Quarterback-Receiver Touchdown Pairings (Through 2016)

by Chase Stuart on July 6, 2017

The top QB/WR duo by touchdowns, and another top-10 combo.

Three years ago, I looked at the top quarterback/receiving pairings in terms of total passing touchdowns between the two players. Per a comment suggestion, let’s update that list today. The top two pairs have not changed, but there has been some movement in the top ten.

Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates have now connected for 84 passing touchdowns, all of which came in the regular season. The list below includes the playoffs, and Young and Rice have combined for 85 regular season touchdown passes and 7 playoff scores. That means Rivers and Gates are two more touchdowns away from the second most regular season touchdowns in NFL history. Gates is tied for 6th all time in receiving touchdowns (111) with Tony Gonzalez: despite that, Gates has connected with a touchdown more often with Rivers than Gonzalez has with both Matt Ryan and Trent Green combined.

There’s another tight end duo creeping up the list: Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have connected for 76 touchdowns, tied for fifth place on the list. Also at 76 touchdowns: Marques Colston and Drew Brees. The interesting note there: Colston retired without ever catching a touchdown pass from anyone besides Brees.

The table below shows the full list for combinations that have at least 25 touchdown strikes:

Rk	Quarterback	Receiver	TDs	Last year
1	Peyton Manning	Marvin Harrison	114	2008
2	Steve Young	Jerry Rice	92	1999
3	Philip Rivers	Antonio Gates	84	2016
4	Dan Marino	Mark Clayton	82	1992
5	Peyton Manning	Reggie Wayne	76	2010
5	Drew Brees	Marques Colston	76	2015
5	Tom Brady	Rob Gronkowski	76	2016
8	Jim Kelly	Andre Reed	71	1996
9	Joe Montana	Jerry Rice	67	1990
9	Brett Favre	Antonio Freeman	67	2001
11	Johnny Unitas	Raymond Berry	64	1967
11	Aaron Rodgers	Jordy Nelson	64	2016
13	Otto Graham	Dante Lavelli	62	1955
14	Dan Marino	Mark Duper	60	1992
15	Terry Bradshaw	Lynn Swann	58	1981
15	Matthew Stafford	Calvin Johnson	58	2015
17	Troy Aikman	Michael Irvin	57	1999
17	Daunte Culpepper	Randy Moss	57	2004
19	John Hadl	Lance Alworth	56	1970
20	Matt Ryan	Roddy White	55	2015
21	Drew Brees	Jimmy Graham	54	2014
22	Frank Ryan	Gary Collins	53	1967
22	Sonny Jurgensen	Charley Taylor	53	1974
22	Ken Anderson	Isaac Curtis	53	1983
22	Terry Bradshaw	John Stallworth	53	1982
22	Ron Jaworski	Harold Carmichael	53	1983
27	Jeff Garcia	Terrell Owens	52	2003
28	Ben Roethlisberger	Antonio Brown	51	2016
29	Dave Krieg	Steve Largent	50	1989
29	Mark Brunell	Jimmy Smith	50	2002
29	Tony Romo	Dez Bryant	50	2015
32	Len Dawson	Otis Taylor	48	1974
32	Daryle Lamonica	Fred Biletnikoff	48	1973
32	Neil Lomax	Roy Green	48	1988
32	Marc Bulger	Torry Holt	48	2008
32	Jake Delhomme	Steve Smith	48	2009
32	Peyton Manning	Dallas Clark	48	2010
32	Kurt Warner	Larry Fitzgerald	48	2009
39	Jeff Blake	Carl Pickens	47	1999
39	Ben Roethlisberger	Hines Ward	47	2011
41	John Hadl	Gary Garrison	46	1972
41	Ken Stabler	Cliff Branch	46	1979
41	Warren Moon	Ernest Givins	46	1993
41	Drew Bledsoe	Ben Coates	46	1999
45	Ken Stabler	Dave Casper	45	1981
45	Dan Fouts	Kellen Winslow	45	1987
45	Brett Favre	Sterling Sharpe	45	1994
45	Ben Roethlisberger	Heath Miller	45	2015
45	Aaron Rodgers	James Jones	45	2015
45	Matt Ryan	Julio Jones	45	2016
51	Johnny Unitas	Lenny Moore	44	1965
51	Joe Namath	Don Maynard	44	1972
51	Joe Montana	Dwight Clark	44	1987
51	Warren Moon	Drew Hill	44	1991
51	Carson Palmer	Chad Johnson	44	2010
51	Andy Dalton	A.J. Green	44	2016
57	Len Dawson	Chris Burford	43	1967
57	Sonny Jurgensen	Jerry Smith	43	1974
57	Jim Zorn	Steve Largent	43	1983
57	John Elway	Shannon Sharpe	43	1998
61	Y.A. Tittle	Billy Wilson	42	1959
61	George Blanda	Charley Hennigan	42	1966
61	Aaron Rodgers	Greg Jennings	42	2012
64	Frankie Albert	Alyn Beals	41	1950
64	Johnny Unitas	Jimmy Orr	41	1970
64	Peyton Manning	Demaryius Thomas	41	2015
67	Jay Cutler	Brandon Marshall	40	2014
67	Philip Rivers	Vincent Jackson	40	2011
67	Tom Brady	Randy Moss	40	2010
67	Aaron Rodgers	Randall Cobb	40	2016
71	Jim Hart	Mel Gray	39	1981
71	Steve Grogan	Stanley Morgan	39	1989
71	John Elway	Vance Johnson	39	1993
71	Boomer Esiason	Eddie Brown	39	1991
71	Aaron Brooks	Joe Horn	39	2005
71	Drew Brees	Lance Moore	39	2013
77	Dan Fouts	Charlie Joiner	38	1985
77	Mark Rypien	Gary Clark	38	1992
77	Brett Favre	Donald Driver	38	2007
77	Tom Brady	Wes Welker	38	2012
81	Don Meredith	Bob Hayes	37	1968
81	Roman Gabriel	Jack Snow	37	1972
81	Jim Everett	Henry Ellard	37	1993
81	Tony Romo	Jason Witten	37	2015
81	Matt Ryan	Tony Gonzalez	37	2013
86	Dan Pastorini	Ken Burrough	36	1979
86	Dan Fouts	John Jefferson	36	1980
86	Brett Favre	Robert Brooks	36	1998
86	Matt Hasselbeck	Darrell Jackson	36	2006
86	Eli Manning	Plaxico Burress	36	2008
86	Russell Wilson	Doug Baldwin	36	2016
92	Carson Palmer	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	35	2011
92	Babe Parilli	Gino Cappelletti	35	1967
92	Tom Flores	Art Powell	35	1966
92	Daryle Lamonica	Warren Wells	35	1970
92	Richard Todd	Wesley Walker	35	1983
92	Lynn Dickey	Paul Coffman	35	1985
92	Joe Montana	Freddie Solomon	35	1985
92	Dave Krieg	Daryl Turner	35	1987
92	Scott Mitchell	Herman Moore	35	1998
92	Peyton Manning	Marcus Pollard	35	2004
92	Trent Green	Tony Gonzalez	35	2006
92	Tony Romo	Terrell Owens	35	2008
92	Eli Manning	Odell Beckham	35	2016
105	Len Dawson	Fred Arbanas	34	1970
105	Lynn Dickey	James Lofton	34	1985
105	Danny White	Tony Hill	34	1986
105	Philip Rivers	Malcom Floyd	34	2015
105	Alex Smith	Vernon Davis	34	2012
105	Joe Flacco	Torrey Smith	34	2014
111	Steve McNair	Derrick Mason	33	2007
111	Randall Cunningham	Cris Carter	33	1999
111	Cecil Isbell	Don Hutson	33	1942
111	Norm Van Brocklin	Elroy Hirsch	33	1957
111	Bart Starr	Boyd Dowler	33	1969
111	Charley Johnson	Sonny Randle	33	1966
111	Johnny Unitas	John Mackey	33	1970
111	Bob Griese	Paul Warfield	33	1974
111	Bob Griese	Nat Moore	33	1979
111	Steve Bartkowski	Alfred Jenkins	33	1983
111	Ron Jaworski	Mike Quick	33	1986
111	Warren Moon	Haywood Jeffires	33	1993
123	Kerry Collins	Amani Toomer	32	2003
123	Brett Favre	Bubba Franks	32	2007
123	Matt Schaub	Andre Johnson	32	2012
126	Drew Bledsoe	Terry Glenn	31	2006
126	Sid Luckman	Ken Kavanaugh	31	1948
126	Johnny Unitas	Jim Mutscheller	31	1961
126	Roger Staubach	Drew Pearson	31	1979
126	Dan Fouts	Wes Chandler	31	1987
126	Rich Gannon	Tim Brown	31	2003
126	Cam Newton	Greg Olsen	31	2016
133	Arnie Herber	Don Hutson	30	1940
133	Otto Graham	Mac Speedie	30	1952
133	Sonny Jurgensen	Tommy McDonald	30	1963
133	Norm Van Brocklin	Tommy McDonald	30	1960
133	Fran Tarkenton	John Gilliam	30	1975
133	Roger Staubach	Billy Joe DuPree	30	1979
133	Boomer Esiason	Rodney Holman	30	1992
133	Ken O'Brien	Al Toon	30	1992
133	Donovan McNabb	Brian Westbrook	30	2009
133	Eli Manning	Hakeem Nicks	30	2012
133	Ben Roethlisberger	Mike Wallace	30	2012
133	Andrew Luck	T.Y. Hilton	30	2016
145	Vinny Testaverde	Michael Jackson	29	1997
145	Bart Starr	Max McGee	29	1966
145	Sonny Jurgensen	Bobby Mitchell	29	1967
145	Brian Sipe	Ozzie Newsome	29	1983
145	Phil Simms	Mark Bavaro	29	1990
145	Mark Rypien	Art Monk	29	1993
145	Jeff Hostetler	Tim Brown	29	1996
145	Tom Brady	Julian Edelman	29	2016
153	John Brodie	Gene Washington	28	1973
153	Ken Stabler	Fred Biletnikoff	28	1978
153	Danny White	Doug Cosbie	28	1987
153	Mark Brunell	Keenan McCardell	28	2001
153	Tom Brady	Deion Branch	28	2011
153	Kurt Warner	Anquan Boldin	28	2009
153	Tony Romo	Miles Austin	28	2012
160	Tommy Thompson	Pete Pihos	27	1950
160	Charlie Conerly	Kyle Rote	27	1961
160	Don Meredith	Frank Clarke	27	1966
160	Babe Parilli	Larry Garron	27	1967
160	Joe Namath	Rich Caster	27	1976
160	Fran Tarkenton	Sammy White	27	1978
160	Stan Humphries	Tony Martin	27	1997
160	Warren Moon	Cris Carter	27	1996
160	Chris Chandler	Terance Mathis	27	2001
169	Vinny Testaverde	Mark Carrier	26	1994
169	Tobin Rote	Billy Howton	26	1956
169	Charlie Conerly	Frank Gifford	26	1960
169	George Blanda	Bill Groman	26	1962
169	Charley Johnson	Bobby Joe Conrad	26	1966
169	Frank Ryan	Paul Warfield	26	1968
169	Norm Snead	Ben Hawkins	26	1970
169	Brian Sipe	Reggie Rucker	26	1981
169	Joe Ferguson	Frank Lewis	26	1983
169	Joe Ferguson	Jerry Butler	26	1983
169	Dan Marino	Nat Moore	26	1986
169	Chris Miller	Andre Rison	26	1993
169	Dan Marino	O.J. McDuffie	26	1999
169	Steve Young	Terrell Owens	26	1999
169	Kurt Warner	Isaac Bruce	26	2001
169	Jake Delhomme	Muhsin Muhammad	26	2008
169	Drew Brees	Robert Meachem	26	2013
169	Eli Manning	Victor Cruz	26	2016
169	Carson Palmer	Larry Fitzgerald	26	2016
188	Y.A. Tittle	Del Shofner	25	1963
188	Billy Wade	Mike Ditka	25	1964
188	Joe Namath	George Sauer	25	1970
188	Jim Hart	Jackie Smith	25	1977
188	Bert Jones	Roger Carr	25	1981
188	Steve Bartkowski	Wallace Francis	25	1981
188	Joe Theismann	Art Monk	25	1985
188	Boomer Esiason	James Brooks	25	1991
188	Bobby Hebert	Eric Martin	25	1992
188	Troy Aikman	Jay Novacek	25	1995
188	John Elway	Ed McCaffrey	25	1998
188	Kerry Collins	Ike Hilliard	25	2003
188	Michael Vick	Alge Crumpler	25	2006
188	Matt Cassel	Dwayne Bowe	25	2012

Other interesting notes: Randall Cunningham and Cris Carter connected for 17 touchdowns in Philadelphia and 16 touchdowns in Minnesota. Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall teamed up for 26 touchdowns in Chicago and 14 in Denver. Terry Glenn and Drew Bledsoe hit 21 scoring strikes in New England, and 10 in Dallas. And the fourth QB/WR pair to connect for double digit touchdown passes for two different teams? That one gets an asterisk: Vinny Testaverde threw 29 passing touchdowns to Michael Jackson: 12 came while the duo was in Cleveland, and 17 after the franchise moved to Baltimore. Obviously that was the same “team” on the field, but NFL records do count them as separate franchises.

What stands out to you?

{ 22 comments }