Unitas record

Unitas_fantasy At the time of his retirement in 1973, Johnny Unitas, the superstar quarterback of the Baltimore Colts, held virtually every career passing record that existed in the National Football League. Since that time, some of those records have been surpassed.

One record, however, stood out among the many. He threw a touchdown pass in 47 straight games, a string that stood unchallenged for a half century until Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints broke it.

TOP 5 TD STREAKS

1. Drew Brees (54)
2. Tom Brady (52)
3. Johnny Unitas (47)
4. Brett Favre (36)
5. Dan Marino (30)

Unitas' remarkable feat began during his rookie campaign in a game against the Los Angeles Rams in 1956. Four years later and 11 games into the 1960 season, the streak finally ended against the same Rams team that the streak had begun.

 
By completing 697 passes for 10,645 yards and 102 touchdowns during the 47-game string, Unitas quickly became recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game. Seven different Colts were on the receiving end of his scoring passes, but Hall of Famers Raymond Berry with 38 TD catches, and Lenny Moore with 27, were Unitas' favorite targets.

After a record-filled 18-year career, and three championships, Unitas himself was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. His full uniform is on display at the Hall as well as the football he threw to surpass 40,000 passing yards.

Unitas vs. Brees: Comparing the streaks>>>
 
Johnny Unitas - Record 47 Consecutive Games With a Touchdown Pass
  Date Opponent/Score
Att
Comp
Yds
TD
Int
  
TD Passes (Yds/Receiver)
1 Dec 9, 1956 at Los Angeles Rams, 7-31
29
14
147
1
1
   3 to Mutscheller
2 Dec 16, 1956 at San Francisco 49ers, 17-30
16
11
124
1
1
   31 to Berry
3 Dec 23, 1956 Washington Redskins, 19-17
18
10
161
1
1
   53 to Mutscheller
4 Sep 29, 1957 Detroit Lions, 34-14
23
14
241
4
3
   44 to Mutscheller, 35 to DuPre, 35 to Berry, 3 to DuPre
5 Oct 5, 1957 Chicago Bears, 21-10
26
17
184
2
1
   8 to Mutscheller, 9 to Ameche
6 Oct 13, 1957 at Green Bay Packers (Mil), 45-17
17
7
130
2
2
   12 to Mutscheller, 29 to Mutscheller
7 Oct 20, 1957 at Detroit Lions, 27-31
21
16
239
4
1
   15 to Mutscheller, 72 to Moore, 52 to Mutscheller, 4 to Moore
8 Oct 27, 1957 Green Bay Packers, 21-24
31
16
188
2
2
   52 to Berry, 6 to Moore
9 Nov 3, 1957 Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-19
9
2
56
1
3
   5 to Berry
10 Nov 10, 1957 at Washington Redskins, 21-17
30
17
247
2
0
   67 to Berry, 11 to Berry
11 Nov 17, 1957 at Chicago Bears, 29-14
23
11
245
1
0
   66 to Mutscheller
12 Nov 24, 1957 San Francisco 49ers, 27-21
25
16
230
1
0
   8 to Ameche
13 Dec 1, 1957 Los Angeles Rams, 31-14
30
18
271
3
1
   3 to Moore, 10 To Berry, 50 to Moore
14 Dec 8, 1957 at San Francisco 49ers, 13-17
37
23
296
1
2
   82 to Moore
15 Dec 15, 1957 at Los Angeles Rams, 21-37
29
14
223
1
2
   2 to Moore
16 Sep 28, 1958 Detroit Lions, 28-15
43
23
250
2
1
   26 to Berry, 14 to Berry
17 Oct 4, 1958 Chicago Bears, 51-38
23
10
198
4
1
   12 to Berry, 77 to Moore, 2 to Mutscheller, 33 to Moore
18 Oct 12, 1958 at Green Bay Packers (Mil), 24-17
35
16
238
1
1
   54 to Mutscheller
19 Oct 19, 1958 at Detroit Lions, 40-14
17
11
221
1
0
   37 to Mutscheller
20 Oct 26, 1958 Washington Redskins, 35-10
15
8
183
2
0
   17 to Berry, 48 to Berry
21 Nov 2, 1958 Green Bay Packers, 56-0
16
5
99
2
0
   2 to Moore, 5 to Ameche
  Nov 9, 1958 at New York Giants, 21-24
Injured – Did Not Play
  Nov 16, 1958 at Chicago Bears, 17-0
Injured – Did Not Play
22 Nov 23, 1958 Los Angeles Rams, 34-7
18
12
218
2
0
   58 to Moore, 12 to Mutscheller
23 Nov 30, 1958 San Francisco 49ers, 35-27
33
17
229
1
1
   7 to Berry
24 Dec 6, 1958 at Los Angeles Rams, 28-30
38
23
214
3
3
   3 to Berry, 5 to Moore, 22 to Mutscheller
25 Dec 14, 1958 at San Francisco 49ers, 12-21
25
11
157
1
0
   38 to Mutscheller
26 Sep 27, 1959 Detroit Lions, 21-9
30
13
230
2
0
   18 to Berry, 40 to Mutscheller
27 Oct 3, 1959 Chicago Bears, 21-26
38
17
221
3
3
   7 to Berry, 4 to Mutscheller, 13 to Mutscheller
28 Oct 11, 1959 at Detroit Lions, 31-24
25
13
257
3
2
   68 to Moore, 39 to Mutscheller, 53 to Berry
29 Oct 18, 1959 at Chicago Bears, 21-7
30
16
233
2
2
   25 to Moore, 1 to DuPre
30 Oct 25, 1959 Green Bay Packers, 38-21
29
19
206
3
0
   8 to Berry, 3 to Ameche, 2 to Berry
31 Nov 1, 1959 Cleveland Browns, 31-38
41
23
397
4
3
   3 to Moore, 8 to Richardson, 10 to Berry, 5 to Mutscheller
32 Nov 8, 1959 at Washington Redskins, 24-27
35
15
265
2
2
   19 to Mutscheller, 4 to Mutscheller
33 Nov 15, 1959 at Green Bay Packers (Mil), 28-24
33
19
324
3
0
   7 to Berry, 13 to Berry, 24 to Mutscheller
34 Nov 22, 1959 San Francisco 49ers, 45-14
19
10
141
2
1
   21 to Berry, 3 to Moore
35 Nov 29, 1959 Los Angeles Rams, 35-21
24
14
242
2
1
   55 to Berry, 17 to Moore
36 Dec 5, 1959 at San Francisco 49ers, 35-14
36
21
273
3
0
   7 to Berry, 13 to Berry, 64 to Moore
37 Dec 12, 1959 at Los Angeles Rams, 45-26
27
13
110
3
0
   7 to Berry, 11 to Berry, 9 to Richardson
38 Sep 25, 1960 Washington Redskins, 20-0
35
17
232
1
1
   12 to Berry
39 Oct 2, 1960 Chicago Bears, 42-7
27
14
307
4
0
   66 to Moore, 27 to Berry, 18 to Moore, 43 to Mutscheller
40 Oct 7, 1960 at Green Bay Packers, 21-35
31
16
216
1
4
   1 to Hawkins
41 Oct 16, 1960 Los Angeles Rams, 31-17
23
12
176
1
2
   22 to Moore
42 Oct 23, 1960 at Detroit Lions, 17-30
40
20
253
2
2
   22 to Berry, 3 to Mutscheller
43 Oct 30, 1960 at Dallas Cowboys, 45-7
16
8
270
4
0
   68 to Berry, 52 to Berry, 70 to Berry, 20 to Moore
44 Nov 6, 1960 Green Bay Packers, 38-24
29
20
324
4
1
   45 to Berry, 1 to Hawkins, 21 to Berry, 16 to Berry
45 Nov 13, 1960 at Chicago Bears, 24-20
33
16
266
2
2
   36 to Moore, 39 to Moore
46 Nov 27, 1960 San Francisco 49ers, 22-30
30
16
356
3
5
   10 to Berry, 6 to Hawkins, 65 to Moore
47 Dec 4, 1960 Detroit Lions, 15-20
40
22
357
2
3
   80 to Moore, 38 to Moore
  Dec 11, 1960 at Los Angeles Rams, 3-10
38
17
182
0
1
   STREAK BROKEN