Week 1 Sees NFL QBs Complete Record 64.3 Percent of Passes

NFL quarterbacks as a whole set a single-week record in Week 1 of the 2014 season, completing 64.3 percent of the passes they attempted, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN's Kevin Seifert).

Actually, to be fair, it wasn't just quarterbacks who contributed, as Pittsburgh Steelers safety Robert Golden completed a 25-yard pass to fellow defensive back Antwon Blake on a fake punt in the fourth quarter of Sunday's eventual 30-27 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Aside from the 32 starting quarterbacks and Golden, the only players to attempt a pass in Week 1 were St. Louis Rams backup quarterback Austin Davis and New York Jets second-string quarterback Michael Vick. Davis connected on 16 of his 23 pass attempts while filling in for an injured Shaun Hill, but Vick failed to complete his lone attempt, despite having wide receiver Eric Decker open for a touchdown.

With the obvious exception of Vick, each quarterback had a completion percentage of at least 51.8, with the low-water mark surprisingly belonging to New England Patriots signal-caller Tom Brady, who had a tough time with the Miami Dolphins defense.

At the front of the pack was none other than Vick's teammate, Geno Smith, who found the target on 82.1 percent of his passes, posting the third-best single-game completion percentage (min. 20 attempts) in Jets franchise history.

The league-wide completion percentage went up the past two seasons, from 60.1 in 2011 to 60.9 in 2012 to 61.2 in 2013.

However, no trend should be assumed, as the number has hovered around 61 percent since 2006, the last year that saw the league-wide completion percentage sit below 60.

On the other hand, an added emphasis on defensive penalties could lead to a major leap this year, putting last season's all-time record at risk.

61.22 percent of passes were completed in 2013, edging the previous record of a 61.16 league-wide completion percentage, set in 2007.

All stats courtesy of pro-football-reference.com unless otherwise specified.