Most Receiving Yards in a Single Game

The most receiving yards in a single NFL game is 336, set by Willie “Flipper” Anderson for the Los Angeles Rams against the New Orleans Saints on November 26, 1989. He did it in an overtime win, and more than three decades later no receiver has broken the mark, with Calvin Johnson’s 329 yards in 2013 the closest anyone has come.

Single-game receiving records capture the day a wideout took over completely, catching everything in sight while a quarterback fed him target after target. It takes a rare combination of volume, big plays and often extra football. Here is the full leaderboard of the most receiving yards in a game, the receivers who came closest, and the story behind the record. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Flipper Anderson and 336 yards

On a November night in 1989, Rams receiver Flipper Anderson caught 15 passes for 336 yards against the Saints, the game stretching into overtime before Los Angeles won. Anderson averaged more than 22 yards per catch, turning short and deep throws alike into huge gains. He was never a perennial All-Pro, which is part of what makes the record so striking: one extraordinary evening put his name atop a list that includes some of the greatest receivers ever to play.

The full leaderboard of single-game receiving yards

The table below ranks the most receiving yards in a single NFL game.

Rank	Receiving yards	Player	Team	Date
1	336	Flipper Anderson	Los Angeles Rams	Nov 26, 1989
2	329	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	Oct 27, 2013
3	309	Stephone Paige	Kansas City Chiefs	Dec 22, 1985
4	303	Jim Benton	Cleveland Rams	Nov 22, 1945
5	300	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	Oct 2, 2016
6	289	Jerry Rice	San Francisco 49ers	Dec 18, 1995
7	283	Terrell Owens	San Francisco 49ers	Dec 17, 2000
8	278	Charley Hennigan	Houston Oilers	Oct 13, 1961

The list spans the entire history of the passing game, from Jim Benton in 1945 to Calvin Johnson in 2013. Terrell Owens’s 283-yard game in 2000 also included a then-record 20 receptions, while Jerry Rice, the all-time yardage leader, ranks sixth with 289 despite decades of dominance.

The near-misses

Calvin Johnson came within seven yards of history in 2013, catching 329 against Dallas in a performance that defined his prime. Julio Jones added a 300-yard game in 2016, and modern stars such as Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase have posted enormous single games since. Yet 336 has held up, in part because reaching it usually requires a shootout that keeps the passing offense on the field, and often overtime, exactly the conditions that produced Anderson’s night. The receivers atop this list also feature heavily on our most receiving yards of all time and most receiving touchdowns leaderboards.

Speed, targets and the perfect storm

A 300-yard game needs more than talent; it needs volume and explosiveness together. The receivers who reach it tend to combine elite speed, on display in our list of the fastest NFL players, with a quarterback willing to keep throwing their way. It is the mirror image of the most passing yards in a game record, since a monster receiving day usually powers a monster passing day for the quarterback throwing to him.

Why the record matters

The single-game receiving record marks the ceiling for a pass-catcher, the most any player has ever produced in one afternoon. That it belongs to Flipper Anderson, and has outlasted the primes of Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson, gives it a special place in the record book. Great receivers chase it, but 336 has proved to be one of the toughest single-game marks to break.

The short version: Flipper Anderson holds the single-game receiving record with 336 yards, set in 1989 and unbroken for over 30 years, ahead of Calvin Johnson (329) and Stephone Paige (309), as of the 2025 season.