List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders

This is a list of National Football League quarterbacks who have led the regular season in passing touchdowns each year. The record for touchdown passes in a season is held by Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos who threw 55 in 2013. Tom Brady has led the NFL in passing touchdowns in five different seasons, more than any other quarterback in NFL history; he is also the only quarterback to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns in three different decades.

Passing touchdown leaders

Set record*

Year	Player	TDs	Team
1932	Arnie Herber (1)	9*	Green Bay Packers
1933	Harry Newman	11*	New York Giants
1934	Arnie Herber (2)	8	Green Bay Packers
1935	Ed Danowski	10	New York Giants
1936	Arnie Herber (3)	11*	Green Bay Packers
1937	Bernie Masterson	9	Chicago Bears
1938	Bob Monnett	9	Green Bay Packers
1939	Frank Filchock (1)	11*	Washington Redskins
1940	Sammy Baugh (1)	12*	Washington Redskins
1941	Cecil Isbell (1)	15*	Green Bay Packers
1942	Cecil Isbell (2)	24*	Green Bay Packers
1943	Sid Luckman (1)	28*	Chicago Bears
1944	Frank Filchock (2)	13	Washington Redskins
1945	Sid Luckman (2)	14	Chicago Bears
1945	Bob Waterfield (1)	14	Cleveland Rams
1946	Sid Luckman (3)	17	Chicago Bears
1946	Bob Waterfield (2)	17	Los Angeles Rams
1947	Sammy Baugh (2)	25	Washington Redskins
1948	Tommy Thompson	25	Philadelphia Eagles
1949	Johnny Lujack	23	Chicago Bears
1950	George Ratterman	22	New York Yanks
1951	Bobby Layne	26	Detroit Lions
1952	Jim Finks	20	Pittsburgh Steelers
1952	Otto Graham (3)	20	Cleveland Browns
1953	Bobby Thomason	21	Philadelphia Eagles
1954	Adrian Burk	23	Philadelphia Eagles
1955	Y. A. Tittle (1)	17	San Francisco 49ers
1955	Tobin Rote (1)	17	Green Bay Packers
1956	Tobin Rote (2)	18	Green Bay Packers
1957	Johnny Unitas (1)	24	Baltimore Colts
1958	Johnny Unitas (2)	19	Baltimore Colts
1959	Johnny Unitas (3)	32*	Baltimore Colts
1960	Johnny Unitas (4)	25	Baltimore Colts
1961	Sonny Jurgensen (1)	32*	Philadelphia Eagles
1962	Y. A. Tittle (2)	33*	New York Giants
1963	Y. A. Tittle (3)	36*	New York Giants
1964	Frank Ryan (1)	25	Cleveland Browns
1965	John Brodie (1)	30	San Francisco 49ers
1966	Frank Ryan (2)	29	Cleveland Browns
1967	Sonny Jurgensen (2)	31	Washington Redskins
1968	Earl Morrall	26	Baltimore Colts
1969	Roman Gabriel (1)	24	Los Angeles Rams
1970	John Brodie (2)	24	San Francisco 49ers
1971	John Hadl	21	San Diego Chargers
1972	Billy Kilmer	19	Washington Redskins
1972	Joe Namath	19	New York Jets
1973	Roman Gabriel (2)	23	Philadelphia Eagles
1973	Roger Staubach	23	Dallas Cowboys
1974	Ken Stabler (1)	26	Oakland Raiders
1975	Fran Tarkenton	25	Minnesota Vikings
1975	Joe Ferguson	25	Buffalo Bills
1976	Ken Stabler (2)	27	Oakland Raiders
1977	Bob Griese	22	Miami Dolphins
1978	Terry Bradshaw (1)	28	Pittsburgh Steelers
1979	Steve Grogan	28	New England Patriots
1979	Brian Sipe	28	Cleveland Browns
1980	Steve Bartkowski	31	Atlanta Falcons
1981	Dan Fouts (1)	33	San Diego Chargers
1982	Dan Fouts (2)	17	San Diego Chargers
	Terry Bradshaw (2)		Pittsburgh Steelers
	Joe Montana (1)		San Francisco 49ers
1983	Lynn Dickey	32	Green Bay Packers
1984	Dan Marino (1)	48*	Miami Dolphins
1985	Dan Marino (2)	30	Miami Dolphins
1986	Dan Marino (3)	44	Miami Dolphins
1987	Joe Montana (2)	31	San Francisco 49ers
1988	Jim Everett (1)	31	Los Angeles Rams
1989	Jim Everett (2)	29	Los Angeles Rams
1990	Warren Moon	33	Houston Oilers
1991	Jim Kelly	33	Buffalo Bills
1992	Steve Young (1)	25	San Francisco 49ers
1993	Steve Young (2)	29	San Francisco 49ers
1994	Steve Young (3)	35	San Francisco 49ers
1995	Brett Favre (1)	38	Green Bay Packers
1996	Brett Favre (2)	39	Green Bay Packers
1997	Brett Favre (3)	35	Green Bay Packers
1998	Steve Young (4)	36	San Francisco 49ers
1999	Kurt Warner (1)	41	St. Louis Rams
2000	Peyton Manning (1)	33	Indianapolis Colts
2000	Daunte Culpepper	33	Minnesota Vikings
2001	Kurt Warner (2)	36	St. Louis Rams
2002	Tom Brady (1)	28	New England Patriots
2003	Brett Favre (4)	32	Green Bay Packers
2004	Peyton Manning (2)	49*	Indianapolis Colts
2005	Carson Palmer	32	Cincinnati Bengals
2006	Peyton Manning (3)	31	Indianapolis Colts
2007	Tom Brady (2)	50*	New England Patriots
2008	Drew Brees (1)	34	New Orleans Saints
2008	Philip Rivers	34	San Diego Chargers
2009	Drew Brees (2)	34	New Orleans Saints
2010	Tom Brady (3)	36	New England Patriots
2011	Drew Brees (3)	46	New Orleans Saints
2012	Drew Brees (4)	43	New Orleans Saints
2013	Peyton Manning (4)	55*	Denver Broncos
2014	Andrew Luck	40	Indianapolis Colts
2015	Tom Brady (4)	36	New England Patriots
2016	Aaron Rodgers (1)	40	Green Bay Packers
2017	Russell Wilson	34	Seattle Seahawks
2018	Patrick Mahomes	50	Kansas City Chiefs
2019	Lamar Jackson	36	Baltimore Ravens
2020	Aaron Rodgers (2)	48	Green Bay Packers
2021	Tom Brady (5)	43	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2022	Patrick Mahomes (2)	41	Kansas City Chiefs
2023	Dak Prescott	36	Dallas Cowboys

Top 25 Single Season Passing Touchdown Seasons

*Updated through the 2022 season*
Rank	Player	Team	Season	TD	TD Pct.	Int.	Int. Pct.
1	Peyton Manning (1/3)	Denver	2013	55	8.3	10	1.5
2	Tom Brady (1/4)	New England	2007	50	8.7	8	1.4
2	Patrick Mahomes (1/2)	Kansas City	2018	50	8.6	12	2.1
4	Peyton Manning (2/3)	Indianapolis	2004	49	9.9	10	2.0
5	Dan Marino (1/2)	Miami	1984	48	8.5	17	3.0
5	Aaron Rodgers (1/4)	Green Bay	2020	48	9.1	5	1.0
7	Drew Brees (1/3)	New Orleans	2011	46	7.0	14	2.1
8	Aaron Rodgers (2/4)	Green Bay	2011	45	9.0	6	1.2
9	Dan Marino (2/2)	Miami	1986	44	7.1	23	3.7
10	Drew Brees (2/3)	New Orleans	2012	43	6.4	19	2.8
10	Tom Brady (2/4)	Tampa Bay	2021	43	6.0	12	1.7
12	Kurt Warner	St. Louis Rams	1999	41	8.2	13	2.6
	Matthew Stafford (1/2)	Detroit	2011		6.2	16	2.4
	Matthew Stafford (2/2)	Los Angeles Rams	2021		6.8	17	2.8
	Patrick Mahomes (2/2)	Kansas City Chiefs	2022		6.3	12	1.9
16	Andrew Luck (1/2)	Indianapolis	2014	40	6.5	16	2.6
	Aaron Rodgers (3/4)	Green Bay	2016		6.6	7	1.1
	Tom Brady (3/4)	Tampa Bay	2020		6.6	12	2.0
	Russell Wilson	Seattle	2020		7.2	13	2.3
20	Brett Favre	Green Bay	1996	39	7.2	13	2.4
	Daunte Culpepper	Minnesota	2004		7.1	11	2.0
	Tom Brady (4/4)	New England	2011		6.4	12	2.0
	Aaron Rodgers (4/4)	Green Bay	2012		7.1	8	1.4
	Drew Brees (3/3)	New Orleans	2013		6.0	12	1.8
	Peyton Manning (3/3)	Denver	2014		6.5	15	2.5
	Andrew Luck (2/2)	Indianapolis	2018		6.1	15	2.3
Rank	Player	Team	Season	TD	TD Pct.	Int.	Int. Pct.

Other leagues

All-America Football Conference (AAFC)

Year	Player	TDs	Team
1946	Otto Graham (1)	17	Cleveland Browns
1947	Otto Graham (2)	25	Cleveland Browns
1948	Frankie Albert (1)	29*	San Francisco 49ers
1949	Frankie Albert (2)	27	San Francisco 49ers

American Football League (AFL)

Year	Player	TDs	Team
1960	Al Dorow	26	New York Titans
1961	George Blanda	36*	Houston Oilers
1962	Len Dawson (1)	29	Dallas Texans
1963	Len Dawson (2)	26	Kansas City Chiefs
1964	Babe Parilli	31	Boston Patriots
1965	Len Dawson (3)	21	Kansas City Chiefs
1966	Len Dawson (4)	26	Kansas City Chiefs
1967	Daryle Lamonica (1)	30	Oakland Raiders
1968	John Hadl	27	San Diego Chargers
1969	Daryle Lamonica (2)	34	Oakland Raiders

Most titles

Titles	Player	Years	Team
5	Tom Brady	2002, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2021	New England Patriots (4) / Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1)
4	Johnny Unitas	1957, 1958, 1959, 1960	Baltimore Colts
	Len Dawson	1962, 1963, 1965, 1966	Kansas City Chiefs (AFL)
	Steve Young	1992, 1993, 1994, 1998	San Francisco 49ers
	Brett Favre	1995, 1996, 1997, 2003	Green Bay Packers
	Drew Brees	2008, 2009, 2011, 2012	New Orleans Saints
	Peyton Manning	2000, 2004, 2006, 2013	Indianapolis Colts (3) / Denver Broncos (1)
3	Arnie Herber	1932, 1934, 1936	Green Bay Packers
	Dan Marino	1984, 1985, 1986	Miami Dolphins
	Sid Luckman	1943, 1945, 1946	Chicago Bears
	Y.A. Tittle	1955, 1962, 1963	San Francisco 49ers (1) / New York Giants (2)

Johnny Unitas is the only player to win four titles in a row. Three players (Steve Young, Dan Marino and Brett Favre) have won three in a row.

Related pages

References

Pro-Football-Reference.com