The ultimate goal in the NFL is to win a Super Bowl. But if you can’t do that, the next best thing is probably etching your name in the Super Bowl record books. In this age of increased offensive production, many records are being challenged, but there are a few that stemmed from performances so ridiculous we just can’t conceive of anyone matching them again.
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Simply put, there are some performances where the stars aligned so perfectly that we can’t expect those circumstances to be replicated. Here are the three Super Bowl records we feel are the most untouchable, even with the game’s evolution over the last few decades.
3) Steve Young – Most Passing TDs: 6 (Super Bowl XXIX)
There have been 26,800 NFL games played in the regular and postseason since the 1970 merger. Only 31 times has a QB thrown for 6+ TDs. Only two of those came in one of the league’s 1,130 playoff games over that span: Tom Brady in a big Divisional round win in 2011, and Steve Young, who did it for the San Francisco 49ers in a 49-26 victory in Super Bowl XXIX.
- Young – 6 TDs (XXIX)
- Joe Montana – 5 TDs (XXIV)
- Tom Brady – 4 TDs (XLIX)
- Troy Aikman – 4 TDs (XXVII)
- Doug Williams – 4 TDs (XXII)
- Terry Bradshaw – 4 TDs (XIII)
Young not only famously got the monkey off his back that day, but he also set a Super Bowl record that is unlikely to ever be touched. Even with the increase in teams that are looking to air it out, only one QB (Tua Tagovailoa) has had a six-TD-pass game since the end of 2018. And considering only seven times in 59 Super Bowls has a QB even managed four TD passes, this one seems pretty safe.
2. Tom Brady – Most Passing Yards: 505 (Super Bowl LII)
Unsurprisingly, the GOAT makes it on this list. Tom Brady‘s 505 yards in Super Bowl LII actually came in a losing effort to none other than Nick Foles. In fact, Brady also has the 2nd-highest single-game Super Bowl passing yards total (466) which he needed overtime to accomplish in the previous year’s Super Bowl triumph.
- Brady – 505 yards (LII)
- Brady – 466 yards (LI)
- Kurt Warner – 414 yards (XXXIV)
- Warner – 377 yards (XLIII)
- Nick Foles – 373 yards (LII)
Believe it or not, even in this age of pass-happy offensive guru genius coordinators, only one other QB has ever thrown for 400+ yards in a Super Bowl (Kurt Warner, Super Bowl XXXIV).
It’s also interesting to note how involved Brady is in the list of top 10 single-game Super Bowl passing yards performances. Three of the top nine belong to him personally, and three more came from his Super Bowl opponents (Warner in 2001, Foles in 2017, and Donovan McNabb in 2004).
Only 25 times since the NFL merger of 1970 has a QB thrown for 500+ yards, and only twice did a player do so in the playoffs. Funnily enough, both came in losing efforts: Brady’s 505 in Super Bowl LII, and Ben Roethlisberger’s 501 in a 2020 Wild Card loss to the Browns. This record isn’t going anywhere.
1. Jacoby Jones – Longest TD: 108 Yards (Super Bowl XLVII)
No record is as safe as Jacoby Jones’ mark for the longest TD in NFL history. Jones returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLVII 108 yards for a house call, a play that was so momentous it caused a blackout in the stadium that forced the game to be paused. This is as close to an unbreakable record as there is: a play can only go a maximum of 109 yards in an NFL game.
- Jones – 108 yards (XLVII)
- James Harrison – 100 yards (XLIII)
- Desmond Howard – 99 yards (XXXI)
- Fulton Walker – 98 yards (XVII)
- Andre Coleman – 98 yards (XXIX)
Watching Jacoby Jones’ 109 yard Kickoff Return will never get old pic.twitter.com/kDYoIqFvyU
— The Ravens Realm (@RealmRavens) December 28, 2022
A 108-yard play means that no offensive play from scrimmage can match this one. The only way to eclipse this is with a missed field goal return, a kickoff return, or an interception return. Even with the new kickoff rules, we still barely see players returning kicks, much less ones that are going to land in the end zone for a touchback.
We can safely say, there will never be another kickoff return this long in the Super Bowl, so it would have to be a perfect scenario for a 109-yard pick-six or a long field goal that just missed, allowing a return man to take it out. However, no player has ever attempted the latter in the Big Game, to our knowledge.
There have only ever been eight INT return TDs in Super Bowl history, and while all of them were above 50 yards, none were intercepted in the end zone like a record-breaker would need to be here. Jones shouldn’t fret about this one.
