0 game, second 0.0 game in the same season.
8 Bill Munson[9] October 11, 1964 Los Angeles Rams Chicago Bears L 38–17 4 15 42 4
9 Earl Morrall[10] September 19, 1965 New York Giants Dallas Cowboys L 31–2 6 21 63 2
10 Dick Wood[11] September 19, 1965 Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers L 17–6 4 14 31 2
11 Jack Kemp[12] December 5, 1965 Buffalo Bills Houston Oilers W 29–18 2 10 25 1 First to have a 0.0 rating but still win the game.
12 Dick Wood[11] September 9, 1966 Miami Dolphins New York Jets L 19–14 2 15 25 2 Second career 0.0 game.
13 Joe Kapp[13] October 15, 1967 Minnesota Vikings Green Bay Packers W 10–7 2 11 25 2
14 Don Trull[14] December 9, 1967 Boston Patriots Buffalo Bills L 44–16 5 20 57 3
15 Bob Griese[15] September 28, 1968 Miami Dolphins Kansas City Chiefs L 48–3 2 17 24 2
16 Johnny Unitas[16] October 20, 1968 Baltimore Colts Cleveland Browns L 30–20 1 11 12 3
17 Virgil Carter[17] October 12, 1969 Chicago Bears Minnesota Vikings L 31–0 3 12 25 2
18 Rick Norton[18] November 23, 1969 Miami Dolphins Houston Oilers L 32–7 7 26 43 5
19 Billy Kilmer[19] September 27, 1970 New Orleans Saints Minnesota Vikings L 26–0 6 20 16 2
20 Don Gault[20] October 3, 1970 Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers W 15–7 1 16 44 2 Only career NFL start, last career NFL game played (won game). Worst completion percentage (6.3%) on this list.
21 Mike Taliaferro[21] October 11, 1970 Boston Patriots Kansas City Chiefs L 23–10 3 12 30 4
22 Rick Arrington[22] October 25, 1970 Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers L 30–17 3 10 16 3
23 Terry Hanratty[23] November 15, 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers Kansas City Chiefs L 31–14 3 12 35 2
24 Len Dawson[24] November 22, 1970 Kansas City Chiefs St. Louis Cardinals T 6–6 4 14 38 2
25 Terry Bradshaw[25] December 13, 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers Atlanta Falcons L 27–16 3 12 30 2
26 Kent Nix[26] October 3, 1971 Chicago Bears Los Angeles Rams L 17–3 5 23 60 3
27 Bobby Douglass[27] November 21, 1971 Chicago Bears Detroit Lions L 28–3 6 26 68 4
28 John Hadl[28] November 28, 1971 San Diego Chargers Cincinnati Bengals L 31–0 5 18 49 4 Second career 0.0 game.
29 Gary Cuozzo[29] December 11, 1971 Minnesota Vikings Detroit Lions W 29–10 4 15 21 2
30 Greg Landry[30] September 24, 1972 Detroit Lions Minnesota Vikings L 34–10 3 15 39 3
31 Dan Pastorini[31] October 9, 1972 Houston Oilers Oakland Raiders L 34–0 3 21 31 4
32 Scott Hunter[32] October 28, 1973 Green Bay Packers Detroit Lions L 34–0 1 10 −4 1
33 Randy Johnson[33] November 4, 1973 New York Giants Oakland Raiders L 42–0 2 12 15 2
34 Bob Lee[34] December 9, 1973 Atlanta Falcons St. Louis Cardinals L 32–10 3 16 27 2 Had perfect 158.3 game earlier in season; both starting QBs (Keithley) had a 0.0 passer rating in the game.
35 Gary Keithley December 9, 1973 St. Louis Cardinals Atlanta Falcons W 32–10 2 10 9 1 First career start; both starting QBs (Lee) had a 0.0 passer rating in the game.
36 Gary Keithley[35] December 16, 1973 St. Louis Cardinals Dallas Cowboys L 30–3 6 20 30 2 Second career 0.0 game, second career start, only QB with 0.0 two weeks in a row.
37 Joe Namath[36] September 29, 1974 New York Jets Buffalo Bills L 16–12 2 18 33 3
38 Archie Manning[37] November 25, 1974 New Orleans Saints Pittsburgh Steelers L 28–7 2 10 9 3 Part of the only two father–son combinations on this list.
39 James Harris[38] September 21, 1975 Los Angeles Rams Dallas Cowboys L 18–7 1 10 5 3
40 Dan Fouts[39] October 5, 1975 San Diego Chargers Oakland Raiders L 6–0 3 13 29 2
41 Kim McQuilken[40] November 9, 1975 Atlanta Falcons Minnesota Vikings L 38–0 5 26 43 5
42 Terry Bradshaw[41] December 20, 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers Los Angeles Rams L 10–3 3 10 28 1 Second career 0.0 game.
43 Lynn Dickey[42] September 26, 1976 Green Bay Packers Cincinnati Bengals L 28–7 5 20 45 2
44 Ron Jaworski[43] October 24, 1976 Los Angeles Rams New Orleans Saints W 16–10 3 11 15 2
45 Norm Snead[44] November 14, 1976 New York Giants Washington Redskins W 12–9 3 14 26 2 Second career 0.0 game; Final career start.
46 Gary Marangi[45] November 21, 1976 Buffalo Bills San Diego Chargers L 34–13 8 30 83 3 Most attempts and yards by a player posting a 0.0 rating.[46]
47 Joe Namath[47] December 12, 1976 New York Jets Cincinnati Bengals L 42–3 4 15 20 4 Second career 0.0 game, first time that a starter and replacement (Todd) both had a 0.0 rating in same game.
48 Richard Todd[48] December 12, 1976 New York Jets Cincinnati Bengals L 42–3 3 13 23 2 First time that a starter (Namath) and replacement both had a 0.0 passer rating in the same game.
49 Jim Plunkett[49] September 19, 1977 San Francisco 49ers Pittsburgh Steelers L 27–0 3 13 30 2
50 Randy Hedberg[50] October 23, 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Green Bay Packers L 13–0 3 13 18 2 Did not start.
51 Randy Hedberg[51] December 4, 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Chicago Bears L 10–0 4 15 36 2 Second career 0.0 game and second in the season; last game played in NFL; only post-merger QB to post a 0.0 season rating with 90+ attempts.
52 Craig Morton[52] January 15, 1978 Denver Broncos Dallas Cowboys L 27–10 4 15 39 4 Super Bowl XII, removed from the game in the third quarter.
53 Joe Ferguson[53] September 3, 1978 Buffalo Bills Pittsburgh Steelers L 28–17 3 10 20 1
54 Dan Pastorini[54] September 9, 1979 Houston Oilers Pittsburgh Steelers L 38–7 4 16 16 3 Second career 0.0 game.
55 Mike Livingston[55] September 9, 1979 Kansas City Chiefs Cleveland Browns L 27–24 2 10 26 1
56 Vince Evans[56] November 22, 1981 Chicago Bears Detroit Lions L 23–7 4 19 21 2 Second time that a starter and replacement (Avellini) both had a 0.0 passer rating in the same game.
57 Bob Avellini[57] November 22, 1981 Chicago Bears Detroit Lions L 23–7 3 10 20 1 Second time that a starter (Evans) and replacement both had a 0.0 passer rating in the same game.
58 Terry Bradshaw[58] December 12, 1982 Pittsburgh Steelers Buffalo Bills L 13–0 2 13 3 2 Third career 0.0 game, third time that a starter and replacement (Stoudt) both had a 0.0 passer rating in the same game.
59 Cliff Stoudt[59] December 12, 1982 Pittsburgh Steelers Buffalo Bills L 13–0 2 10 29 1 Third time that a starter (Bradshaw) and replacement both had a 0.0 passer rating in the same game.
60 Warren Moon[60] November 10, 1985 Houston Oilers Buffalo Bills L 20–0 3 14 22 3
61 Gary Hogeboom[61] November 17, 1985 Dallas Cowboys Chicago Bears L 44–0 6 22 60 3 Did not start.
62 Warren Moon[62] November 30, 1986 Houston Oilers Cleveland Browns L 13–10 5 23 68 4 Second career 0.0 game.
63 Dave Wilson[63] January 3, 1988 New Orleans Saints Minnesota Vikings L 44–10 2 12 20 2 NFC Wild Card game, did not start.
64 Mike Tomczak[64] September 18, 1988 Chicago Bears Minnesota Vikings L 31–7 3 12 28 2
65 Jeff Kemp[65] September 25, 1988 Seattle Seahawks San Francisco 49ers L 38–7 1 12 6 3
66 Bubby Brister[66] October 2, 1988 Pittsburgh Steelers Cleveland Browns L 23–9 4 14 28 2
67 Brent Pease[67] October 9, 1988 Houston Oilers Kansas City Chiefs W 7–6 3 14 26 3 Last starting QB to win game despite lowest passer rating.
68 Rich Gannon[68] December 16, 1990 Minnesota Vikings Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 26–13 2 10 8 1
69 Pat Ryan[69] September 30, 1991 Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins L 23–0 4 14 24 3 Did not start.
70 Todd Marinovich[70] November 8, 1992 Los Angeles Raiders Philadelphia Eagles L 31–10 3 10 25 3 Last career NFL game played.
71 Tommy Maddox[71] October 15, 1995 New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles L 17–14 6 23 49 3 0.0 passer rating for the season.
72 Dave Brown[72] December 1, 1996 New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles L 24–0 3 11 31 2
73 Kent Graham[73] October 12, 1997 Arizona Cardinals New York Giants L 27–13 4 14 40 2
74 Tony Graziani[74] October 26, 1997 Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers L 21–12 4 18 24 2 First career start.
75 Trent Dilfer[75] December 14, 1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers New York Jets L 31–0 2 15 38 2
76 Ryan Leaf[76] September 20, 1998 San Diego Chargers Kansas City Chiefs L 23–7 1 15 4 2
77 Scott Mitchell[77] October 15, 2000 Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers L 15–0 4 16 39 2
78 Anthony Wright[78] December 25, 2000 Dallas Cowboys Tennessee Titans L 31–0 5 20 35 2
79 Randy Fasani[79] October 27, 2002 Carolina Panthers Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 12–9 5 18 46 3 Only career NFL start.
80 Tim Hasselbeck[80] December 14, 2003 Washington Redskins Dallas Cowboys L 27–0 6 26 56 4
81 Jeff Garcia[81] September 19, 2004 Cleveland Browns Dallas Cowboys L 19–12 8 27 71 3
82 Eli Manning[82] December 12, 2004 New York Giants Baltimore Ravens L 37–14 4 18 27 2 Removed from the game in the fourth quarter. Father Archie Manning, and brother Peyton Manning also had 0.0 passer ratings in games.
83 Joey Harrington[83] December 17, 2006 Miami Dolphins Buffalo Bills L 21–0 5 17 20 2
84 Rex Grossman[84] December 31, 2006 Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers L 26–7 2 12 33 3 Did not play in the second half.
85 Chris Redman[85] December 16, 2007 Atlanta Falcons Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 37–3 4 15 34 2
86 Peyton Manning[86] November 15, 2015 Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs L 29–13 5 20 35 4 Removed from the game in the third quarter. Father Archie Manning, and brother Eli Manning also had 0.0 passer rating games. Also broke the passing yards record during the game.
87 Nathan Peterman[87] September 9, 2018 Buffalo Bills Baltimore Ravens L 47–3 5 18 24 2 Removed from the game in the third quarter. Replacement (Josh Allen) would have a perfect 158.3 game in 2023.[88]
88 Ryan Finley[89] November 22, 2020 Cincinnati Bengals Washington Football Team L 20–9 3 10 30 1 Did not start game. Replaced starter Joe Burrow in third quarter after Burrow sustained a knee injury.
89 Brandon Allen[90] January 3, 2021 Cincinnati Bengals Baltimore Ravens L 38–3 6 21 48 2
90 P. J. Walker[91] November 6, 2022 Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals L 42–21 3 10 9 2 Removed from the game at halftime.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Passer ratings of 0.0, min. 10 attempts, ordered by date". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Big Ben's 'Perfect' Day Breaks Tie With Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner". SteelersDepot.com. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "Otto Graham Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  4. ^ "King Hill Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  5. ^ "John Brodie Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ^ "Al Dorow Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  7. ^ "John Hadl Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  8. ^ a b "Cotton Davidson Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  9. ^ "Bill Munson Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  10. ^ "Earl Morrall Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  11. ^ a b "Dick Wood Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  12. ^ "Jack Kemp Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  13. ^ "Joe Kapp Gamelogs", Pro-Football- Reference.com
  14. ^ "Don Trull Gamelogs", Pro-Football- Reference.com
  15. ^ "Bob Griese Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  16. ^ "Johnny Unitas Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  17. ^ "Virgil Carter Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  18. ^ "Rick Norton", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  19. ^ "Billy Kilmer: Game Logs", NFL.com
  20. ^ "Don Gault: Game Logs", NFL.com
  21. ^ "Mike Taliaferro: Game Logs", NFL.com
  22. ^ "Rick Arrington: Game Logs", NFL.com
  23. ^ "Terry Hanratty: Game Logs", NFL.com
  24. ^ "Len Dawson: Game Logs", NFL.com
  25. ^ "Terry Bradshaw: Game Logs", NFL.com
  26. ^ "Kent Nix: Game Logs", NFL.com
  27. ^ "Bobby Douglass: Game Logs", NFL.com
  28. ^ "John Hadl: Game Logs", NFL.com
  29. ^ "Gary Cuozzo: Game Logs", NFL.com
  30. ^ "Greg Landry: Game Logs", NFL.com
  31. ^ "Dan Pastorini – Game Logs", NFL.com
  32. ^ "Scott Hunter: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  33. ^ "Randy Johnson: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  34. ^ "Bob Lee: Game Logs", NFL.com
  35. ^ "Gary Keithley: Game Logs", NFL.com
  36. ^ "Joe Namath: Game Logs", NFL.com
  37. ^ "Archie Manning: Game Logs", NFL.com
  38. ^ "James Harris: Game Logs", NFL.com
  39. ^ "Dan Fouts: Game Logs", NFL.com
  40. ^ "Kim McQuilken Career Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  41. ^ "Terry Bradshaw: Game Logs", NFL.com
  42. ^ "Lynn Dickey: Game Logs", Pro-Football- Reference.com
  43. ^ "Ron Jaworski: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  44. ^ "Norm Snead: Game Logs", NFL.com
  45. ^ "Gary Marangi: Game Logs", pro-football-reference.com
  46. ^ "Passer ratings of 0.0, ordered by number of attempts". stathead.com. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  47. ^ "Joe Namath: Game Logs", NFL.com
  48. ^ "Richard Todd: Game Logs", NFL.com
  49. ^ "Jim Plunkett: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  50. ^ "Randy Hedberg: Game Logs", Pro Football Reference
  51. ^ "Randy Hedberg: Game Logs", Pro Football Reference
  52. ^ "Craig Morton: Game Logs", NFL.com
  53. ^ "Joe Ferguson: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  54. ^ "Dan Pastorini: Game Logs", NFL.com
  55. ^ "Mike Livingston: Game Logs", NFL.com
  56. ^ "Vince Evans: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  57. ^ "Bob Avellini: Game Logs", Pro-Football- Reference.com
  58. ^ "Terry Bradshaw: Game Logs", NFL.com
  59. ^ "Cliff Stoudt: Game Logs", NFL.com
  60. ^ "Warren Moon: Game Logs", NFL.com
  61. ^ "Gary Hogeboom: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference
  62. ^ "Warren Moon: Game Logs", NFL.com
  63. ^ "Dave Wilson: Game Logs", NFL.com
  64. ^ "Mike Tomczak: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  65. ^ "Jeff Kemp: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  66. ^ "Bubby Brister: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  67. ^ "Brent Pease: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  68. ^ "Rich Gannon: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  69. ^ "Pat Ryan: Game Logs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
  70. ^ "Todd Marinovich: Game Logs", NFL.com
  71. ^ "Tommy Maddox: Game Logs", NFL.com
  72. ^ "Dave Brown: Game Logs", NFL.com
  73. ^ "Kent Graham: Game Logs", NFL.com
  74. ^ "Tony Graziani: Game Logs", NFL.com
  75. ^ "Trent Dilfer: Game Logs", NFL.com
  76. ^ "Ryan Leaf: Game Logs", NFL.com
  77. ^ "Scott Mitchell: Game Logs", NFL.com
  78. ^ "Anthony Wright: Game Logs", NFL.com
  79. ^ "Randy Fasani: Game Logs", NFL.com
  80. ^ "Tim Hasselbeck: Game Logs", NFL.com
  81. ^ "Jeff Garcia: Game Logs", NFL.com
  82. ^ "Eli Manning: Game Logs", NFL.com
  83. ^ "Joey Harrington: Game Logs", NFL.com
  84. ^ "Rex Grossman: Game Logs", NFL.com
  85. ^ "Chris Redman: Game Logs", NFL.com
  86. ^ "Peyton Manning: Game Logs", NFL.com
  87. ^ "Nathan Peterman: Game Logs", NFL.com
  88. ^ Maiorana, Sal (1 October 2023). "Bills put together as impressive a performance as possible: 6 reasons they dominated Miami". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  89. ^ "Ryan Finley: Game Logs", NFL.com
  90. ^ "Brandon Allen: Game Logs", NFL.com
  91. ^ "P. J. Walker: Game Logs", NFL.com