ATLANTA – Kirk Cousins ​​​​now finds himself in elite company.

Cousins ​​reached 40,000 passing yards on Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, becoming the fourth-fastest quarterback in league history to reach the milestone.

The Falcons quarterback needed 133 passing yards in the primetime game to join the exclusive club. In the third quarter, Cousins ​​threw 5 yards to Darnell Mooney, bringing his total for the game to exactly 133 yards.

Cousins ​​reached the milestone in his 153rd career game. It took longtime Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan 151 games to reach 40,000 career passing yards, which he accomplished during the 2017 season. He was the fastest player to do so at the time. However, in 2019, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford reached that total in his 147th career game. Former Saints quarterback Drew Brees also previously held the record, accumulating 40,000 yards in 152 appearances, just one game fewer than Cousins. Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame member Dan Marino also reached 40,000 career passing yards in 153 games.

Only 23 quarterbacks in NFL history have thrown for at least 40,000 yards. Cousins ​​is the 24th.

On his way to 40,000 yards, Cousins ​​managed 300 yards in 50 of his 153 appearances. He reached the 400-yard mark eight times, including his career-high of 460 yards in 2022 against the Indianapolis Colts.

But that's not all. Cousins ​​entered Sunday's game with 273 touchdown passes, tied with Hall of Fame San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana for 19th most in NFL history. In the first quarter, Cousins ​​threw his 274th career touchdown pass to Drake London to cap off a stellar opening drive and pass Montana, securing 19th place all to himself.

Cousins ​​currently ranks 24th on the all-time passing yards list, but that doesn't put him far behind Baltimore Colts Hall of Fame member Johnny Unitas, who finished his career with 40,239 yards.