How Is Passer Rating Calculated? The NFL Formula

NFL passer rating is calculated from four separate components, each based on a quarterback’s passing per attempt, then blended into a single number that runs from 0 to a perfect 158.3. The four pieces are completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown rate, and interception rate. Each is capped so no single category can run away with the score, and the caps are exactly why the maximum lands on the strange-looking figure of 158.3 rather than a tidy 100.

It is a passing-only stat — no rushing, no sacks — which keeps the formula simple but leaves real blind spots. Here is the full calculation, step by step.

The four components

Each component is computed, then forced to stay between 0 and 2.375. If a raw value comes out above 2.375, it is set to 2.375; if it comes out below 0, it is set to 0.

• a (completion percentage): ((COMP ÷ ATT) − 0.3) × 5
• b (yards per attempt): ((YDS ÷ ATT) − 3) × 0.25
• c (touchdown rate): (TD ÷ ATT) × 20
• d (interception rate): 2.375 − ((INT ÷ ATT) × 25)

Then combine them:

Passer rating = ((a + b + c + d) ÷ 6) × 100

The interception component runs backward — it starts at 2.375 and subtracts — because fewer interceptions should score higher. When all four components hit their 2.375 cap, the sum is 9.5, and 9.5 ÷ 6 × 100 = 158.33, the perfect rating.

A worked example

Take a quarterback with a strong season: 350 completions on 500 attempts, 4,000 yards, 35 touchdowns, 10 interceptions.

• a: ((350 ÷ 500) − 0.3) × 5 = (0.70 − 0.3) × 5 = 2.000
• b: ((4000 ÷ 500) − 3) × 0.25 = (8.0 − 3) × 0.25 = 1.250
• c: (35 ÷ 500) × 20 = 0.07 × 20 = 1.400
• d: 2.375 − ((10 ÷ 500) × 25) = 2.375 − 0.50 = 1.875

Sum: 2.000 + 1.250 + 1.400 + 1.875 = 6.525 Rating: (6.525 ÷ 6) × 100 = 108.8

None of the four components maxed out, yet the rating is still excellent. That shows how demanding the caps are — a perfect 158.3 requires elite marks in all four at once, not just one gaudy category.

What each component demands at the cap

Component	Value needed to hit the 2.375 cap
Completion percentage	77.5% or higher
Yards per attempt	12.5 or higher
Touchdown rate	11.875% of attempts
Interception rate	0.0% (no interceptions)

Those thresholds are why perfect games are rare and perfect seasons essentially impossible. Averaging 12.5 yards per attempt across a year has never been done; the ceiling is built to stay just out of reach over a full sample.

What counts as a good passer rating

Rule changes protecting receivers and passers have inflated ratings over the decades, so the bar has moved.

Passer rating	Rating
110 and up	Excellent, MVP-level season
100 to 109	Very good
90 to 99	Roughly league average
80 to 89	Below average
Below 80	Poor for a modern starter

A single-game 158.3 happens a handful of times most seasons. Over a full year, ratings above 120 sit at the outer edge of what the game has produced.

Why passer rating matters, and where it falls short

Passer rating endures because it is easy to compute from a box score and it rewards the right things — accuracy, yardage, touchdowns, and avoiding turnovers. But its blind spots are real. It ignores rushing entirely, so a mobile quarterback who gains 500 yards on the ground gets no credit. It ignores sacks, ignores game situation, and treats a garbage-time touchdown the same as a game-winner.

Those gaps are exactly what ESPN’s Total QBR was designed to close. For the full comparison, read passer rating vs QBR, and for the broader play-value approach, our explainer on EPA in football. To see quarterback production translated into money, the highest-paid NFL players is dominated by the passers who post these numbers.

If you want to put quarterback value to work in a lineup, our fantasy football trade calculator folds passing production into its valuations so a trade is judged on output, not name recognition.

In short: passer rating averages four capped components — completion, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions per attempt — times 100 over six, topping out at 158.3, with roughly 90 as today’s average and 110-plus excellent.