Kirk Cousins 500 Yard Passing Night Against Tampa Still Not Enough to Break NFL Record

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins delivered a signature moment to his career last Thursday night with 509 yards passing capped by a game-ending TD pass in overtime in Atlanta’s 36-30 victory over Tampa Bay.

It still fell short of one of the NFL’s most surprisingly enduring records, with Norm Van Brocklin’s 554-yard performance in 1951 remaining as the single-game passing record even as production has spiked in the modern era.

While the single-game records for yards rushing, yards receiving, TD passes, runs and catches, field goals, interceptions and almost every other noteworthy stat have been set or matched in more recent years, Van Brocklin’s mark stands.

It was an improbable record, with Van Brocklin getting the nod to start for the Los Angeles Rams only days before the game because Bob Waterfield was injured. Van Brocklin had never thrown for 300 yards in a game before he carved up a New York Yanks team that was in its final season as an NFL franchise.

Van Brocklin, who broke Johnny Lujack’s 1949 record of 468 yards for the Bears, had 27 completions — 15 fewer than Cousins had in his 500-yard game — with nine of them going to Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch for 173 yards.

Van Brocklin had only five other games with at least 300 yards passing in his Hall of Fame career and only four other players hit that mark in 1951, when teams averaged 183.9 yards passing per game. There were six seasons in the past 10 years when teams averaged more than 250 yards passing a game, but no one has topped Van Brocklin’s mark.