TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
It was against the worst team in the NFL the last five years in the terrible Tennessee Titans, but Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow made history Sunday in a 43-36 overtime victory at Cincinnati.
The seven-year veteran from LSU, became the first NFL quarterback since 1951 to throw for 450 yards or more in a game with five touchdowns while also rushing for a touchdown. The 2019 national champion and Heisman Trophy winner at LSU completed 38 of 48 passes for 462 yards with three interceptions. He added a 9-yard touchdown run in overtime for the win for the Bengals (5-2) as the Titans dropped to 1-7 and appear on the way to their fifth straight losing season under coach Mike Vrabel.
The only previous NFL quarterback to throw for 450 yards or more with five touchdowns and a rushing TD in a game was Norm Van Brocklin of the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 28, 1951, in a 52-14 win over the New York Yanks, who were as troubled as the Titans that season and finished 1-9 in their last season in the NFL. Van Brocklin completed 27 of 41 for 554 yards and five touchdowns with a 1-yard TD run in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The 554 yards remains the NFL record for passing yards in a game.
75 YEARS. 554 YARDS. ONE KAPPA SIGMA. 🏈 Did you know that a Kappa Sigma Brother holds one of the NFL’s longest-standing records? On September 28, 1951, Brother Norm Van Brocklin (Gamma-Alpha, University of Oregon, ’46) threw for an astonishing 554 yards and five touchdowns as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the New York Yanks 54-14. 75 years later, despite generations of legendary quarterbacks and the evolution of the modern passing game, his record STILL stands. Brother Van Brocklin went on to win two NFL Championships, earn nine Pro Bowl selections, and receive NFL MVP honors in 1960. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. From the University of Oregon to the NFL record books, Brother Van Brocklin’s legacy remains one of the greatest in football history. A record for the ages held by a Kappa Sigma Brother. #KappaSigma #NFL #FootballHistory #ProFootballHOF
— Kappa Sigma (@KappaSigmaHQ) October 16, 2026
(The score of that 1951 game with Van Brocklin was 52-14, not 54-14 as written above.)
“I felt like we moved it pretty well all game,” Burrow said.
Tennessee led 13-0 in the second quarter and by 36-29 until the final moments of regulation when Burrow tied it 36-36 with an 18-yard TD pass to Tee Higgins with 1:17 to go.
“It’s hard to win that way,” Burrow said. “Today we did, but you can’t make a living like that.”
Burrow leads the NFL this season in touchdown passes with 20 and is third in passing yards with 2,115.
On the same day of Burrow’s voluminous exploits, Tampa Bay beat Atlanta, 16-0, even though Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield did not complete a pass, going 0-for-3 in a driving rain in Tampa. The Bucs became the first team to win an NFL game without completing a pass since Buffalo beat the New York Jets, 16-12, also amid the rain and mud in Buffalo.
Buffalo quarterback Joe Ferguson, who played at Woodlawn High in Shreveport and Arkansas, was 0-for-2 passing while running back O.J. Simpson gained 117 yards on 31 carries that day. Broadway Joe Namath, meanwhile, completed just 2 of 18 passes for 33 yards.
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