NFL Passer Rating
The official NFL formula, with each of the four capped components shown.
Stat line
Passer rating
Each component runs from 0 to 2.375. Hitting the cap on all four gives the maximum of 158.3.
The formula
The NFL rating combines four per-attempt rates, each scaled and capped between 0 and 2.375:
a = (completions / attempts − 0.3) × 5 b = (yards / attempts − 3) × 0.25 c = (touchdowns / attempts) × 20 d = 2.375 − (interceptions / attempts) × 25 rating = (a + b + c + d) / 6 × 100
Because every part is capped, a quarterback cannot make up for a pile of interceptions with a huge yardage day past a point, and an efficient short passer gets little credit beyond the completion cap. A rating around 90 to 95 is roughly league average in today's NFL; the scale was built for a lower-scoring era, which is why modern averages sit well above the original 66.7 midpoint.
What it leaves out
Passer rating ignores sacks, rushing, fumbles, down and distance, and the score. Two passers with the same line can have very different value if one throws on third-and-long and the other dumps it off on third-and-15. For that, use expected points added (EPA) per dropback, which is what our ratings tables show for teams. Passer rating is not the same as ESPN's QBR, which is a proprietary measure built on play-by-play.
College football uses a different formula (passing efficiency), so this calculator is for the NFL and CFL-style rating only.