A salute to the 6-time champion… of TD/INT ratio.
When I wrote the original article, Tom Brady was tied for the most TD/INT titles in league history. He led the league in TD/INT ratio in 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2016. That tied him with Roger Staubach and Charlie Conerly, who also each led the NFL in the category in four different seasons. However, since then, Aaron Rodgers has broken the record.
Rodgers led the NFL in TD/INT ratio in 2011, 2013, and 2014. Then, in 2018, he had one of the best TD/INT seasons of all time. This was not a vintage Rodgers season by any stretch — he was actually slightly below league average in Net Yards per Attempt and the Packers went 6-9-1 and ranked 14th in scoring — but he threw 25 touchdowns and just two interceptions. That 12.5 ratio of passing touchdowns to interceptions remains the 4th best of all time among qualifying passers (14 attempts per team game), and is the best mark in NFL history among quarterbacks who started more than 12 games in a season.
Rodgers was about to repeat as TD/INT leader in 2019, but an interception in the final two minutes of the final game allowed Drew Brees to win the crown. But Rodgers then had two more MVP seasons in 2020 and 2021, and easily led the NFL in TD/INT ratio both seasons. Rodgers threw more than 9 touchdowns per interception both years; Patrick Mahomes finished 2nd in 2020 at 6.33-to-1, while Kirk Cousins (4.71) was the runner-up in 2021.
That means Rodgers has led the NFL in TD/INT ratio an incredible six times in his career: 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020, and 2021. Since then, Jared Goff with the Lions and C.J. Stroud (as a rookie!) with the Texans have won the crown. And with one week left in the 2024 season, Lamar Jackson is a virtual lock to win his first TD/INT crown. He leads the NFL in touchdown rate and has the second-best interception rate, so even a 0 TD/2 INT performance in week 18 wouldn’t be enough to cause him to lose the crown.
The table below shows the single-season leaders in TD/INT ratio for every season since 1946.
| Year | Player | Team | TD | INT | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Lamar Jackson | BAL | 39 | 4 | 9.75 |
| 2023 | C.J. Stroud | HOU | 23 | 5 | 4.6 |
| 2022 | Jared Goff | DET | 29 | 7 | 4.14 |
| 2021 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | 37 | 4 | 9.25 |
| 2020 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | 48 | 5 | 9.6 |
| 2019 | Drew Brees | NOR | 27 | 4 | 6.75 |
| 2018 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | 25 | 2 | 12.5 |
| 2017 | Alex Smith | KAN | 26 | 5 | 5.2 |
| 2016 | Tom Brady | NWE | 28 | 2 | 14 |
| 2015 | Tom Brady | NWE | 36 | 7 | 5.14 |
| 2014 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | 38 | 5 | 7.6 |
| 2013 | Nick Foles | PHI | 27 | 2 | 13.5 |
| 2012 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | 39 | 8 | 4.88 |
| 2011 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | 45 | 6 | 7.5 |
| 2010 | Tom Brady | NWE | 36 | 4 | 9 |
| 2009 | Brett Favre | MIN | 33 | 7 | 4.71 |
| 2008 | Seneca Wallace | SEA | 11 | 3 | 3.67 |
| 2007 | Tom Brady | NWE | 50 | 8 | 6.25 |
| 2006 | Damon Huard | KAN | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| 2005 | Brad Johnson | MIN | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| 2005 | Byron Leftwich | JAX | 15 | 5 | 3 |
| 2004 | Peyton Manning | IND | 49 | 10 | 4.9 |
| 2003 | Steve McNair | TEN | 24 | 7 | 3.43 |
| 2002 | Brad Johnson | TAM | 22 | 6 | 3.67 |
| 2002 | Chad Pennington | NYJ | 22 | 6 | 3.67 |
| 2001 | Rich Gannon | OAK | 27 | 9 | 3 |
| 2000 | Brian Griese | DEN | 19 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 1999 | Kurt Warner | STL | 41 | 13 | 3.15 |
| 1998 | Vinny Testaverde | NYJ | 29 | 7 | 4.14 |
| 1997 | Jeff George | OAK | 29 | 9 | 3.22 |
| 1996 | Brett Favre | GNB | 39 | 13 | 3 |
| 1995 | Jim Harbaugh | IND | 17 | 5 | 3.4 |
| 1994 | Steve Young | SFO | 35 | 10 | 3.5 |
| 1993 | Bubby Brister | PHI | 14 | 5 | 2.8 |
| 1992 | Steve Young | SFO | 25 | 7 | 3.57 |
| 1991 | Steve Bono | SFO | 11 | 4 | 2.75 |
| 1990 | Steve DeBerg | KAN | 23 | 4 | 5.75 |
| 1989 | Joe Montana | SFO | 26 | 8 | 3.25 |
| 1988 | Dave Krieg | SEA | 18 | 8 | 2.25 |
| 1987 | Bernie Kosar | CLE | 22 | 9 | 2.44 |
| 1986 | Tommy Kramer | MIN | 24 | 10 | 2.4 |
| 1985 | Ken O'Brien | NYJ | 25 | 8 | 3.13 |
| 1984 | Tony Eason | NWE | 23 | 8 | 2.88 |
| 1983 | Steve Bartkowski | ATL | 22 | 5 | 4.4 |
| 1982 | Richard Todd | NYJ | 14 | 8 | 1.75 |
| 1981 | Ken Anderson | CIN | 29 | 10 | 2.9 |
| 1980 | Ron Jaworski | PHI | 27 | 12 | 2.25 |
| 1979 | Roger Staubach | DAL | 27 | 11 | 2.45 |
| 1978 | Roger Staubach | DAL | 25 | 16 | 1.56 |
| 1977 | Roger Staubach | DAL | 18 | 9 | 2 |
| 1976 | Bert Jones | BAL | 24 | 9 | 2.67 |
| 1975 | Bert Jones | BAL | 18 | 8 | 2.25 |
| 1974 | Jim Hart | STL | 20 | 8 | 2.5 |
| 1973 | Fran Tarkenton | MIN | 15 | 7 | 2.14 |
| 1972 | Marty Domres | BAL | 11 | 6 | 1.83 |
| 1971 | Roger Staubach | DAL | 15 | 4 | 3.75 |
| 1970 | John Brodie | SFO | 24 | 10 | 2.4 |
| 1969 | Roman Gabriel | RAM | 24 | 7 | 3.43 |
| 1968 | Bill Nelsen | CLE | 19 | 10 | 1.9 |
| 1967 | Sonny Jurgensen | WAS | 31 | 16 | 1.94 |
| 1966 | Bart Starr | GNB | 14 | 3 | 4.67 |
| 1965 | Rudy Bukich | CHI | 20 | 9 | 2.22 |
| 1964 | Bart Starr | GNB | 15 | 4 | 3.75 |
| 1963 | Y.A. Tittle | NYG | 36 | 14 | 2.57 |
| 1962 | Babe Parilli | BOS | 18 | 8 | 2.25 |
| 1961 | Milt Plum | CLE | 18 | 10 | 1.8 |
| 1960 | Milt Plum | CLE | 21 | 5 | 4.2 |
| 1959 | Charlie Conerly | NYG | 14 | 4 | 3.5 |
| 1958 | Johnny Unitas | BAL | 19 | 7 | 2.71 |
| 1957 | Johnny Unitas | BAL | 24 | 17 | 1.41 |
| 1956 | Charlie Conerly | NYG | 10 | 7 | 1.43 |
| 1955 | Otto Graham | CLE | 15 | 8 | 1.88 |
| 1954 | Charlie Conerly | NYG | 17 | 11 | 1.55 |
| 1953 | Norm Van Brocklin | RAM | 19 | 14 | 1.36 |
| 1952 | Charlie Conerly | NYG | 13 | 10 | 1.3 |
| 1951 | Bob Waterfield | RAM | 13 | 10 | 1.3 |
| 1950 | Norm Van Brocklin | RAM | 18 | 14 | 1.29 |
| 1949 | Otto Graham | CLE | 19 | 10 | 1.9 |
| 1948 | Frankie Albert | SFO | 29 | 10 | 2.9 |
| 1947 | Otto Graham | CLE | 25 | 11 | 2.27 |
| 1946 | Paul Governali | BOS | 13 | 10 | 1.3 |
One other note: in 2017, Alex Smith led the NFL in TD/INT ratio in his final season with the Chiefs. Smith led the NFL in interception rate that year as well, unsurprisingly. But Patrick Mahomes has never led the league in this metric. Part of this is due to Rodgers’s dominance, but it also speakers to Mahomes’s style as a passer. Outside of the second-place finish to Rodgers in 2020, Mahomes has never ranked in the top three in TD/INT ratio. It does not seem to have made much of an impact on his career.