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Dan Marino, Sonny Jurgensen and the Most Seasons Leading the NFL in Passing Yards

Dan Marino And Sonny Jurgensen Won Five Passing Titles

Dan Marino And Sonny Jurgensen Won Five Passing Titles

Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Dan Marino?

Not today.

Ask yourself which quarterbacks have won the most passing titles (here, meaning single-season leaderships in passing yards), and those four players would most likely be on your short list of answers.

But of those four all-time QBs, only Marino led the league in passing five times. Surprisingly, Brady and Favre have just two crowns to their credit.

Manning has three, including last season – but don’t count on him getting his fourth in 2014. Andrew Luck is the current NFL leader in passing yards and could win his first. Manning is not far away, though, as of the date of this post (after Week 13 of 2014).

Anyway – back to the top, and one more bit of a surprise. The Philadelphia Eagles / Washington RedskinsSonny Jurgensen is the only other quarterback with five passing titles.

Four QBs have led the league four times, including active New Orleans Saint, Drew Brees. He’s in the running for his fifth, less than 300 yards from Luck.

Every quarterback who led the league, going back to 1932 (when it started making sense to track passing yardage), is listed below. Before that, football was mostly played on the ground, and quarterbacks didn’t even reach the 500-passing yards mark.

QUARTERBACK PASSING TITLES SEASONS YARDS TEAM
1. Dan Marino 5 1984 5,084 Miami Dolphins
1985 4,137 Miami Dolphins
1986 4,746 Miami Dolphins
1988 4,434 Miami Dolphins
1992 4,116 Miami Dolphins
1. Sonny Jurgensen 5 1961 3,723 Philadelphia Eagles
1962 3,261 Philadelphia Eagles
1966 3,209 Washington Redskins
1967 3,747 Washington Redskins
1969 3,102 Washington Redskins
3. Dan Fouts 4 1979 4,082 San Diego Chargers
1980 4,715 San Diego Chargers
1981 4,802 San Diego Chargers
1982 2,883 San Diego Chargers
3. Drew Brees 4 2006 4,418 New Orleans Saints
2008 5,069 New Orleans Saints
2011 5,476 New Orleans Saints
2012 5,177 New Orleans Saints
3. Johnny Unitas 4 1957 2,550 Baltimore Colts
1959 2,899 Baltimore Colts
1960 3,099 Baltimore Colts
1963 3,481 Baltimore Colts
3. Sammy Baugh 4 1937 1,127 Washington Redskins
1940 1,367 Washington Redskins
1947 2,938 Washington Redskins
1948 2,599 Washington Redskins
7. Arnie Herber 3 1932 639 Green Bay Packers
1934 799 Green Bay Packers
1936 1,239 Green Bay Packers
7. John Brodie 3 1965 3,112 San Francisco 49ers
1968 3,020 San Francisco 49ers
1970 2,941 San Francisco 49ers
7. Peyton Manning 3 2000 4,413 Indianapolis Colts
2003 4,267 Indianapolis Colts
2013 5,477 Denver Broncos
7. Sid Luckman 3 1943 2,194 Chicago Bears
1945 1,727 Chicago Bears
1946 1,826 Chicago Bears
11. Bobby Layne 2 1950 2,323 Detroit Lions
1951 2,403 Detroit Lions
11. Brett Favre 2 1995 4,413 Green Bay Packers
1998 4,212 Green Bay Packers
11. Cecil Isbell 2 1941 1,479 Green Bay Packers
1942 2,021 Green Bay Packers
11. Ken Anderson 2 1974 2,667 Cincinnati Bengals
1975 3,169 Cincinnati Bengals
11. Otto Graham 2 1952 2,816 Cleveland Browns
1953 2,722 Cleveland Browns
11. Tom Brady 2 2005 4,110 New England Patriots
2007 4,806 New England Patriots
11. Warren Moon 2 1990 4,689 Houston Oilers
1991 4,690 Houston Oilers
15. Ace Parker 1 1938 865 Brooklyn Dodgers
15. Bert Jones 1 1976 3,104 Baltimore Colts
15. Billy Wade 1 1958 2,875 Los Angeles Rams
15. Charley Johnson 1 1964 3,045 St. Louis Cardinals
15. Daunte Culpepper 1 2004 4,717 Minnesota Vikings
15. Davey O’Brien 1 1939 1,324 Philadelphia Eagles
15. Don Majkowski 1 1989 4,318 Green Bay Packers
15. Drew Bledsoe 1 1994 4,555 New England Patriots
15. Ed Danowski 1 1935 794 New York Giants
15. Fran Tarkenton 1 1978 3,468 Minnesota Vikings
15. Harry Newman 1 1933 973 New York Giants
15. Irv Comp 1 1944 1,159 Green Bay Packers
15. Jeff George 1 1997 3,917 Oakland Raiders
15. Jim Finks 1 1955 2,270 Pittsburgh Steelers
15. Joe Ferguson 1 1977 2,803 Buffalo Bills
15. Joe Namath 1 1972 2,816 New York Jets
15. John Elway 1 1993 4,030 Denver Broncos
15. John Hadl 1 1971 3,075 San Diego Chargers
15. Johnny Lujack 1 1949 2,658 Chicago Bears
15. Kurt Warner 1 2001 4,830 St. Louis Rams
15. Lynn Dickey 1 1983 4,458 Green Bay Packers
15. Mark Brunell 1 1996 4,367 Jacksonville Jaguars
15. Matt Schaub 1 2009 4,770 Houston Texans
15. Neil Lomax 1 1987 3,387 St. Louis Cardinals
15. Norm Van Brocklin 1 1954 2,637 Los Angeles Rams
15. Philip Rivers 1 2010 4,710 San Diego Chargers
15. Rich Gannon 1 2002 4,689 Oakland Raiders
15. Roman Gabriel 1 1973 3,219 Philadelphia Eagles
15. Steve Beuerlein 1 1999 4,436 Carolina Panthers
15. Tobin Rote 1 1956 2,203 Green Bay Packers

Photos: espn.com / acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com