Ranking Every Thanksgiving Day QB Performance Since 1950

NFL football is a Thanksgiving Day tradition on par with turkey, tryptophan, and careful navigation of familial relationships. From the worst showings on the holiday to the sterling performances that created indelible memories, Thanksgiving QB performances have left football fans dejected, elated, and every emotion between the two extremes.

But how has every single qualified quarterback fared on the holiday since 1950?

Yes, we said “every” single one. And we meant it.

To determine the order of the 367 qualified games by signal-callers from 1950 to the present, we’re turning to QB Math’s Total Yards Added (TYA) metric, which looks at fumble avoidance, sack avoidance, rushing success, and passing success to see how many more yards a given quarterback accumulated than a league-average player during the year in question would’ve with the same number of attempts. Five total attempts are necessary to qualify.

Feel free to search in your browser for your favorite quarterback’s name, or just scroll through to see every entry and determine who jumps out to you. But do know — and this is a necessary note given the massive nature of the table below — that there’s more to this article beyond the rankings of the 361 qualified games.

Below the behemoth, you can also find a ranking of the Thanksgiving Day careers of all 186 signal-callers who appear, as well as a quick look at the 36 with three or more showings to their name.

We’ve already broken this table down in a number of different ways for you.

If you’re curious about the bottom 10 Thanksgiving QB performances since 1950, you can read about Dan Marino’s awful day and the rest of the worst entries. Similarly, the Philip Rivers masterpiece and multiple Tom Brady outings are featured in a look at the top 10 Thanksgiving QB performances.

But what about the quarterbacks who have put together the best and worst Turkey Day careers?

Well, we’ve got you covered there, as well.

Dating back to 1950, 186 different quarterbacks have logged at least one qualified game (five or more total passes, rushes, and sacks taken), and they’re sorted below from least productive to most productive. Don’t be surprised when single-game samples yield some strange results since you’re likely looking at the names “Dan Marino” and “Eli Manning” already.

Not interested in the many, many players — 106 of them, in fact — who have suited up just once on Thanksgiving? That’s understandable, and we’ve still got you covered.

Below, you can see the career standings for all 36 quarterbacks with at least three qualified Turkey Day appearances:

Calling Joey Harrington the worst Thanksgiving QB performer in Turkey Day history feels about right.

He’s the all-time last-place finisher in cumulative TYA with a 2-4 record and went 96-of-171 (56.1%) for 978 yards (163 per game), four touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Beyond that, he took nine sacks for 51 yards, rushed nine times for seven yards, and put the ball on the ground via fumble on four separate occasions.

That’s … not ideal.

On the flip side, Tom Brady is a threat to finish atop any list of positive quarterback performances, and the trend holds true here.

In the GOAT’s three qualified appearances — his career debut in relief of Drew Bledsoe is not included since he had just three relevant plays — he compiled a 3-0 record while going 57-of-84 (67.9%) for 874 yards (291.3 per game), seven touchdowns, and just one pick. He added 18 yards and a rushing touchdown on 11 carries, never fumbled, and took a single sack for a three-yard loss.

Maybe Brady’s dominance should be added to the collection of Thanksgiving Day staples.

All Total Yards Added stats courtesy of Sports Math Network unless otherwise indicated.