Taking down a 5-0 Tennessee Titans team to lock in the outright best record in the AFC at 6-0 was big for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Having their first 6-0 start since 1978, that’s a big deal. But their six consecutive victory of the year was also a personal milestone for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who went an entire year without winning a game.
At the start of the season, Roethlisberger entered 2020 with an overall career regular season record of 144-71-1. With six consecutive victories, he has now hit 150 victories for his career. Last week, he surpassed his childhood idol in career wins, who ended his career with a 148-82-1 record. Now he’s done something even more exclusive.
With his 150th victory, he joins a group that now includes just five quarterbacks in NFL history to reach that mark. Two of the other four who are ahead of him on the all-time regular season wins list are still active, but he could conceivably have a longer career yet.
Tom Brady, now of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sits atop the list, as you would imagine, with 224 career wins. He is far and away the frontrunner, with Brett Favre second at 186 career wins. Peyton Manning retired having won 186 games as well (and with far fewer losses) to tie Favre, while Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints currently sits at 167 wins.
There are only three other active quarterbacks in the NFL who currently have 100 or more wins in their career. Roethlisberger’s 2004 draft classmate, Philip Rivers, has a 123-103 career record, with a winning percentage of .552. Aaron Rodgers has an admirable 117-61-1 record at .656, while Matt Ryan has a record of 110-86, a winning percentage of .561.
Up next are Joe Flacco and Alex Smith, both of whom are backups, but Russell Wilson is the next on the active list. After last night’s loss against the Arizona Cardinals, he has his Seattle Seahawks now at 5-1, and he is 91-42-1 in his career.
That’s a better winning percentage than Roethlisberger, who sits at .678, looking at .687 now for Wilson. But he has the fifth-highest winning percentage out of all quarterbacks with at least 91 victories now, behind only Brady, Manning, Joe Montana, and Wilson.
Interestingly enough, he just skirted by Terry Bradshaw’s career winning percentage of .677, going 107-51 during his time with the Steelers. Perhaps it’s a good thing that those two recently mended their fences, and here’s to hoping Roethlisberger takes another step closer toward matching the Blonde Bomber’s hardware.
