The greatest single-game passing performances in NFL playoff history

The Broncos and Patriots dueled in the same uniforms for the AFC title two years apart. The games were starkly different. While Manning was in steep decline by his "last rodeo" in 2015, he sliced up Bill Belichick's defense two years prior. Manning completed 32 of 43 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Julius Thomas dropped a third potential Manning TD pass late, but his record-setting season included first-half TD tosses to Demaryius Thomas and Jacob Tamme. The Broncos led 26-3 before yielding garbage-time scores. In a game without standouts Von Miller, Rob Gronkowski, Chris Harris and, mostly, Aqib Talib, this was the most one-sided of the five Manning-Tom Brady playoff duels. 

Lamonica faced a high degree of difficulty in compiling 401 yards against the Jets. A chilly, windy day greeted the visiting Raiders at Shea Stadium. The Jets also led the AFL in total defense that season. Lamonica reached that lofty total in a back-and-forth game, one not featuring any garbage time. Lamonica, the AFL MVP in 1967 and '69, and future Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff hooked up on seven receptions for 190 yards and a touchdown. The game did feature a 1-for-5 Raiders red zone TD rate, one of those failures coming on a botched backward pass to Charlie Smith late in the game. 

Manning held a 3-2 playoff record against the Patriots but could not solve the Chargers. A year before Darren Sproles' monster game ended in a walk-off TD, two dropped Colts passes produced Bolts INTs -- those coming after a Marvin Harrison lost fumble. Manning's 402-yard, three-touchdown day proved insufficient in a 28-24 loss. Of course, the Chargers also managed a win here after losing LaDainian Tomlinson (early) and Philip Rivers (late) to injury. Manning found Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne, and Anthony Gonzalez for TDs -- Gonzalez's a 55-yarder score that gave the Colts a fourth-quarter lead. But a No. 1-ranked Colts defense could not prevent a Billy Volek-led TD drive, preventing a Colts-Pats AFC decider.

One of the better backup QBs in NFL history, Strock took center stage in perhaps the NFL's signature shootout. Falling behind 24-0 in the first quarter -- against a historically explosive Chargers attack -- Strock rallied the Dolphins to a 38-all tie to force overtime. Despite not replacing David Woodley until the second quarter, Strock finished with 403 yards. Strock's most famous offering from this game is the Tony Nathan hook-and-ladder score -- one of his four TD passes -- but he also hit Joe Rose and Bruce Hardy on 15- and 50-yarders; Hardy's tied the game at 31 in the fourth quarter. Strock drove the Dolphins into field goal range, but a Kellen Winslow block forced OT.

For an example of deceiving stat lines, look no further than Prescott's placement here. While the Cowboys quarterback posted 403 yards, that total came on 60 attempts in a game the Packers dominated. Prescott threw three TD passes, but they came after Green Bay mounted a 27-0 first-half lead. Prescott's pick-six tossed to Packers cornerback Darnell Savage contributed to that total. His inflated statistics made the game closer, but the No. 2-seeded Cowboys lost 48-32. All three Prescott TD passes went to tight end Jake Ferguson.

The thrilling Raiders-Chargers near-tie game in Week 18 kept Los Angeles out of the playoffs, thrusting one of Mike Tomlin's high-floor/low-ceiling teams into the field. A significantly diminished Ben Roethlisberger was no match for Mahomes, who carried a much better team to close out his fourth starter season. This was one of just two Mahomes QB1 seasons not to produce a Super Bowl, but he made quick work of the Steelers in a 30-for-39, 404-yard, five-touchdown night. Mahomes hit five different receivers for scores, including guard Nick Allegretti. A sixth Chiefs TD pass went from Travis Kelce to Byron Pringle in a 42-21 smashing.

Brees' numbers are certainly not the first plot development brought up about this game, but the future Hall of Fame QB did his part to keep the Saints' Super Bowl title defense rolling. Unfortunately, Marshawn Lynch and Matt Hasselbeck had another ending in mind. Brees dropped 404 yards and two TD tosses on the 7-9 Seahawks, but the Saints defense crumbled in a 41-36 shootout loss. The Saints jumped out to a 17-7 first-half lead but could not derail Hasselbeck in his Seattle finale. Brees' second TD pass, a 6-yarder to Devery Henderson, came after "Beastquake" put the Seahawks up 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Showing where the Bills were headed, their three stars on offense gained yardage at will in a shootout. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Cleveland's offense (and special teams, via Eric Metcalf) exceeded the output in a 34-30 home win. Kelly found Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas a combined 19 times, the running back's aerial prowess on display in a 150-yard showing. Kelly posted a 405-yard day with four TD passes (two to Thomas, a 72-yarder to Reed, and a 33-yarder to James Lofton). This game is remembered for a would-be fifth TD Ronnie Harmon -- an all-time RB pass-catching talent -- dropped in the final seconds . The Browns had blocked the Bills' previous PAT attempt, and Kelly's final pass wound up a Clay Matthews INT.

Perhaps one of the most obscured stat lines in playoff history involves Cunningham, who threw for 407 yards in the famous Fog Bowl in Chicago. The fog did not roll in until midgame, but as you've presumably seen, visibility became nearly impossible once it did. Cunningham completed 27 of 54 passes; three of those went for INTs. Cunningham also lost two first-half TD passes (including a thrice-tipped Mike Quick grab) on penalties, denying the visitors crucial pre-fog points. The No. 1-seeded Bears protected their edge in the unusual conditions. The Eagles could not find the end zone in the 20-12 loss, settling for four Luis Zendejas field goals. This game still pushed Cunningham past 4,000 yards for the '88 season.

This space ranked Warner's 1999 sophomore QB campaign as the second-best ever. This game cemented the 1999 MVP's case for the No. 1 spot, as neither Dan Marino nor Patrick Mahomes finished their stratospheric seasons as champions. Warner set a then-Super Bowl record with 414 passing yards. While the former Arena League arm missed on 21 passes against a strong Titans defense, he threw TD passes to Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce -- the latter an iconic 73-yarder that ended up being the game-winner in a 23-16 classic. The Titans held the Rams to three first-half field goals; those drives featured plenty of Warner yardage.

A strange conference championship game entrant awaited the surging Dolphins, and while the 10-6 Steelers did hold a 14-10 first-half lead, Marino emphatically erased it. Marino's 21 of 32 day included 421 yards and four touchdown passes in a 45-28 home win. Marino found his Marks Brothers targets (Clayton, Duper) for three scores -- from 36, 40 and 41 yards out. Duper snagged two in a 148-yard performance, being quite open on the second of his TDs. A Marino laser to Joe Rose also set up a Tony Nathan rushing TD that gave Miami a 10-point halftime lead. This was certainly a cruel reminder that Marino's hometown team made the wrong decision in the 1983 draft.

Marino delivered some memorable playoff performances; this was not one of them. Perhaps a more deceiving stat line than Prescott's 2023 offering, Marino accumulated 422 passing yards but threw three INTs in a game the Dolphins trailed 34-7 in the fourth quarter. Marino fared poorly in Don Shula's finale, dropping his playoff record to 0-3 against Buffalo. The Miami icon was pressured and erratic in this Dolphins one-and-done, mishandling a high snap that led to a Bryce Paup fumble recovery. Marino had a hand in all four Miami turnovers and was past his prime by the time Miami returned to the playoffs. 

For pure offense, it is hard to beat the Rodgers-Kurt Warner duel in Arizona to close out the Packers QB's second starter season. While the Packers fell behind by 21 early in the third quarter, Rodgers rallied the team back during a 423-yard day that included four TD passes. Rodgers and Warner (379 yards) combined for nine TD tosses in the 51-45 thriller. Brett Favre's successor found Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and fullback Spencer Havner on second-half TD passes to force overtime. But the OT ended quickly when a Rodgers fumble wound up in Karlos Dansby's arms for a walk-off TD. The Packers won their only Rodgers-era Super Bowl the next year.

George quarterbacked the Vikings to a wild-card win over the Cowboys, burying their 1990s dynasty for good, but the team was no match for the high-flying Rams. Warner's Hall of Famer-laden skill corps decimated the Vikings in a 49-37 runaway. That score deceives, as the Rams' lead went from trailing 17-14 to leading 49-17. George's comeback attempt produced 423 yards, as the Vikings -- despite setting an NFL scoring record a year prior -- were outgunned. George found Jake Reed and Randy Moss for fourth-quarter scores, feeling off 20 straight points to close the game. The Vikings moved on via Daunte Culpepper in 2000.

A forgotten gem overshadowed by the Giants-49ers comeback/fiasco that aired later that day , Browns 2.0's only playoff appearance in its first 21 seasons produced a duel waged by a Browns QB making his fourth career start against XFL 1.0's MVP. Holcomb, who had replaced Tim Couch as Cleveland's starter late in 2002, powered the Browns to a 17-point lead. But the Tommy Maddox-quarterbacked Steelers rallied for a 36-33 win. Holcomb still delivered a stunning road performance, posting 429 yards and three TDs -- the first two (to Dennis Northcutt) giving Cleveland its three-score edge. Wideout Andre' Davis failing to sneak out of bounds on the final play nixed a potential game-tying field goal. 

Strock's better-known opponent walked out a victor in the Miami classic; Fouts finished with a then-playoff-record 433 yards in the Chargers' 41-38 road win. The Bolts went up 24-0, but the Dolphins' rally forced Fouts (who set a then-single-season record with 4,802 yards) to counterattack. The Air Coryell pilot located Kellen Winslow for a 25-yard TD to give the Bolts a 31-24 lead, but after a woeful Charger defense crumbled, a game-tying drive ended with a Fouts-to-James Brooks (sort of) toss to open the door to overtime. Fouts drove the Chargers 74 yards to give kicker Rolf Benirschke a chance at the game's third overtime field goal attempt. 

T.Y. Hilton's performance from this game sits second in playoff receiving history. Luck drove his longtime target to that perch during a 28-point comeback win. The Chiefs soared to a 38-10 lead but lost 45-44. While Luck's fortunate rushing TD is remembered well from this game, the second-year Colts standout dropped a 443-yard performance on Andy Reid's team. Luck threw three INTs but atoned with four touchdown tosses. A 12-yarder to Coby Fleener pulled Indianapolis to within 10 points late in the third quarter, and after his fumble-recovery score, Luck found Hilton for a 64-yard go-ahead strike to complete the NFL's second-largest playoff comeback.

Luck was not as surgical as his predecessor nine years prior. The Broncos had proven no match for Manning in a one-sided 2003 wild-card loss; even with Champ Bailey acquired, they were even worse a year later. Preying on Denver's other starting cornerback (undrafted rookie Roc Alexander), Manning completed a 458-yard, four-touchdown masterpiece. While Bailey limited Marvin Harrison, Manning found Reggie Wayne often (221 yards, two TDs) and hit Dallas Clark on a 19-yard score. A 1-yard Manning rush TD gave the Colts a 35-3 halftime lead. After two Denver scores, Manning's 42-yard strike to Wayne ended any faint comeback hopes.

The Vernon Davis-Jimmy Graham tight end battle for the ages also featured Drew Brees and Alex Smith. While Smith's 49ers ended up winning this underrated back-and-forth tilt (36-32), Brees brought his best stuff. The future Hall of Famer's record-setting third 400-yard playoff game -- a 462-yard showing that featured the 32-year-old passer shredding a top-tier 49ers defense. Brees did throw two INTs, but his four TD passes kept New Orleans -- which set a still-standing total yardage record in 2011 -- in the fight. Brees hit Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham on 44- and 66-yard strikes over the final 4:02, a frenzied stretch that ended with Davis' last-second score.

Calvin Johnson dominated in his first playoff outing, but the Lions ended up outgunned against a surging Saints team that had won eight straight and gone unbeaten in the Superdome. Trailing at the half, the Saints scored 35 second-half points in a 45-28 win. Brees threw three second-half TD passes in a 466-yard, no-INT masterpiece. Sean Payton's offense blitzed Jim Schwartz's defense, overshadowing Johnson's debut. Brees hit Devery Henderson, Jimmy Graham, and Robert Meachem for scores -- the first a 44-yard laser to the Saints' deep threat. The Lions badly blew a coverage on Meachem's 56-yard TD.

Not exactly a wire-to-wire marvel, Brady's fifth Super Bowl-winning performance was his best ever. The legendary QB left himself zero margin for error in falling behind 28-3 , throwing a pick-six to Falcons cornerback Robert Alford. An Atlanta team missing No. 1 corner Desmond Trufant, however, could not derail an all-time great in his finest hour. Brady's valiant comeback ended with 466 yards, two TD passes and two do-or-die two-point conversions -- one of which tying the game in the final minute -- in a 34-28 conquest. Four Patriots (James White, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and rookie Malcolm Mitchell) tallied at least 70 yards, and the Falcons paid for losing the OT coin toss. 

Modern Steelers playoff success did not require Roethilsberger dominance. The "Killer B's" version of the QB was far more statistically productive, but those teams lacked the defensive backing of Big Ben's earlier years. With Ryan Shazier tragically out of the picture, a Blake Bortles-led Jaguars team hung 45 in Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger put up gaudy stats in a frantic comeback bid, completing 37 of 58 passes for 469 yards and five touchdowns -- two apiece to Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell in the duo's final game together . It was not enough to erase a 21-0 deficit, and Roethlisberger's fifth TD pass -- to JuJu Smith-Schuster -- came with 1 second remaining in a two-score game.

The Jets booking their second AFC title game appearance in five seasons appeared a near-lock, as they took a 10-point lead with barely four minutes left. Kosar marched the Browns to a touchdown, and after a quick Cleveland stop, the second-year QB's 37-yard toss to Webster Slaughter put the Browns in game-tying field goal range in the final 10 seconds. A double-overtime result (23-20) allowed for more Kosar yardage, as he drove the hosts into range for a missed Mark Moseley 23-yarder (before the ex-MVP redeemed himself later). But Kosar only tallied 58 yards in the extra period-plus. That gave the statuesque QB a staggering 489 passing yards. It took 31 years for that record to fall. 

Another Roethlisberger-Mike Tomlin home playoff letdown occurred three years after the Jaguars' stunner. This was a less talented Steelers team but one facing a Browns team without its head coach and play-caller (Kevin Stefanski) and top cornerback Denzel Ward due to COVID-19. The Browns ran up a 28-point lead and led 35-10 at halftime. Big Ben offered a captivating comeback bid, but it only slashed Cleveland's lead to 12 in a 48-37 loss. (A fourth-and-1 Tomlin punt near midfield early in the fourth quarter hindered the frantic mission.) Still, the statistical output was incredible: a playoff-record 47 completions on 68 attempts for 501 yards and four TD passes. Unfortunately, they came with four INTs.

For a team as celebrated as this Eagles squad became, they certainly blew some ill-timed coverages. Brady feasted on a Philadelphia defense struggling to protect a lead that the Philly Special play handed it. A historic stat line emerged for the Patriots all-timer. Closing out his age-40 season, Brady doused the Eagles for 505 yards -- to break his own Super Bowl record from a year prior -- on just 28 completions. Three of those went for TDs, as Rob Gronkowski's prime ended with a two-score, 116-yard night. Danny Amendola (152) and Chris Hogan (116) completed a virtuoso yardage night for the Pats, but Brandon Graham's late-game sack-strip derailed the AFC powerhouse.