NFL

What's the NFL Record for Passing Touchdowns in a Playoff Game?

Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen each came up just shy of tying the NFL postseason record for passing TDs on Super Wild Card Weekend

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What's the NFL record for passing touchdowns in a playoff game? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Prior to 2022 Super Wild Card Weekend, a quarterback had thrown for at least five touchdowns in a playoff game just three times in the past 10 years.

And then it happened twice over the span of 24 hours this weekend.

First, Bills quarterback Josh Allen tossed five touchdowns in Buffalo's 47-17 victory over the AFC East rival New England Patriots on Saturday night. Allen had more touchdown passes than incompletions against the Pats, going 21 of 25 through the air for 308 yards and no picks, in addition to rushing six times for 66 yards. He's the first quarterback in NFL postseason history to have a performance of at least 300 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and 60 rushing yards, per Pro Football Reference.

One night later, Patrick Mahomes became just the third player ever to have multiple playoff games with at least five passing touchdowns in the Chiefs' 42-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mahomes' touchdowns on Sunday night came on five consecutive Chiefs possessions, and he finished the night 30 of 39 through the air for 404 yards and one interception. Even more impressive? Mahomes' first TD pass didn't come until the 5:50 mark of the second quarter.

But just how close did Allen and Mahomes come to tying the single-game postseason record for touchdown passes?

Who's thrown the most passing touchdowns in an NFL playoff game?

There's a three-way tie for the record of most touchdown passes in a postseason game. Daryle Lamonica originally set the record back in 1969, when he threw for six touchdowns in the then-Oakland Raiders' AFL divisional round rout of the Houston Oilers. Lamonica actually tied Sid Luckman's record mark of five passing TDs in the previous year's AFL divisional round against the Chiefs.

Lamonica's record was untouched for more than two decades before Steve Young passed for six TDs in the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl 29 win over the then-San Diego Chargers. Young broke Joe Montana's Super Bowl record of five passing touchdowns with his performance, and no one has matched either quarterback's mark in a Super Bowl since.

The only other QB to throw six passing touchdowns in the postseason? Tom Brady, of course.

Brady accomplished the feat as a member of the Pats in 2012, powering a divisional round blowout victory over Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are among seven other signal callers who have thrown for exactly five scores in a postseason game. Prior to this weekend, Mahomes actually had the most recent five-TD game, which came in a furious Chiefs comeback victory over the Houston Texans in the divisional round two postseasons ago. Before that, it was Ben Roethlisberger in a wild 45-42 AFC divisional round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.

Mahomes joins Lamonica and Kurt Warner as the only quarterbacks to throw for at least five touchdowns in multiple playoff games. Like Mahomes and Lamonica, Warner did it twice, with five passing touchdowns in the then-St. Louis Rams' divisional round win over the Minnesota Vikings in 2000 and another five TDs 10 years later with the Arizona Cardinals in a wild card round victory against the Green Bay Packers.

Here's a look at the 14 times a quarterback has thrown for at least five passing touchdowns in a postseason game, according to Pro Football Reference:

Tom Brady, AFC divisional round (2012): 6

Steve Young, Super Bowl 29 (1995): 6

Daryle Lamonica, AFL divisional round (1969): 6

Patrick Mahomes, AFC wild card round (2022): 5

Josh Allen, AFC wild card round (2022): 5

Patrick Mahomes, AFC divisional round (2020): 5

Ben Roethlisberger, AFC divisional round (2018): 5

Kurt Warner, NFC wild card round (2010): 5

Peyton Manning, AFC wild card round (2004): 5

Kerry Collins, NFC Championship Game (2001): 5

Kurt Warner, NFC divisional round (2000): 5

Joe Montana, Super Bowl 24 (1990): 5

Daryle Lamonica, AFL divisional round (1968): 5

Sid Luckman, 1943 NFL Championship Game: 5

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