Most Touchdowns in a Single NFL Game

Four players share the NFL record for the most touchdowns in a single game with six: Ernie Nevers of the Chicago Cardinals set the mark in 1929, and Dub Jones, Gale Sayers and Alvin Kamara later equaled it. No player in league history has ever scored seven touchdowns in a game.

Scoring touchdowns is the whole point of football, yet piling up six in a single afternoon has happened only four times across a century of play. It takes a dominant offense, a defense that can’t adjust and a back or receiver who stays hot from the first quarter to the last. Here is the full leaderboard of the most touchdowns in an NFL game, the four members of the six-touchdown club, and the closest chasers. All figures are through the 2025 season.

The record holders: the six-touchdown club

The record of six touchdowns has stood since Ernie Nevers set it in 1929, and only three players have matched it since. Nevers remains unique because he also scored every extra point, giving him 40 points in one game, a total no player has ever reached.

TDs	Player	Team	Date	How scored
6	Ernie Nevers	Chicago Cardinals	Nov 28, 1929	6 rushing
6	Dub Jones	Cleveland Browns	Nov 25, 1951	4 rushing, 2 receiving
6	Gale Sayers	Chicago Bears	Dec 12, 1965	4 rushing, 1 receiving, 1 return
6	Alvin Kamara*	New Orleans Saints	Dec 25, 2020	6 rushing
5	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	Dec 15, 2013	4 receiving, 1 rushing
5	Jerry Rice	San Francisco 49ers	Oct 14, 1990	5 receiving
5	Jonathan Taylor*	Indianapolis Colts	Nov 4, 2021	4 rushing, 1 receiving

*Active players as of the 2025 season. The four six-touchdown games span more than 90 years, while the five-touchdown performances just below them are more common but still rare.

Ernie Nevers and 40 points in one game

On Thanksgiving Day 1929, Ernie Nevers ran for six touchdowns and kicked four extra points as the Chicago Cardinals beat the crosstown Bears 40-6. His 40 personal points remain the most any player has ever scored in a single NFL game, a record that has survived every era of offensive evolution since. Nevers, a two-way star and Hall of Famer, essentially outscored an entire team by himself.

Dub Jones, Gale Sayers and the versatile scorers

Dub Jones matched the mark in 1951 with four rushing and two receiving touchdowns for the Cleveland Browns, and Gale Sayers produced perhaps the most spectacular version in 1965. As a rookie on a muddy field, Sayers scored four different ways, running, receiving and returning a punt, in a 61-20 rout of the 49ers. Their versatility is a reminder that this record can be reached through the ground game, the passing game or special teams, the same paths tracked in our leaderboards for the most rushing touchdowns and the most receiving touchdowns.

Alvin Kamara: the only modern six-TD game

For 55 years the record belonged to a bygone era, until Alvin Kamara ran for six touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day 2020. It was the first six-touchdown game since Sayers and the only one of the modern NFL, proving the mark can still be reached even against contemporary defenses. Kamara’s day sits alongside the career totals we track in the most touchdowns in NFL history leaderboard.

Why the record matters

Six touchdowns in a game is one of football’s cleanest, most unbreakable-feeling records because scoring seven would require an almost absurd combination of opportunity and finishing. That only four players have ever managed six, spread across nine decades, shows how special each performance was. The players who reach these single-game heights are often the same names near the top of the most passing touchdowns and all-time scoring lists.

The short version: Ernie Nevers, Dub Jones, Gale Sayers and Alvin Kamara share the NFL record for the most touchdowns in a game with six. Nevers added a record 40 points in 1929, and Kamara’s Christmas Day 2020 performance is the only six-touchdown game of the modern era, all through the 2025 season.