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The evolution of passer rating
Cold, Hard Football Facts for August 30, 2006
You'll notice that league-wide passer ratings have climbed dramatically over the years. This means that an 85 passer rating in 1977, for example, is far more impressive than an 85 passer rating in 2004.
The 1977 season marked the height of the Dead Ball Era, when scoring in modern NFL history reached its low point. The 1977 season, not so coincidentally, also featured the lowest league-wide passer rating (60.7) of any year since 1956. The 2004 season featured the highest league-wide passer rating (82.8) in NFL history.
This chart shows the overall league passer rating in each year and the individual passer rating that season. The final column shows the individual leader's rating as a percentage of the league-wide rating. It's this number that trumps raw passer rating, puts it into historical context and tells us who truly had the better passing season.
This number shows us, for example, that Kenny Stabler's 103.4 rating in 1976 was more impressive than Dan Marino's 108.9 rating in his record-breaking 1984 season and even more impressive than Peyton Manning's 121.4 rating in the Indy quarterback's record-breaking 2004 season.
Stabler exceeded the league-wide passer rating by 54.3 percent in 1976. Marino exceeded the league-wide rating by 43.1 percent in 1984. Manning exceeded the league-wide rating by 46.6 percent in 2004.
For further reading see:
Year-by-year passer ratings and passer-rating leaders:
|
Year |
League Rating |
Passing Leader (Team) |
Rating |
% > League |
|
1940 |
42.3 |
|
85.6 |
102.4% |
|
1941 |
39.6 |
Sid Luckman (Chicago) |
95.3 |
140.7% |
|
1942 |
40.1 |
Cecil Isbell (Green Bay) |
87.0 |
117.0% |
|
1943 |
48.4 |
Sid Luckman (Chicago) |
107.5 |
122.1% |
|
1944 |
42.2 |
Frank Filchock (Washington) |
86.0 |
103.8% |
|
1945 |
47.4 |
|
109.9 |
131.9% |
|
1946 |
47.8 |
Sid Luckman (Chicago) |
71.0 |
48.5% |
|
1947 |
57.6 |
|
92.0 |
59.7% |
|
1948 |
60.0 |
Tommy Thompson (Philly) |
98.4 |
64.0% |
|
1949 |
53.9 |
Tommy Thompson (Philly) |
84.4 |
56.6% |
|
1950 |
52.9 |
|
85.1 |
60.9% |
|
1951 |
55.6 |
|
81.8 |
47.1% |
|
1952 |
55.5 |
Tobin Rote (Green Bay) |
85.6 |
54.2% |
|
1953 |
54.2 |
|
99.7 |
83.9% |
|
1954 |
61.7 |
Adrian Burk (Philly) |
80.4 |
30.3% |
|
1955 |
57.2 |
|
94.0 |
64.3% |
|
1956 |
59.6 |
Ed Brown (Chicago) |
83.1 |
39.4% |
|
1957 |
63.2 |
Tommy O'Connell (Cleveland) |
93.3 |
47.6% |
|
1958 |
63.2 |
Johnny Unitas (Baltimore) |
90.0 |
42.4% |
|
1959 |
66.9 |
Charlie Conerly (N.Y. Giants) |
102.7 |
53.4% |
|
1960 |
65.2 |
Milt Plum (Cleveland) |
110.4 |
69.3% |
|
1961 |
64.8 |
Billy Wade (Chicago) |
93.7 |
44.6% |
|
1962 |
72.6 |
|
90.7 |
24.9% |
|
1963 |
71.7 |
Y.A. Tittle (N.Y. Giants) |
104.8 |
46.2% |
|
1964 |
71.7 |
|
97.1 |
35.4% |
|
1965 |
73.5 |
Johnny Unitas (Baltimore) |
97.4 |
32.52% |
|
1966 |
67.4 |
|
105.0 |
55.8% |
|
1967 |
66.6 |
Sonny Jurgensen (Washington) |
87.3 |
31.1% |
|
1968 |
68.6 |
|
104.3 |
52.0% |
|
1969 |
71.6 |
|
89.9 |
25.6% |
|
1970 |
63.8 |
John Brodie (San Francisco) |
93.8 |
47.0% |
|
1971 |
62.2 |
Roger Staubach (Dallas) |
104.8 |
68.5% |
|
1972 |
66.3 |
Earl Morral (Miami) |
91.0 |
37.3% |
|
1973 |
64.9 |
Roger Staubach (Dallas) |
94.6 |
45.8% |
|
1974 |
64.2 |
|
95.7 |
49.1% |
|
1975 |
65.6 |
|
93.9 |
43.14% |
|
1976 |
67.0 |
Ken Stabler (Oakland) |
103.4 |
54.3% |
|
1977 |
60.7 |
Bob Griese (Miami) |
87.8 |
44.64% |
|
1978 |
65.0 |
Roger Staubach (Dallas) |
84.9 |
30.6% |
|
1979 |
70.8 |
Roger Staubach (Dallas) |
92.3 |
30.4% |
|
1980 |
74.1 |
Brian Sipe (Cleveland) |
91.4 |
23.3% |
|
1981 |
72.9 |
|
98.4 |
35.0% |
|
1982 |
73.4 |
|
95.3 |
29.8% |
|
1983 |
75.9 |
Steve Bartkowski (Atlanta) |
97.6 |
28.6% |
|
1984 |
76.1 |
|
108.9 |
43.1% |
|
1985 |
73.6 |
Ken O'Brien (N.Y. Jets) |
96.2 |
30.7% |
|
1986 |
74.1 |
Tommy Kramer (Minnesota) |
92.6 |
25.0% |
|
1987 |
75.2 |
|
102.1 |
35.8% |
|
1988 |
72.9 |
Boomer Esiason (Cincy) |
97.4 |
33.61% |
|
1989 |
75.6 |
|
112.4 |
49.2% |
|
1990 |
77.3 |
Jim Kelly (Buffalo) |
101.2 |
31.0% |
|
1991 |
76.2 |
Steve Young (San Francisco) |
101.8 |
33.6% |
|
1992 |
75.3 |
Steve Young (San Francisco) |
107.0 |
42.1% |
|
1993 |
76.6 |
Steve Young (San Francisco) |
101.5 |
32.51% |
|
1994 |
78.4 |
Steve Young (San Francisco) |
112.8 |
43.9% |
|
1995 |
79.2 |
Jim Harbaugh (Indy) |
100.7 |
27.1% |
|
1996 |
76.8 |
Steve Young (San Francisco) |
97.2 |
26.6% |
|
1997 |
77.2 |
Steve Young (San Francisco) |
104.7 |
35.6% |
|
1998 |
78.2 |
Randall Cunningham (Minnesota) |
106.0 |
35.5% |
|
1999 |
77.1 |
Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams) |
109.2 |
41.6% |
|
2000 |
78.1 |
Brian Griese (Denver) |
102.9 |
31.7% |
|
2001 |
78.5 |
Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams) |
101.4 |
29.2% |
|
2002 |
80.4 |
Chad Pennington (N.Y. Jets) |
104.2 |
29.6% |
|
2003 |
78.3 |
Steve McNair (Tennessee) |
100.4 |
28.2% |
|
2004 |
82.8 |
Peyton Manning (Indy) |
121.4 |
46.6% |
|
2005 |
80.1 |
Peyton Manning (Indy) |
104.1 |
30.0% |
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