During the Los Angeles Rams’ 24-18 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford surpassed Eli Manning as the tenth-leading passer in NFL history. Stafford passed Manning in the fourth quarter of the loss and finished the game with 224 total passing yards.
Stafford has now thrown for 57,025 yards, passing Manning’s career mark of 57,023 passing yards. Stafford threw for 57,025 yards across 210 games, while Manning reached 57,023 yards over the course of 236 games.
Stafford now ranks 10th, and of active players, is the second-leading passer all-time behind Aaron Rodgers. Tom Brady is currently the NFL’s all-time leading passer, having thrown for 89,214 yards over his career.
The 36-year-old said after the game said it’s a “humbling thing to be mentioned with a great player like Eli,” per Sarah Barshop of ESPN.
“[Manning] obviously had an outstanding career,” Stafford added. “And I’m sure at the end of the season or whatnot, I will spend more time thinking about that kind of stuff. I was a fan of this game long before I became a player of it in the NFL and to be mentioned with some of those guys is a really cool, humbling thing for me.”
It’s unsurprising to see Stafford reach this mark, as he has consistently been one of the top quarterbacks since entering the NFL. He threw for over 4,000 yards in seven straight seasons from 2011-17, until he missed time due to an injury in 2018.
Stafford is also one of nine quarterbacks who have thrown for 5,000 yards in a single season in NFL history. He threw for 5,038 yards in 2011, his third NFL season.
Stafford was the fastest player in NFL history to reach multiple passing milestones, including 30,000, 40,000, and 50,000 career passing yards. If Stafford continues on his current trajectory, he could easily rise to the top five on the list so long as he plays each of the next two seasons. Ben Roethlisberger currently ranks fifth with 64,088 career passing yards, about 7,000 more than Stafford.
It would take longer for Stafford to reach the top-four all-time list. Peyton Manning and Brett Favre have each thrown for over 71,000 yards, and both Brady and Drew Brees have surpassed 80,000 career passing yards.
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