Loading...
Only the highest-quality receivers are capable of catching the hardest throws in football, and it’s really impressive to watch Hail Marys be caught to clutch up a game. While there’s still much to be done after the catch, we know to give credit where it’s due.
Throughout NFL history, only a handful of players have made extremely far-yard catches. Regardless of how many yards they ran or if they caught a touchdown, we’ll be taking a look strictly at the longest completions in NFL history, including how far the throw was before being caught.
Down 17-7 with 21 seconds left before halftime, the Los Angeles Chargers were in desperate need of a spark to bring them back to life, and thus pinned their hopes on a Hail Mary before the end of the second quarter. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert hucked a 63.8-yard pass through the air as Jalen Guyton laid out a diving catch into the end zone to bring the game to 17-13.
In this one, the game sat at 3-0 in favor of the Ravens during the beginning of the first quarter. Browns QB Baker Mayfield would be given plenty of space on a forward drive before launching the ball towards the right sideline for 63.8 yards, where it was received by Breshad Perriman as he ran out of bounds. If you watch the replay on this one, you can see just how hard it was for Perriman to make the long-distance catch while staying in bounds, pulling off one of the longest completions in NFL history.
In just Week 2 of the 2018 NFL regular season, Josh Allen would set a record for one of the longest completed throws in NFL history. Going completely against the grain while struggling 28-3 against the Chargers, Bills quarterback Allen took 4 seconds to look before hurling a long-distance pass over 63.9 yards to Zay Jones, who bobbled the catch before securing it. Jones would go down just after the 20-yard line to give the Bills a major advantage on the next drive.
In an epic Week 9 matchup between the Seahawks and Bills, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson tossed one of the longest completed throws in NFL history to David Moore for a touchdown. While trailing in the 4th quarter by 21 points, Wilson found himself blitzed at his own 40, giving him less than 5 seconds to crush a 64.4-yard pass into the end zone to be caught by teammate David Moore on the dive.
Making his second appearance on the list and beating his record from 2018 is Baker Mayfield with a whopping 66.4-yard completed pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones for the touchdown. On this play, Mayfield was given virtually no time at all before driving forward with a cannon throw into the end zone, where Peoples-Jones found himself surrounded by three defenders. Even so, People-Jones made the catch, setting a record for the longest-distance completion in NFL history to this day.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.