In the words of Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins, “Next time, I promise we’ll be perfect, perfect.”
In the NFL, a quarterback achieves a “perfect game” with a passer rating of 158.3. That’s the highest passer rating achievable, and it occurs when a quarterback:
-attempts at least ten passes
-throws no interceptions
-has a completion percentage of 77.5%+
-has 11.875%+ of their passes result in touchdowns
-has 12.5+ yards per attempt.
Have you got all that? Don’t worry; there will not be a quiz on this later.
It has happened 80 times in the regular season, with 66 different QBs accomplishing the feat. This metric was “invented” in 1971 and then retroactively applied to past NFL games.
Lamar Jackson has achieved it three times, as has Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Kurt Warner.
No one has done it more than Ben Roethlisberger, who has thrown four perfect games. Jackson came as close as you can come, without doing it, on Monday night. Lamar put up a 158.1, on the strength of 17-22 passing for 281 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions.
His 12.8 yards per attempt qualified, but he missed the cutoff for completion percentage by the thinnest of margins. We’re talking about electoral margins in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, which are level thin.
Jackson left Raymond James Stadium with a 77.27% completion rate for Monday night, or only 0.23% below the magic number.
These numbers illustrate how dominant the reigning MVP was on MNF this week. Given that he’s just 27 years old and thus has plenty of prime years remaining, eventually, he should surpass Roethlisberger’s record.
