Which quarterbacks throw for the most yards against top pass defenses?
Dak Prescott leads all NFL quarterbacks with 1,721 passing yards against top-ten pass defenses, on 146 completions and 9 passing touchdowns across 6 games.
NFL Quarterback Passing Yards vs. Top Pass Defenses
Ranked by YDS · 2025 regular season| # | Player | YDS | ATT | CMP | CMP% | TD | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys · #4 | 1,721 | 218 | 146 | 67.0% | 9 | 6 |
| 2 | Jared Goff Detroit Lions · #16 | 1,588 | 224 | 147 | 65.6% | 11 | 7 |
| 3 | Josh Allen Buffalo Bills · #17 | 1,573 | 195 | 139 | 71.3% | 8 | 7 |
| 4 | Bo Nix Denver Broncos · #10 | 1,492 | 232 | 143 | 61.6% | 9 | 7 |
| 5 | Caleb Williams Chicago Bears · #18 | 1,407 | 225 | 124 | 55.1% | 8 | 7 |
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Open this in the Stat Explorer →Why this matters
A strong pass defense takes away what a season total usually rewards: the busted coverage, the blown assignment, the safety who guesses wrong. A quarterback who still piles up yardage after those margins disappear is beating a defense that has already scouted him and adjusted, a harder task than beating an average unit.
This is closer to a measure of poise and process than of arm talent alone. Good pass defenses force a quarterback to take what is available rather than what he wants, so the totals here often favor quarterbacks who read coverage well over quarterbacks who simply own the strongest arm in the league.
Only a handful of outings each season come against units this tough, so a single huge or quiet afternoon can swing a quarterback up or down this list out of proportion to how he played across the rest of his schedule. Look for a pattern across multiple games rather than a signature performance.