During the Cincinnati Bengals’ 35-34 road loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football in Week 10, Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase was unstoppable. Entering the game, the Ravens allowed 280.9 passing yards per game (worst in the league) and 2.0 passing touchdowns per game (third worst in the league), so it was no surprise that Chase had a good game.
But Chase dominated to the tune of 11 receptions for 264 yards and three touchdowns. His 55.4 PPR points and 44.4 non-PPR points turned heads, but where does this performance rank all-time? Let’s examine the top-10 PPR and non-PPR performances in NFL history.
Top 10 Most Non-PPR Fantasy Points Scored in a Single Game
It’s important to set some ground rules. First and foremost, we’re only counting performances since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. Before that point, fantasy football was extremely niche and played by just a handful of diehard fans.
Next up is the scoring. We will break this up into a non-PPR list and a PPR list. We’ll spend the bulk of the article breaking down the non-PPR leaders since, historically, this was the dominant scoring system.
Let’s break down the top single-game fantasy football performances of all time.
10) Jerry Butler, WR | 50.7 Fantasy Points
BUF vs. NYJ | Week 4 | Sept. 23, 1979
Despite the modern NFL becoming a wide-open pass-first league, the only receivers in this top 10 played decades ago. For our first receiver, we have to go all the way back to the 1970s when Bills rookie WR Jerry Butler had a fantastic outing.
This Week 4 game against the Jets is incredible because Butler actually posted all of his receiving touchdowns (four) for the season in this one game and more than 25% of his receiving yards.
Against their division rivals, Butler’s four receiving touchdowns came on 10 receptions along with 255 receiving yards. He added another 12 yards on a single carry for 50.7 fantasy points.
9) Joe Mixon, RB | 51.1 Fantasy Points
CIN vs. CAR | Week 9 | Nov. 6, 2022
The 2022 season had been a struggle at times for Joe Mixon, but he had a monster game in Week 9. Mixon rushed for four touchdowns and added one through the air. He combined that with 153 rushing yards and 58 receiving yards.
Mixon had four total touchdowns at the half and was essentially pulled from the game with a quarter to spare in a dominant Cincinnati Bengals performance. At the time of the performance, Mixon had more than a quarter of his rushing and receiving yards for the season in this one game. He only had three touchdowns coming into the game, leaving with eight.
8) Doug Martin, RB | 51.2 Fantasy Points
TB at OAK | Week 9 | Nov. 4, 2012
Affectionately nicknamed the “Muscle Hamster,” Doug Martin is another player who makes this list in his rookie season. Martin burst onto the scene as a rookie; in that 2012 season, he finished with 1,454 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He added 472 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.
This game against the Raiders was a big part of that success. In that game, Martin carried the ball 25 times for 251 yards with four touchdowns. He topped it off with 21 receiving yards on four receptions for 51.2 fantasy points.
7) Jamaal Charles, RB | 51.5 Fantasy Points
KC at OAK | Week 15 | Dec. 15, 2013
Jamaal Charles’ exciting career went into overdrive between 2012 and 2014. In that time, he finished as a top 10 back three years running and a top 15 overall player. From a fantasy perspective, 2013 was his career year, and this game, in particular, will be remembered for a long time.
Against the Raiders, Charles wreaked havoc. He scored four times before the half as the Chiefs led 35-10 at one point. He added a fifth touchdown on a 71-yard reception from Alex Smith.
What makes this performance stand out from the other backs on the list is that Charles did the majority of the damage in the receiving game. He had just 20 yards and a single touchdown on the ground. Meanwhile, he finished with 195 receiving yards and four touchdowns on eight receptions.
6) Corey Dillon, RB | 51.6 Fantasy Points
CIN vs. TEN | Week 15 | Dec. 4, 1997
The first of back-to-back performances from the previous millennium is yet another standout rookie performance. Corey Dillon was the model of consistency in his time in Cincinnati, with six straight 1,000-yard rushing performances.
The stand-out game from a fantasy perspective came in Week 15 when he had 246 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. But because it came in Week 15, it’s a strange game from a fantasy perspective.
Some of Dillon’s managers may have already been eliminated from the playoffs, meaning it meant nothing. However, if you did win or lose because of this performance, the jubilation or anguish would have been even greater than a middle-of-the-season high score.
5) Josh Allen, QB | 51.9 Fantasy Points
BUF at LR | Week 14 | Dec. 8, 2024
In Week 14 of the 2024 season, Josh Allen did all he could to propel his team to victory, but came up just short. The Bills fell 44-42 to the Rams, but it was not for lack of trying.
Allen threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 81 yards and three touchdowns. He is the only player in the history of the NFL with three passing and three rushing touchdowns in the same game.
Undoubtedly, in the final week of the fantasy regular season, Allen hard carried many teams into the fantasy playoffs.
4) Jerry Rice, WR | 52.5 Fantasy Points
SF at ATL | Week 6 | Oct. 14, 1990
Our second and final receiver to make this list of the most fantasy football points in a single game is Jerry Rice. For a receiver to post a fantasy performance over 50 non-PPR points in a single game is somewhat mindblowing. But in Week 6 of the 1990 season, Rice did exactly that against the Atlanta Falcons.
In a game the 49ers won 45-35, Rice scored five receiving touchdowns with 255 yards on 10 receptions. It was his fourth and fifth receiving touchdowns that put the game to bed, extending the lead from 31-21 to 45-21.
3) Shaun Alexander, RB | 53.1 Fantasy Points
SEA vs. MIN | Week 4 | Sept. 29, 2002
Shaun Alexander is best remembered for his amazing MVP-winning performance in 2005. However, this game actually came three seasons earlier in 2002.
Against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4, Alexander carried the Seahawks to a commanding first-half lead. He finished the game with 139 rushing yards, 92 receiving yards, four rushing touchdowns, and a receiving touchdown.
Yet, the craziest part of the Seahawks RB’s performance was that all five touchdowns were scored in the first half, with the Seahawks leading 45-17 at halftime.
2) Alvin Kamara, RB | 53.2 Fantasy Points
NO vs. MIN | Week 16 | Dec. 25, 2020
There are many reasons this performance from Alvin Kamara will go down in history. Firstly, it happened on Christmas Day, in a standalone game, so all eyes were on him as the New Orleans Saints beat the Vikings 52-33. Secondly, Kamara set the record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single game with six.
For fantasy managers who were impacted, the memories will be extremely vivid. The reason is that Week 16 is typically fantasy championship week, and Kamara likely either handed you a title or cost you a fantasy league in the very first game of the week. He finished with 155 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns, and 17 receiving yards for a monster fantasy performance.
Which Player Scored the Most Non-PPR Fantasy Points in a Single Game?
Clinton Portis, RB | 55.4 Fantasy Points
DEN vs. KAN | Week 14 | Dec. 7, 2003
Clinton Portis holds the record for the most standard fantasy football points in a single game. He achieved this feat in 2003, his second year in the league. In Week 14, Portis ran all over the Kansas City Chiefs as the Denver Broncos prevailed 45-27.
Portis scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half before putting the game away with three rushing scores in a 10-minute span across the third and fourth quarters. He finished the game with 218 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, and 36 receiving yards.
Most PPR Fantasy Points Scored in a Single Game
10) Alvin Kamara | 56.2
NO vs. MIN | Dec. 25, 2020
T8) Kellen Winslow | 57.4
SD at OAK |Nov. 22, 1981
T8) Clinton Portis | 57.4
DEN vs. KC | Dec. 7, 2003
7) Tyreek Hill | 57.9
KC at TB | Nov. 29, 2020
6) Steve Largent | 59.1
SEA at DET | Oct. 18, 1987
5) Jamaal Charles | 59.5
KC at OAK | Dec. 15, 2013
4) Jerry Butler | 60.7
BUF at NYJ | Sept. 23, 1979
3) Jerry Rice | 61.9
SF vs. MIN | Dec. 18, 1995
2) Jimmy Smith | 62.1
JAX at BAL | Sept. 10, 2000
1) Jerry Rice | 65.5
SF at ATL | Oct. 14, 1990