Will Tom Brady Lead the NFL in Passing Yards at End of Regular Season?

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Dec 11, 2011

Will Tom Brady Lead the NFL in Passing Yards at End of Regular Season?Dan Marino's 5,084 passing yards in 1984 has long stood as the highest single-season total in NFL history. But we may finally see the mark surpassed this season — by three quarterbacks.

Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are all in position to make a run at the record in the final four weeks of the regular season. So the appropriate question isn't whether Marino's long-standing record will fall, but rather which of these quarterbacks will walk away from this regular-season with the most passing yards and be able to call themselves the record holder.

Brees enters Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans with a league-high 4,031 yards, meaning he's averaging 336 yards per game. In addition to the Titans, Brees and the Saints will face the Vikings, Falcons and Panthers.

This isn't the first time that Brees has made a run at the record either. He owns the second-highest single-season mark in league history, as he threw for 5,069 yards in 2008, a year before the Saints' Super Bowl victory over the Colts. He also owns the 15th-highest total, having passed for 4,620 yards last season.

Brady, meanwhile, is second in the NFL in passing yards this season with 3,916. He boasted league-high totals in 2005 and 2007. His 4,806 yards in 2007, the same season he racked up 50 touchdown passes, is the fourth-highest total in league history.

After the Patriots play the Redskins on Sunday, they have the Broncos, Dolphins and Bills remaining on the schedule.

And then there's the reigning Super Bowl MVP Rodgers, who many are starting to consider the game's best quarterback. Rodgers enters Sunday's game against the Raiders with 3,844 yards, good for third in the NFL.

If he plans to leapfrog Brady and Brees on the passing yards list, he'll have to do so against the Chiefs, Bears and Lions, in addition to the Raiders.

Marino's record has stood for 27 years. But while it's an impressive feat, it's no match for the pass-heavy offenses of today's NFL. Sorry, Dan, but you could find yourself No. 4 on the list by the time this season's over. But who will be No. 1?

Who will lead the NFL in passing yards at the end of the regular season?

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