1. Brett Favre - 297 Consecutive Games Played On Sept. 27, 1992, Brett Favre started at quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, leading the Pack to a 17-3 win over the Steelers. Favre would play the next 296 games over the next 18 ½ years, making 256 straight games (taking into account playoff games, Favre played 312 consecutive games). The streak finally ended on Dec. 10, 2010, due to a shoulder injury. (Punter Jeff Feagles holds the all-time ironman record, 321 games, a tribute to his excellence and consistency, but it’s tough to make the comparison between a quarterback and a player who takes, on average, five snaps a game.) Can anyone possibly catch Favre? Peyton Manning looked good until he missed the entire 2011 season with a career-threatening neck injury, and he was still almost 80 games shy of Favre. The record could still be broken by a Manning, however—Eli. The Giants’ starting QB has the longest current active streak, at 151 games (162 including playoffs). To catch Favre, Manning, who made his first start on Nov. 21, 2004, would have to start every game for the next nine years plus the first two of the 2023 season, at which point he would be 42. Behind, Eli is San Diego QB Philip Rivers, whose streak began Sept. 11, 2006. Rivers is 10 months younger than Manning, with whom he was part of a blockbuster 2004 draft day trade, but also 23 games behind him (25 playoff games). Probability of Record Falling: Zero, at least for the next 10 seasons. 2. Jerry Rice - 1,549 Career Receptions Jerry Rice was the gold standard for receivers and re-wrote the record books, setting marks so high almost all appeared well out of reach. One such record is 1,594 career receptions (5.1 per game over his 16 years). Rice’s hold of that mark got stronger following the retirement of future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez (1,325 receptions). But there are a couple of players with an outside shot. Indianapolis’ Reggie Wayne, the NFL’s leading active receiver, begins 2014 with 1,006 catches. At 36 and coming off an ACL injury, he needs to average 90.5 catches over the next six years, which would make him 42 (the same age at which Rice retired). Andrew Luck throwing to him is advantageous. Houston’s Andre Johnson (927 catches entering his 11th season), also has a chance. He’s 32, playing with a chip on his shoulder, and with four 100-catch seasons in the last six—the same number Rice had for his career. Johnson averages six catches per game; he’ll need to stay on that pace for the next seven years to catch Rice on Week 17 of 2020. Then there’s Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald. A year younger than Johnson, Fitzgerald has 846 catches, with two 100-catch seasons. Although he hasn’t had a 90-catch season since 2010, should he continue his current pace of 86 catches per season he would need almost eight and a half seasons to catch Rice. His numbers could increase with Carson Palmer at QB and head coach Bruce Arians’ offensive system. Probability of Record Falling: With a greater emphasis in the passing game and better sports medicine and nutrition, a wide receiver could break Rice’s record, but he’d still likely be 40-plus years in age, not very likely. STEPHEN DUNN/GETTY IMAGES 3. Drew Brees - 54 Consecutive SPORT CLASSIC Games with a TD Pass It took a rare bad game—a career-high five interceptions on Nov. 29, 2012 in Atlanta—to derail Drew Brees’ streak of games with a touchdown pass. Beginning with a four-TD day on Oct. 18, 2009 against the New York Giants—the week after only his second stretch of back-to-back games with a goose egg in the TD passes column as a Saint— Brees would throw at least one scoring aerial over the next 54 games, passing the legendary John Unitas (47 games), on Oct. 7, 2010. A 40-yard pass to Devery Henderson in a win over San Diego, Brees’ old team, snapped Johnny U’s record that lasted 50 years. As impressive as it is, Brees’ record was challenged by New England’s Tom Brady, who passed his way to 52 straight games, before his steak was snapped, almost three years to the day Brees passed Unitas (Oct. 6, 2013). MICHAEL THOMAS/GETTY IMAGES SPORT The record could come under fire this season, as Denver’s Peyton Manning begins 2014 with a streak of 39 straight games with a TD pass. Should Manning come up short, Brees’ record would be safe until at least 2015, as Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger (29) and Dallas’ Tony Romo (28) could make headway in 2014 then challenge late in the 2015 season. Probability of Record Falling: Judging by Denver’s offense, there’s a likely chance that Brees will only have a short reign on this record. Manning averaged 3.4 TDs per game last season, but with all streak-based records, a lot of consistency and even more luck is required. DREW HALLOWELL/GETTY IMAGES SPORT CLASSIC
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