Most wins by a starting quarterback (NFL)

Most wins by a starting quarterback (NFL)


In the National Football League the quarterback is the only position player to be credited with a record of wins and losses as a starter. At the time of the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, Johnny Unitas held the record for most regular season wins as a starting quarterback with 103. He retired after the 1973 season with 118 wins, and was later surpassed by Fran Tarkenton with 124 in 1978. John Elway moved ahead of Tarkenton during the 1996 season, and retired after the 1998 season with 148 wins. During the 2007 regular season, Brett Favre surpassed Elway to become the starting quarterback with the most wins in NFL history, and his record stands at 186.[1] Otto Graham hold the record for the highest winning percentage amongst quarterbacks with at least 50 starts with 0.814. This is a list of quarterbacks with the most regular season wins by a starting quarterback in NFL history; wins in playoff games are not included.[2]

Top 50 quarterbacks in NFL history

This sortable table shows the top 50 NFL quarterbacks in order of regular season wins (1949 to present). The table also shows every team that a quarterback started for. If two quarterbacks have the same number of wins, the player with the highest winning percentage is ranked first. The bronze star denotes the team for which he had the most career wins.

When sorting teams:

  • Arizona and St. Louis Cardinals are grouped together
  • Tennessee Titans and Houston Oilers are grouped together
  • Indianapolis and Baltimore Colts are grouped together (except 1950 Baltimore Colts, a separate franchise which folded)

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Bold* denotes an active player
~ Winning percentage ≥ .600
^ Winning percentage ≥ .700
Hall of Fame**
Hall of Fame &
Former leader in all-time wins**

Updated through week 9 Sunday games 2013 season.

Quarterbacks Ranked by Regular Season Wins, then Winning Percentage
Rank Quarterback Seasons Teams Team
Wins		 Team
Losses		 Career
Wins		 Career
Losses		 Ties Pct Ref. Updated
thru
1 Favre, BrettBrett Favre 1991 Atlanta 0 0 186 112 0 .624~ [3]
1992-2007 Green Bay 160 93
2008 NY Jets 9 7
2009-2010 Minnesota 17 12
2 Manning, PeytonPeyton Manning* 1998-2011 Indianapolis 141 67 161 71 0 .694~ [4]
2012–present Denver 20 4 week 9
3 Elway, JohnJohn Elway** 1983-1998 Denver 148 82 148 82 1 .643~ [5]
4 Marino, DanDan Marino** 1983-1999 Miami 147 93 147 93 0 .613~ [6]
5 Brady, TomTom Brady* 2000–present New England 142 41 143 41 0 .777^ [7] week 9
6 Tarkenton, FranFran Tarkenton** 1961-1966
1972-1978 		Minnesota 91 73 124 109 6 .531 [8]
1967-1971 NY Giants 33 36
7 Unitas, JohnnyJohnny Unitas** 1956-1972 Baltimore Colts 117 61 118 64 4 .645~ [9]
1973 San Diego 1 3
8 Montana, JoeJoe Montana** 1979-1992 San Francisco 100 39 117 47 0 .713^ [10]
1993-1994 Kansas City 17 8
9 Bradshaw, TerryTerry Bradshaw** 1970-1983 Pittsburgh 107 51 107 51 0 .677~ [11]
10 Brees, DrewDrew Brees* 2001-2005 San Diego 30 28 105 72 0 .593 [12]
2006–present New Orleans 75 44 week 9
11 Moon, WarrenWarren Moon** 1984-1993 Houston Oilers 70 69 102 101 0 .502 [13]
1994-1996 Minnesota 21 18
1997-1998 Seattle 11 13
1999-2000 Kansas City 0 1
12 Kelly, JimJim Kelly** 1986-1996 Buffalo 101 59 101 59 0 .631~ [14]
13 McNabb, DonovanDonovan McNabb 1999-2009 Philadelphia 92 49 98 62 1 .612~ [15]
2010 Washington 5 8
2011 Minnesota 1 5
14 Krieg, DaveDave Krieg 1980-1991 Seattle 70 49 98 77 0 .560 [16]
1992-1993 Kansas City 13 8
1994 Detroit 5 2
1995 Arizona 4 12
1996 Chicago 6 6
1997-1998 Tennessee 0 0
15 Bledsoe, DrewDrew Bledsoe 1993-2001 New England 63 60 98 95 0 .508 [17]
2002-2004 Buffalo 23 25
2005-2006 Dallas 12 10
16 Stabler, KenKen Stabler 1970-1979 Oakland 69 26 96 49 1 .661~ [18]
1980-1981 Houston Oilers 16 12
1982-1984 New Orleans 11 11
17 Simms, PhilPhil Simms 1979-1993 NY Giants 95 64 95 64 0 .597 [19]
18 Young, SteveSteve Young** 1985-1986 Tampa Bay 3 16 94 49 0 .657~ [20]
1987-1999 San Francisco 91 33
19 Starr, BartBart Starr** 1956-1971 Green Bay 94 57 94 57 6 .618~ [21]
20 Dawson, LenLen Dawson** 1957-1959 Pittsburgh 0 1 94 57 8 .616~ [22]
1960-1961 Cleveland 1 0
1962-1975 Dallas Texans/
Kansas City 		93 56
21 Aikman, TroyTroy Aikman** 1989-2000 Dallas 94 71 94 71 0 .570 [23]
22 Griese, BobBob Griese** 1967-1980 Miami 92 56 92 56 3 .619~ [24]
23 McNair, SteveSteve McNair 1995-2005 Houston Oilers/
Tennessee 		76 55 91 62 0 .595 [25]
2006-2007 Baltimore Ravens 15 7
24 Anderson, KenKen Anderson 1971-1986 Cincinnati 91 81 91 81 0 .529 [26]
25 Testaverde, VinnyVinny Testaverde 1987-1992 Tampa Bay 24 48 90 123 1 .423 [27]
1993-1995 Cleveland 16 15
1996-1997 Baltimore Ravens 8 20
1998-2003
2005 		NY Jets 35 26
2004 Dallas 5 10
2006 New England 0 0
2007 Carolina 2 4
26 Roethlisberger, BenBen Roethlisberger* 2004–present Pittsburgh 89 45 89 45 0 .664~ [28] week 9
27 Hart, JimJim Hart 1966-1983 St. Louis Cardinals 87 88 87 88 5 .497 [29]
1984 Washington 0 0
28 Gabriel, RomanRoman Gabriel 1962-1972 LA Rams 74 39 86 64 7 .570 [30]
1973-1977 Philadelphia 12 25
29 Fouts, DanDan Fouts** 1973-1987 San Diego 86 84 86 84 1 .506 [31]
30 Staubach, RogerRoger Staubach** 1969-1979 Dallas 85 29 85 29 0 .746^ [32]
31 Cunningham, RandallRandall Cunningham 1985-1995 Philadelphia 63 43 82 52 1 .611~ [33]
1997-1999 Minnesota 16 7
2000 Dallas 1 2
2001 Baltimore Ravens 2 0
32 Hadl, JohnJohn Hadl 1962-1972 San Diego 59 55 82 76 9 .518 [34]
1973-1974 LA Rams 15 4
1974-1975 Green Bay 7 12
1976-1977 Houston Oilers 1 5
33 Layne, BobbyBobby Layne** 1948 Chicago 0 0 81* 61 5 .568 [35]
1949 NY Bulldogs 1 10
1950-1958 Detroit 53 29
1958-1962 Pittsburgh 27 22
34 Morton, CraigCraig Morton 1965-1974 Dallas 32 14 81 62 1 .566 [36]
1974-1976 NY Giants 8 25
1977-1982 Denver 41 23
35 Collins, KerryKerry Collins 1995-1998 Carolina 22 20 81 99 0 .450 [37]
1998 New Orleans 2 5
1999-2003 NY Giants 35 33
2004-2005 Oakland 7 21
2006-2010 Tennessee 15 17
2011 Indianapolis 0 3
36 Manning, EliEli Manning* 2004–present NY Giants 80 63 80 63 0 .559 [38] week 9
37 Hasselbeck, MattMatt Hasselbeck* 1999-2000 Green Bay 0 0 80 72 0 .526 [39]
2001-2010 Seattle 69 62
2011–2012 Tennessee 11 10
2013 Indianapolis 0 0 backup
38 Esiason, BoomerBoomer Esiason 1984-1992
1997 		Cincinnati 62 61 80 93 0 .462 [40]
1993-1995 NY Jets 15 27
1996 Arizona 3 5
39 Ferguson, JoeJoe Ferguson 1973-1984 Buffalo 77 86 79 92 0 .462 [41]
1985-1986 Detroit 2 3
1988-1989 Tampa Bay 0 3
1990 Indianapolis 0 0
40 Tittle, Y. A.Y. A. Tittle** 1950 Baltimore Colts 1 8 78~ 52 5 .596 [42]
1951-1960 San Francisco 45 31
1961-1964 NY Giants 32 13
41 Brunell, MarkMark Brunell 1994 Green Bay 0 0 78 73 0 .517 [43]
1995-2003 Jacksonville 63 54
2004-2006 Washington 15 18
2008-2009 New Orleans 0 1
2010-2011 NY Jets 0 0
42 Theismann, JoeJoe Theismann 1974-1985 Washington 77 47 77 47 0 .621~ [44]
43 Gannon, RichRich Gannon 1987-1992 Minnesota 19 16 76 56 0 .576 [45]
1993 Washington 1 3
1995-1998 Kansas City 11 8
1999-2004 Oakland 45 29
44 Grogan, Steve Steve Grogan 1975-1990 New England 75 60 75 60 0 .556 [46]
45 Rivers, PhilipPhilip Rivers* 2004–present San Diego 74 46 74 46 0 .617~ [47] week 9
46 Brodie, JohnJohn Brodie 1957-1973 San Francisco 74 77 74 77 8 .491 [48]
47 Jaworski, RonRon Jaworski 1974-1976 LA Rams 3 0 73 69 1 .514 [49]
1977-1986 Philadelphia 69 67
1988 Miami 0 0
1989 Kansas City 1 2
48 Johnson, BradBrad Johnson 1994-1998
2005-2006 		Minnesota 28 18 72 53 0 .576 [50]
1999-2000 Washington 17 10
2001-2004 Tampa Bay 26 23
2007-2008 Dallas 1 2
49 Plunkett, JimJim Plunkett 1971-1975 New England 23 38 72 72 0 .500 [51]
1976-1977 San Francisco 11 15
1979-1986 Oakland/
LA Raiders 		38 19
50 Plummer, JakeJake Plummer 1997-2002 Arizona 30 52 69 67 0 .507 [52]
2003-2006 Denver 39 15

Note 1: The following quarterbacks are estimated to have won at least 70 games and could have qualified as top 50 but are not officially recognized due to being in the pre-1950 NFL era: Sammy Baugh (92-57-5 .614);[2][53] Arnie Herber (75-35-6 .672);[2][54] Sid Luckman (73-22-2 .763);[2][55] and Paddy Driscoll (70-36-12 .644)[2][56]

^* Note 2: Bobby Layne is listed as having started all 12 games for the Bulldogs (NFL) in 1949. The record for that team is 1-10-1. Combined with his official post-1949 won-loss-tied record of 80-51-4 (0.607), his overall estimated won-loss-tied record is 81-61-5 (0.568).[35]

^~ Note 3: Y.A. Tittle is estimated to have gone 1-6 as a starter in 1949 (Baltimore Colts AAFC). Combined with his official post-1949 won-loss-tied record of 78-52-5 (0.596), his overall estimated won-loss-tied record is 79-58-5 (0.574).[42]

Other notable quarterbacks

This list includes NFL quarterbacks who either

  1. Are in the Hall of Fame or
  2. Have achieved 35+ wins and a .500+ winning percentage.

This table shows quarterbacks in order of regular season wins. The bronze star denotes the team with the highest number of career wins. If there is a tie for number of wins, the quarterback with the highest winning percentage is ranked first.

When sorting teams, the following are grouped together:

  • Arizona and St. Louis Cardinals
  • Indianapolis and Baltimore Colts
  • New England and Boston Patriots
  • Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders
  • St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Cleveland Rams
  • Tennessee Titans and Houston Oilers

Reload page to return to original configuration.

Bold* denotes an active player
~ Winning percentage ≥ .600
^ Winning percentage ≥ .700
Hall of Fame**
Quarterbacks Ranked by Regular Season Wins, then Winning Percentage
Rank Quarterback Seasons Teams Team
Wins		 Team
Losses		 Career
Wins		 Career
Losses		 Ties Pct Ref. Updated
thru
51 Jurgensen, SonnySonny Jurgensen** 1957-1963 Philadelphia 17 22 69 73 7 .487 [57]
1964-1974 Washington 52 51
52 McMahon, JimJim McMahon 1982-1988 Chicago 46 15 67 30 0 .691~ [58]
1989 San Diego 4 7
1990-1992 Philadelphia 9 3
1993 Minnesota 8 4
1994 Arizona 0 1
1995-1996 Green Bay 0 0
53 Warner, KurtKurt Warner 1998-2003 St. Louis Rams 35 15 67 49 0 .578 [59]
2004 NY Giants 5 4
2005-2009 Arizona 27 30
54 Lamonica, DaryleDaryle Lamonica 1963-1966 Buffalo 4 0 66 16 6 .784^ [60]
1967-1974 Oakland 62 16
55 Kemp, JackJack Kemp 1957 Pittsburgh 0 0 65 37 3 .633~ [61]
1960-1962 LA/San Diego Chargers 22 6
1962-1969 Buffalo 43 31
56 Conerly, CharlieCharlie Conerly[a] 1948-1961 NY Giants 65 39 65 39 1 .624~ [62]
57 Morrall, EarlEarl Morrall 1956 San Francisco 1 3 63 37 3 .626~ [63]
1957-1958 Pittsburgh 6 7
1958-1964 Detroit 15 11
1965-1967 NY Giants 8 12
1968-1971 Baltimore Colts 22 3
1972-1976 Miami 11 1
58 White, DannyDanny White 1976-1980 Dallas 62 30 62 30 0 .674~ [64]
59 Namath Joe Joe Namath** 1965-1976 NY Jets 60 61 62 63 4 .496 [65]
1977 LA Rams 2 2
60 Van Brocklin NormNorm Van Brocklin** 1949-1957 LA Rams 42 20 61 36 4 .624~ [66]
1958-1960 Philadelphia 19 16
61 Schroeder, JayJay Schroeder 1985-1987 Washington 24 7 61 38 0 .616~ [67]
1988-1992 LA Raiders 32 25
1993 Cincinnati 0 3
1994 Arizona 5 3
62 Kilmer; BillyBilly Kilmer 1967-1970 New Orleans 11 29 61 52 1 .539 [68]
1971-1978 Washington 50 23
63 Romo, TonyTony Romo* 2004–present Dallas 60 42 60 42 0 .588 [69] week 9
64 Johnson, CharleyCharley Johnson 1961-1969 St. Louis Cardinals 36 28 59 57 8 .508 [70]
1970-1971 Houston Oilers 3 11
1972-1975 Denver 20 18
65 Ryan, MattMatt Ryan* 2008–present Atlanta 58 28 58 28 0 .674^ [71] week 9
66 Vick, Michael Michael Vick* 2001-2006 Atlanta 38 28 58 48 1 .547 [72]
2009–present Philadelphia 20 20 week 9
67 Dilfer, TrentTrent Dilfer 1994-1999 Tampa Bay 38 38 58 55 0 .513 [73]
2000 Baltimore Ravens 7 1
2001-2004 Seattle 8 4
2005 Cleveland 4 7
2007 San Francisco 1 5
68 Garcia, Jeff Jeff Garcia 1999-2003 San Francisco 35 36 58 58 0 .500 [74]
2004 Cleveland 3 7
2005 Detroit 1 4
2006, 2009 Philadelphia 5 1
2007-2008 Tampa Bay 14 10
2011 Houston Texans 0 0
69 Graham, OttoOtto Graham** 1950-1955 Cleveland 57 13 57[b] 13 0 .814^ [75]
70 Ryan, FrankFrank Ryan 1958-1961 LA Rams 5 5 57 27 3 .672~ [76]
1962-1968 Cleveland 52 22
1969-1970 Washington 0 0
71 Rodgers, AaronAaron Rodgers* 2005–present Green Bay 57 28 57 28 0 .671~ [77] week 8
72 Flacco, JoeJoe Flacco* 2008–present Baltimore Ravens 57 31 57 31 0 .648~ [78] week 9
73 Sipe, BrianBrian Sipe 1974-1983 Cleveland 57 55 57 55 0 .509 [79]
74 Delhomme, JakeJake Delhomme 1999, 2002 New Orleans 1 1 56 40 0 .583 [80]
2003-2009 Carolina 53 37
2010 Cleveland 2 2
2011 Houston Texans 0 0
75 Plum, MiltMilt Plum 1957-1961 Cleveland 33 16 56 40 6 .578 [81]
1962-1967 Detroit 23 24
1968 LA Rams 0 0
1969 NY Giants 0 0
76 Hebert, BobbyBobby Hebert 1985-1992 New Orleans 49 26 56 44 0 .560 [82]
1993-1996 Atlanta 7 18
77 Brown, EdEd Brown 1954-1961 Chicago 41 25 55 38 5 .587 [83]
1962-1965 Pittsburgh 14 13
1965 Baltimore Colts 0 0
78 T Cutler, JayJay Cutler* 2006-2008 Denver 17 20 55 45 0 .550 [84]
2009–present Chicago 38 25 injured
78 T O'Donnell, NeilNeil O'Donnell 1991-1995 Pittsburgh 39 22 55 45 0 .550 [85]
1996-1997 NY Jets 8 12
1998 Cincinnati 2 9
1999-2003 Tennessee 6 2
80 Blanda GeorgeGeorge Blanda** 1949-1958 Chicago 8 12 53 50 1 .514 [86]
1960-1966 Houston Oilers 44 38
1967-1975 Oakland 1 0
81 Hostetler, JeffJeff Hostetler 1985-1992 NY Giants 16 9 51 32 0 .614~ [87]
1993-1996 LA/Oakland Raiders 33 22
1997 Washington 2 1
82 Humphries, Stan Stan Humphries 1989-1990 Washington 3 2 50 31 0 .617~ [88]
1992-1997 San Diego 47 29
83 Parilli, BabeBabe Parilli 1952-1953
1957-1958 		Green Bay 3 11 49 46 7 .515 [89]
1956 Cleveland 1 2
1960 Oakland 1 1
1961-1967 Boston Patriots 44 32
1968-1969 NY Jets 0 0
84 Meredith, Don Don Meredith 1960-1968 Dallas 48 33 48 33 4 .588 [90]
85 Stewart, KordellKordell Stewart 1995-2002 Pittsburgh 46 29 48 34 0 .585 [91]
2003 Chicago 2 5
2004-2005 Baltimore Ravens 0 0
86 Rypien, MarkMark Rypien 1988-1993 Washington 45 27 47 31 0 .603~ [92]
1994 Cleveland 2 1
1995, 1997 St. Louis Rams 0 3
1996 Philadelphia 0 0
2001 Indianapolis 0 0
87 Smith, AlexAlex Smith* 2005–2012 San Francisco 38 36 47 36 1 .565 [93]
2013 Kansas City 9 0 week 9
88 Schaub, MattMatt Schaub* 2004-2006 Atlanta 0 2 46 42 0 .511 [94]
2007–present Houston Texans 46 40 backup
89 Griese, BrianBrian Griese 1998-2002 Denver 27 24 45 38 0 .542 [95]
2003 Miami 3 2
2004-2005
2008 		Tampa Bay 12 9
2006-2007 Chicago 3 3
90 Peete, RodneyRodney Peete 1989-1993 Detroit 21 26 45 42 0 .517 [96]
1994 Dallas 1 0
1995-1998 Philadelphia 15 9
1999 Washington 0 0
2001 Oakland 0 0
2002-2004 Carolina 8 7
91 Pennington, ChadChad Pennington 2000-2007 NY Jets 32 29 44 37 0 .543 [97]
2008-2010 Miami 12 8
92 Tomczak, MikeMike Tomczak 1985-1990 Chicago 21 10 42 31 0 .575 [98]
1991 Green Bay 2 5
1992 Cleveland 4 4
1993-1999 Pittsburgh 15 12
93 Grbac, ElvisElvis Grbac 1994-1996 San Francisco 6 3 40 30 0 .571 [99]
1997-2000 Kansas City 26 21
2001 Baltimore Ravens 8 6
94 Nelsen, BillBill Nelsen 1963-1967 Pittsburgh 6 15 40 31 3 .561 [100]
1968-1972 Cleveland 34 16
95 Garrard, DavidDavid Garrard* 2002-2010 Jacksonville 39 37 39 37 0 .513 [101]
2013 NY Jets 0 0 backup
96 Flutie, DougDoug Flutie 1986-1987 Chicago 1 0 38 28 0 .576 [102]
1987-1989, 2005 New England 8 5
1998-2000 Buffalo 21 9
2001-2004 San Diego 8 14
97 Phipps MikeMike Phipps 1970-1976 Cleveland 24 25 38 31 2 .549 [103]
1977-1981 Chicago 14 6
98 Waterfield BobBob Waterfield** 1945-1952 Cleveland/
LA Rams 		37 17 37[c] 17 0 .685~ [104]
99 Fiedler JayJay Fiedler 1995 Philadelphia 0 0 37 23 0 .617~ [105]
1998 Minnesota 0 0
1999 Jacksonville 1 0
2000-2004 Miami 36 23
2005 NY Jets 0 0
100 Wilson, WadeWade Wilson 1981-1991 Minnesota 27 21 36 33 0 .522 [106]
1992 Atlanta 1 2
1993-1994 New Orleans 7 7
1995-1997 Dallas 0 1
1998 Oakland 1 2
101 Haden, PatPat Haden 1976-1981 LA Rams 35 19 35 19 1 .645~ [107]
102 Orton, KyleKyle Orton* 2005-2008 Chicago 21 12 35 34 0 .507 [108]
2009-2011 Denver 12 21
2011 Kansas City 2 1
2012-present Dallas 0 0 backup
  • a Charlie Conerly is estimated to have gone 7-8-0 as a starter from 1948-1949. Combined with his official post-1949 won-loss-tied record of 58-31-1 (0.650), his overall estimated won-loss-tied record is 65-39-1 (0.624).
  • b Otto Graham also started 53 games for the Cleveland Browns when they were in the All-America Football Conference (1946-1949). He finished his professional career (AAFC and NFL) with a 105-17-4 regular-season record (84.0% win rate). Graham took his team to the championship game in all ten of his professional seasons winning seven of them (4 AAFC and 3 NFL).[109]
  • c Bob Waterfield is estimated to have gone 23-9-0 as a starter from 1945-1949. Combined with his official post-1949 won-loss-tied record of 14-8-0 (0.636), his overall estimated won-loss-tied record is 37-17-0 (0.685).

See also

References