The 13 Most Unbreakable NFL Records

There are some NFL records that are just waiting to be broken after the league moved to a 17-game season with a potential 18-game season on the horizon, but these are not those records. These are the 13 most unbreakable NFL records of all time, the records that will stand the test of time in the Halls of Canton.

If anyone ever had any doubt that Jerry Rice was the best wide receiver in NFL history then this list of teh13 most unbreakable NFL records, which includes Rice three times, should put that doubt to rest. While it’s possible one of these records might be broken a few hundred years from now it still seems HIGHLY unlikely any of these unbreakable NFL records will ever fall.

1. Most Career Receiving Yards

With the way the game is played these days and position players seeing less longevity than decades pass, it seems unreal to imagine a world where Jerry Rice’s receiving yards record is broken. Rice finished his career with receiving 22,895 yards. The next closest person on the all-time list is Larry Fitzgerald with 17,492 yards, or 5,403 fewer yards. Looking at currently active players, the closest receivers to Jerry Rice is DeAndre Hopkins with 12,965 and Mike Evans with 12,684 yards. Hopkins would need to pick up 9,930 yards before retirement and Mike Evans would need 10,211 to catch Jerry Rice… It’s not happening.

2. Most Sacks In A Single Game

Kansas City’s Derrick Thomas sacked Seattle Seahawks QB Dave Krieg 7 times in a single game in 1990. Only 3 times since that record was set has a player come within 1.5 sacks of Derrick Thomas’ record and one of the three times it was Derrick Thomas himself with 6 sacks in 1998 in a game against the Oakland Raiders.

3. Most Receiving Yards In A Single Game

Flipper Anderson OWNS this record. On November 26, 1989 the Rams wide receiver would torch the New Orleans Saints defense for a record-setting 336 receiving yards. Anderson pulled this off with 15 receptions where he averaged an astounding 22.4 yards/catch and somehow, with 336 receiving yards, he only had 1 receiving TD in the game! The closest any NFL wide receiver has come to Flipper Anderson’s record of 336 receiving yards in 1 game was Calvin Johnson with 329 yards on 10/27/13. After those two, there are only four other instances in NFL history of a player having 300 or more receiving yards in a game.

4. Most Consecutive Road Wins By A Team

The San Francisco 49ers hold the record for the most consecutive road wins by an NFL team. It seems HIGHLY unlikely that any team would ever snap this record. Between 1988-1990, the San Francisco 49ers were unbeatable on the road and rattled off 18 consecutive road wins. The closest any team has gotten to tying the 49ers’ record were Tom Brady’s New England Patriots with 14 consecutive road wins in 2016-2017 and in third place were Brady’s 2006-2008 Patriots with 12 straight road wins. Both of those streaks seemed surreal when they were happening and they still fell 4/6 games short of even tying San Francisco.

5. Most Consecutive Losses By An NFL Team

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team I was raised to root for, hold the NFL consecutive losses record with 26 straight losses between the 1976 and 1977 seasons. The 2020/21 Jacksonville Jaguars came within sniffing distance of the Buccaneers’ record when the Jags lost 20 straight games but at this point, my Buccaneers’ record of 26 consecutive losses seems like it will never get broken.

6. Most Receptions In A Single Season

Michael Thomas holds that record. Previously, it was held by Marvin Harrison with 143 receptions in 2002 and that record was believed to unbreakable until Michael Thomas pulled in 149 receptions in 2019 for the New Orleans Saints as he racked up 1,725 yards.

7. All-Time Receiving Touchdowns

We already touched on how no NFL wide receiver will ever catch Jerry Rice’s receiving yards but Rice holds multiple unbreakable records. One of those is receiving touchdowns. Jerry Rice had 197 in his career and the second closest any NFL player has come in history is Randy Moss with 156 followed by Terrell Owens with 153. Mike Evans is the closest active player with 105 receiving touchdowns. He would need to nearly double his career TDs before retirement in order to catch Jerry Rice.

8. Most Consecutive Starts By A Quarterback

Brett Favre owns this record with 297 consecutive starts. The fact that he was able to make that many consecutive starts without being sidelined due to serious injury is simply absurd. Every player in the NFL gets hurt at some point. It is part of the game. But Favre managed to stay healthy enough for 297 consecutive starts. The next closest player is Philip Rivers with 240 followed by Eli and Peyton Manning with 210 and 208 respectively.

9. Longest Rushing Touchdowns In NFL History

Tony Dorsett (pictured here) and Derrick Henry have this record on lock because it simply cannot be broken. Others can tie them with 99-yard rushing touchdowns but due to the way NFL yardage is measured for stats, it would take a fundamental change of the game for this record to be broken and that’s not happening anytime soon. Tony Dorsett was the first to do it in the final regular season game of the 1982 season against the Minnesota Vikings when the Cowboys already had their Playoffs spot sealed. Derrick Henry would tie that record in Week 14 of the 2018 NFL season.

10. Most Career Seasons in The NFL

George Blanda owns this record with a marathon 26 NFL seasons over the years 1949–1958 and 1960–1975. Tom Brady came *this close* with 23 seasons but nobody has legitimately threatened to break George Blanda’s records for the most seasons played and it seems likely that nobody ever will, especially when you consider the NFL career average is just 3.3 seasons.

11. Most Career Receptions By A WR

Jerry Rice’s third untouchable stat? Receptions. No player will touch him. Rice had 1,549 career receptions. Of active players, Travis Kelce is the closest with 1,004.

12. The Most Interceptions Thrown In A Game

In his 1950 season opener, Chicago Cardinals QB Jim Hardy threw for an NFL-worst 8 interceptions in a single game. His team got blown out 45-7 by the Eagles. In today’s game, it is hard to fathom any QB even making it to 5 INTs in a game without being benched. It would take truly chaotic circumstances for there to be a situation where a QB stayed in a game with 6 INTs let alone 7. The record of 8 in a single game will never be tied.

13. Most Points In A Quarter By A Single Player

13. Most Points In A Quarter By A Single Player: On October 7, 1945, Don Hutson set NFL history when he scored 29 points in a single quarter. Hutson caught 4 touchdowns *AND* he doubled as a kicker and kicked five extra points. He is regarded as the NFL’s first ‘modern receiver’ but the fact that he was also the team’s kicker is just wild.