1, 2, 3 … 208
Rice scores on a 24-yard TD reception in the first minute of the 49ers game against the Atlanta
Falcons on Oct. 14, 1990. It marked the first of a career-high five touchdowns that day for Rice.
Jerry Rice caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana in Week 5 of his rookie season. That score, his first of his NFL career, came 3 minutes, 14 seconds into the fourth quarter of San Fran’s 38-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 6, 1985. Rice’s TD reception turned out to be the winning score of the game.
It was the first of a staggering 208 touchdowns that Rice would go on to score in his 20-season NFL career. As it turned out, the Falcons were apparently his favorite opponent as he found the end zone against Atlanta more times (29) than any other team he faced.
In all, he scored 197 receiving touchdowns, added 10 on rushing, and fell on a football in the end zone (in a game against the Falcons) for one fumble recovery.
Here is the rundown of each of Rice’s regular season touchdowns.
Rice's Career Touchdowns | |||
208 Regular Season Touchdowns | |||
* Rushing TD; ** Fumble Return for TD; all other TDs were receiving | |||
TD # | Date | Opponent | Distance |
1985 | |||
1 | Oct. 6 | Atlanta Falcons | 25 |
2 | Nov. 3 | Philadelphia Eagles | 14 |
3 | Dec. 9 | Los Angeles Rams | 66 |
4 | Dec. 22 | Dallas Cowboys | 15* |
1986 | |||
5 | Sept. 14 | Los Angeles Rams | 66 |
6 | Sept. 28 | Miami Dolphins | 18 |
7 | Sept. 28 | Miami Dolphins | 50 |
8 | Oct. 5 | Indianapolis Colts | 45 |
9 | Oct. 5 | Indianapolis Colts | 16 |
10 | Oct. 5 | Indianapolis Colts | 58 |
11 | Oct. 12 | Minnesota Vikings | 34 |
12 | Oct. 12 | Minnesota Vikings | 17 |
13 | Oct. 26 | Green Bay Packers | 7 |
14 | Nov. 9 | St. Louis Cardinals | 45 |
15 | Nov. 9 | St. Louis Cardinals | 40 |
16 | Nov. 9 | St. Louis Cardinals | 44 |
17 | Nov. 23 | Atlanta Falcons | 2 |
18 | Dec. 1 | New York Giants | 11 |
19 | Dec. 1 | New York Giants | 1* |
20 | Dec. 19 | Los Angeles Rams | 44 |
1987 | |||
21 | Sept. 13 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3 |
22 | Sept. 20 | Cincinnati Bengals | 34 |
23 | Sept. 20 | Cincinnati Bengals | 25 |
24 | Oct. 25 | New Orleans Saints | 8 |
25 | Nov. 1 | Los Angeles Rams | 51 |
26 | Nov. 8 | Houston Oilers | 1 |
27 | Nov. 15 | New Orleans Saints | 46 |
28 | Nov. 15 | New Orleans Saints | 50 |
29 | Nov. 22 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 21 |
30 | Nov. 22 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 42 |
31 | Nov. 22 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3 |
32 | Nov. 29 | Cleveland Browns | 2 |
33 | Nov. 29 | Cleveland Browns | 30 |
34 | Nov. 29 | Cleveland Browns | 29 |
35 | Dec. 6 | Green Bay Packers | 57 |
36 | Dec. 14 | Chicago Bears | 1 |
37 | Dec. 14 | Chicago Bears | 16 |
38 | Dec. 14 | Chicago Bears | 2 |
39 | Dec. 20 | Atlanta Falcons | 5* |
40 | Dec. 20 | Atlanta Falcons | 20 |
41 | Dec. 20 | Atlanta Falcons | 1 |
42 | Dec. 27 | Los Angeles Rams | 22 |
43 | Dec. 27 | Los Angeles Rams | 50 |
1988 | |||
44 | Sept. 11 | New York Giants | 78 |
45 | Sept. 25 | Seattle Seahawks | 1 |
46 | Sept. 25 | Seattle Seahawks | 69 |
47 | Sept. 25 | Seattle Seahawks | 60 |
48 | Oct. 2 | Detroit Lions | 11* |
49 | Oct. 24 | Chicago Bears | 23 |
50 | Nov. 21 | Washington Redskins | 80 |
51 | Nov. 27 | San Diego Chargers | 96 |
52 | Nov. 27 | San Diego Chargers | 41 |
53 | Dec. 4 | Atlanta Falcons | 20 |
1989 | |||
54 | Sept. 10 | Indianapolis Colts | 58 |
55 | Sept. 17 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 |
56 | Sept. 24 | Philadelphia Eagles | 68 |
57 | Sept. 24 | Philadelphia Eagles | 33 |
58 | Oct. 8 | New Orleans Saints | 60 |
59 | Oct. 15 | Dallas Cowboys | 8 |
60 | Oct. 22 | New England Patriots | 3 |
61 | Oct. 22 | New England Patriots | 50 |
62 | Oct. 29 | New York Jets | 45 |
63 | Nov. 6 | New Orleans Saints | 32 |
64 | Nov. 6 | New Orleans Saints | 2 |
65 | Nov. 12 | Atlanta Falcons | 39 |
66 | Nov. 12 | Atlanta Falcons | 11 |
67 | Nov. 19 | Green Bay Packers | 9 |
68 | Nov. 27 | New York Giants | 4 |
69 | Dec. 17 | Buffalo Bills | 8 |
70 | Dec. 24 | Chicago Bears | 29 |
1990 | |||
71 | Sept. 16 | Washington Redskins | 12 |
72 | Sept. 23 | Atlanta Falcons | 35 |
73 | Oct. 7 | Houston Oilers | 6 |
74 | Oct. 14 | Atlanta Falcons | 24 |
75 | Oct. 14 | Atlanta Falcons | 25 |
76 | Oct. 14 | Atlanta Falcons | 19 |
77 | Oct. 14 | Atlanta Falcons | 13 |
78 | Oct. 14 | Atlanta Falcons | 15 |
79 | Oct. 28 | Cleveland Browns | 14 |
80 | Nov. 4 | Green Bay Packers | 64 |
81 | Nov. 11 | Dallas Cowboys | 7 |
82 | Dec. 17 | Los Angeles Rams | 60 |
83 | Dec. 30 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 |
1991 | |||
84 | Sept. 2 | New York Giants | 73 |
85 | Sept. 8 | San Diego Chargers | 32 |
86 | Sept. 8 | San Diego Chargers | 70 |
87 | Sept. 15 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 |
88 | Sept. 15 | Minnesota Vikings | 21 |
89 | Sept. 22 | Los Angeles Rams | 62 |
90 | Oct. 13 | Atlanta Falcons | 57 |
91 | Oct. 20 | Detroit Lions | 2 |
92 | Dec. 1 | New Orleans Saints | 47 |
93 | Dec. 8 | Seattle Seahawks | 9 |
94 | Dec. 14 | Kansas City Chiefs | 1 |
95 | Dec. 14 | Kansas City Chiefs | 20 |
96 | Dec. 23 | Chicago Bears | 3 |
97 | Dec. 23 | Chicago Bears | 69 |
1992 | |||
98 | Sept. 20 | New York Jets | 5 |
99 | Oct. 11 | New England Patriots | 32 |
100 | Oct. 18 | Atlanta Falcons | 80 |
101 | Oct. 18 | Atlanta Falcons | 40 |
102 | Oct. 18 | Atlanta Falcons | 26* |
103 | Nov. 9 | Atlanta Falcons | 19 |
104 | Nov. 22 | Los Angeles Rams | 42 |
105 | Nov. 29 | Philadelphia Eagles | 22 |
106 | Dec. 6 | Miami Dolphins | 12 |
107 | Dec. 19 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 32 |
108 | Dec. 19 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 30 |
1993 | |||
109 | Sept. 5 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 |
110 | Sept. 5 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 |
111 | Sept. 19 | Atlanta Falcons | 43* |
112 | Oct. 3 | Minnesota Vikings | 39 |
113 | Oct. 24 | Phoenix Cardinals | 8 |
114 | Oct. 24 | Phoenix Cardinals | 7 |
115 | Nov. 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 12 |
116 | Nov. 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 51 |
117 | Nov. 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9 |
118 | Nov. 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 26 |
119 | Nov. 22 | New Orleans Saints | 11 |
120 | Nov. 22 | New Orleans Saints | 14 |
121 | Nov. 28 | Los Angeles Rams | 39 |
122 | Nov. 28 | Los Angeles Rams | 7 |
123 | Dec. 19 | Detroit Lions | 80 |
124 | Jan. 3, 1994 | Philadelphia Eagles | 3 |
1994 | |||
125 | Sept. 5 | Los Angeles Raiders | 69 |
126 | Sept. 5 | Los Angeles Raiders | 23* |
127 | Sept. 5 | Los Angeles Raiders | 38 |
128 | Sept. 18 | Los Angeles Rams | 1 |
129 | Sept. 25 | New Orleans Saints | 28 |
130 | Sept. 25 | New Orleans Saints | 6 |
131 | Oct. 16 | Atlanta Falcons | 1 |
132 | Nov. 6 | Washington Redskins | 28* |
133 | Nov. 13 | Dallas Cowboys | 57 |
134 | Nov. 20 | Los Angeles Rams | 7 |
135 | Nov. 20 | Los Angeles Rams | 6 |
136 | Nov. 20 | Los Angeles Rams | 18 |
137 | Dec. 4 | Atlanta Falcons | 9 |
138 | Dec. 17 | Denver Broncos | 23 |
139 | Dec. 26 |
Best effort
Detroit Lions rookie running back Jahvid Best put up numbers in Week 2 that haven’t been seen in the NFL for three decades.