51 . . . and done

For whatever reason(s), there’s a Bermuda Triangle aspect to certain NFL records. They’re just hard to break — harder than you’d think they’d be. Norm Van Brocklin’s record of 554 passing yards in a game, for instance, still stands 63 years later, even though the deck is increasingly stacked in favor of quarterbacks. And Johnny Unitas’ record of throwing a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games wasn’t seriously threatened for more than half a century.

The latter record, now in the possession of the Saints’ Drew Brees (54), continues to prove elusive. The Patriots’ Tom Brady made it to 52 last season, only to be stopped by the Bengals on a rainy day in Cincinnati. And Sunday, the Broncos’ Peyton Manning had a 51-game run end against the Bills on a perfectly lovely day in Denver.

Also, lest we forget, the Cowboys’ Tony Romo had a 38-gamer halted by the Eagles two weeks ago. Anyway, those streaks — Brady’s, Manning’s and Romo’s — are three of the five longest in the league’s 95 years. And they all came up short.

Back in September, I wrote about the history of the record (which was once owned by Cecil Isbell, the long-ago Packer) and even dug up some vintage video. If you want to look the original post again — or even for the first time — I’ll make it easy for you. Here’s the link.

The Packers' Cecil Isbell throws a touchdown pass in the 1939 title game vs. the Giants.

The Packers’ Cecil Isbell throws a touchdown pass in the 1939 title game vs. the Giants.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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