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

The National Football League has seen a passer rating of zero posted 187 times: 183 times in the regular season and 4 times in the postseason.[1][2][3]

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, and throw an interception on at least 9.5% of attempts. To qualify for this list, a player must have attempted at least ten passes (prior to 1976); 12 passes (1977); or 14 passes (1978–present) in the game in question. Using this criteria, 151 different players have posted a zero rating; 28 players have done it more than once.

Background

Eight players (Arnie Herber, Parker Hall, Hugh McCullough, Babe Parilli, Ralph Guglielmi, Lamar McHan, Al Dorow, and Rick Norton) posted a zero rating on a record three occasions throughout their career. Red Kirkman, Hugh McCullough, Lamar McHan, and Gary Keithley are the only players ever to post zero ratings in two straight weeks (in 1933, 1940, 1958, and 1973, respectively). The 1939 season saw a record ten games with a zero rating: Ray Carnelly (Brooklyn Dodgers), Parker Hall (Cleveland Rams), Arnie Herber (Green Bay Packers), Bert Johnson (Chicago Cardinals), Hugh McCullough (Pittsburgh Pirates), Coley McDonough (Pittsburgh Pirates), Frank Patrick (Chicago Cardinals, twice), and Darrell Tully (Detroit Lions, twice). The season with the second most (9) was 1948 (with both NFL and AAFC players included). 13 players have posted two zero passer ratings in the same season: Red Kirkman (1933), Johnny Gildea (1935), Frank Patrick (1939), Darnell Tully (1939), Hugh McCullough (1940), Al Dorow (1954), Lamar McHan (1958), Ralph Guglielmi (1959), Cotton Davidson (1962), Steve Tensi (1967), Rick Norton (1969), Gary Keithley (1973), and Randy Hedberg (1977).

All four postseason zero ratings happened in a Championship Game: George Ratterman of the Buffalo Bills in the 1948 AAFC Championship Game; Tommy Thompson of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1948 NFL Championship Game; Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns in the 1953 NFL Championship Game; and Craig Morton of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII. Out of the four, Thompson is the only one whose team won.

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). The most zero ratings on a single day in league history happened on November 19, 1939, when Ray Carnelly (Brooklyn Dodgers), Hugh McCullough (Pittsburgh Pirates), and Frank Patrick (Chicago Cardinals) all posted zero ratings.

The longest period between NFL games with a zero passer rating is 7 years, 10 months, and 30 days, spanning from Chris Redman of the Atlanta Falcons on December 16, 2007, to Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos on November 15, 2015. Manning was 39 years and 236 days old in the 2015 game, the oldest age of any player to record a zero rating. In the 1939 season, Darrell Tully of the Detroit Lions posted a zero rating at the youngest age, 21 years and 319 days old. The most recent NFL zero passer rating game came on January 3, 2021, when Brandon Allen of the Cincinnati Bengals went 6-21 with 48 yards and two interceptions against the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals lost 3–38.

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). Of the 187 zero rating games, the team of a player who posted a zero rating has won 15 times (8.02%); 14 times in the regular season and once in the postseason (the aforementioned 1948 NFL Championship Game). The most recent example of a team winning a game with a zero rating quarterback is when Brent Pease did so with the in Houston Oilers in 1988. Four zero rating games have ended in a tie (2.14%); the most recent example of this is Len Dawson in 1970. Due to the NFL playoffs not allowing ties, all four such games have been in the regular season.

There have been 22 total zero passer rating games recorded by 14 Hall-of-Famers. The first was by Herber in 1933, and the most recent was by Peyton Manning in the 2015 season. 16 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.[4]

The Arizona Cardinals franchise has had more zero rating games than any other franchise, with 18. The Chicago Bears have held opposing players to a zero passer rating more than any other franchise, having accomplished the feat 16 times.

List

The following number of pass attempts are needed to qualify for this list:[5]
* Prior to 1976: 10

* 1977: 12

* 1978–present: 15

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In 1943, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers combined their teams due to both teams losing a significant amount of players to military service during World War II. The team was officially known as the Phil-Pitt Combine.

References

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  2. ^ "List of games in 1977 with a 0.0 passer rating, minimum 12 pass attempts". Stathead. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  3. ^ "List of games between 1978 and 2025 with a 0.0 passer rating, minimum 14 pass attempts". Stathead. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  4. ^ "Big Ben's 'Perfect' Day Breaks Tie With Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner". SteelersDepot.com. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
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  92. ^ "George Wilson Gamelogs", Pro-Football-Reference.com
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