Johnny Unitas- 47 consecutive games with a touchdown pass
The NFL is a very different game than it was as recent as 30 years ago, and even more different when compared to 50 and even 60 years ago. The passing game of the 50’s and 60’s was minimal compared to the pass-happy offenses of today. So when a PASSING record set in the 50’s and 60’s withstands the test of time for over 50 years, it should be remembered and celebrated. Enter Johnny Unitas, quarterback for the then Baltimore Colts.
Early in his career, Unitas threw a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games. Back then, that achievement was unthinkable. The previous record was 23… he over doubled it. And then heading forward into the 70’s and 80’s, only a handful of quarterbacks would even get close to 25 or 30 games, most notably Sonny Jergensen, Daryl Lamonica and Dan Marino. As the league continued to swing from the running game to the passing game, many quarterbacks in the new millennium began to put together streaks that would end in the 20’s and 30’s. It wasn’t until 2012, 52 years after Unitas’s streak began, that Drew Brees completed a 54-game streak. Only two other quarterbacks have eclipsed Unitas’s streak of 47… Peyton Manning with 51 and Tom Brady with 52.
So, when you look at the record book, and you were to look up this particular list, it shows Brees at the top, followed by Brady, Manning and then Unitas. I see it differently. Johnny Unitas’s 47 games is BY FAR the most impressive streak of all of them. Back in the late 50’s and early 60’s, it was not uncommon for a quarterback to only throw fewer than 20 passes a game. To put that into perspective, Tom Brady just finished the 2022 season having attempted 733 passes over 17 games. That translates to just over 43 pass attempts per game. During the years of the Unitas streak (1956-60), he averaged about 26 pass attempts per game. Not only that, but nowadays if a team is on the 2-yard line trying to score a touchdown, you’re every bit as likely to see a fade pass or a quick slant as opposed to a run. Back then, if a team was on the 2-yard line, everybody in the stadium knew it was a run.
Most of these sports records have to be digested with a bit of understanding. There are vast differences in eras, which lead to numbers that don’t translate from one decade to another. Each sport changes. In baseball for instance, not many players steal bases anymore, yet strikeout rates are through the roof. These numbers were reversed in the 1980’s… lots of steals and lower strikeouts. In basketball, individual players are scoring in the 60s and even 70s more than ever, largely due to the 3-point shot, yet “Pistol” Pete Maravich AVERAGED over 40 points a game in college long before the 3-point shot was even introduced. I think it’s important to understand the numbers and how they compare and/or relate to numbers from previous eras. With that understanding, Johnny Unitas’s streak of 47 consecutive games with a TD pass is, in my mind, the unofficial record.