Started By
Message

Is Y.A. Tittle's 1963 season the greatest passing season of all-time?

Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:38 pm
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:38 pm
Yes, I know I'll be accused of prisoner of moment reaction to this legend's recent passing but I've done my homework regarding this and feel I can make a strong argument for Y.A. in 1963 as the greatest of all-time, especially when controlling for context. His case:

-1963 NFL MVP, led Giants to 3rd straight NFL Title Game
-3,100 yards passing in 13 games
-36-14 TD/INT ratio
-60% completion pct
-105 passer rating
-set single-season touchdown pass record(took 21 seasons to surpass)

Thoughts?
Posted by StrongBackWeakMind
Member since May 2014
22650 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:38 pm to
Posted by Akit1
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Jul 2006
7597 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:40 pm to
3100 in 13 games in 1963 is pretty impressive.
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:46 pm to
quote:

3100 in 13 games in 1963 is pretty impressive.


Especially when considering 1963 NFL was completely run and defense-oriented because of the rules which basically created the Dead Ball Era for professional football. No one except Y.A., Unitas and Jurgensen threw the ball as many times as they did nor were they as accurate as Y.A. during this particular period in the early 60s. For him to avoid tons of INTs in those days with all his pass attempts and still complete for 60% and 36 TDs was really extraordinary and transcendent. At age 37 no less!
This post was edited on 10/9/17 at 10:49 pm
Posted by saintsfan22
baton rouge
Member since May 2006
71485 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:48 pm to
That's Peyton's 2013 for those times. Unitas is the most noted passer of that era but never had a 60% completion season. Bradshaw played a decade later and never came close to those stats.
Posted by mizzoubuckeyeiowa
Member since Nov 2015
35437 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:48 pm to
What's even more amazing is the greatest passing day of all-time, still stands 65 years later.

In this age of wily-nily, easy-peasy everybody is open passing...Norm Van Brocklin's record still stands of 554 passing yards in a single game in 1951.

Norm Van Brocklin was not even the Rams’ first-string quarterback then; he started that day, one of two he made that season, because the incumbent was hurt. But on that warm, sunny day at Los Angeles Coliseum 60 years ago Wednesday, Van Brocklin did something that no other N.F.L. quarterback had done. More remarkably, no one has done it since. He threw for 554 yards, a sum so outsized, so far from the norm, that even the turbocharged offenses of today’s game, with their spread formations and no-huddle packages, have been unable to match it.

It shattered the existing record by 86 yards, and though no film or photographs from that game seem to have survived, the mark Van Brocklin set has remained so out of reach that even the greatest passers in the game’s history — most recently Tom Brady, who threw for 517 yards in the Patriots’ season opener this season — have fallen short.

“I said before I got the actual statistics, ‘Nobody is going to break this record in a long time,’ ” said George Taliaferro, a halfback, quarterback and defensive back for the New York Yanks, the Rams’ opponent on Sept. 28, 1951. “I had not projected to the kind of football that would be played today. I’m thinking about the vintage kind of football we played.”
Posted by mizzoubuckeyeiowa
Member since Nov 2015
35437 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:51 pm to
Marino's season for the type of football in the mid-80's is still GOAT.

That was back when you could still get after the quarterback like Lawrence Taylor said: "like a bunch of crazed dogs."
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:51 pm to
quote:

Norm Van Brocklin's record still stands of 554 passing yards in a single game in 1951.


What's under championed about that performance is that Van Brocklin threw for 5 TD passes on 66% passing achieving a 128 passer rating, unreal.
Posted by StrongBackWeakMind
Member since May 2014
22650 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:52 pm to
quote:

Marino's season for the type of football in the mid-80's is still GOAT.
Yup.
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:53 pm to
quote:

Marino's season for the type of football in the mid-80's is still GOAT.


What about Bert Jones 1976 before the 1978 rules changes when the Steel Curtain and other great defenses were dominating the NFL at the time?
Posted by StrongBackWeakMind
Member since May 2014
22650 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 10:54 pm to
Great stats for those times. Not the greatest passing season of all time.

If you want to adjust for era, Marino takes it.

Teams averaged 4 more attempts per game in 1984.
This post was edited on 10/9/17 at 10:56 pm
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 11:10 pm to
That's across 28 teams with better pass completion pct and better passer rating than 1963 so easier to infer the overall mean passing stats that season are diluted plus they had the benefit of the 1978 rules changes so the proficient passing teams of 1984 NFL feasted on the defenses per usual as they did the prior 6 seasons. Significantly harder in 1963 NFL when DBs could molest wide receivers all over the field and teams were built for smash mouth offense.
Posted by StrongBackWeakMind
Member since May 2014
22650 posts
Posted on 10/9/17 at 11:11 pm to
Tell us more about the NFL you never watched.
Posted by RogerTheShrubber
Juneau, AK
Member since Jan 2009
259875 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 3:48 am to
Considering the defensive back friendly era, I think it's up there.
Posted by ReauxlTide222
St. Petersburg
Member since Nov 2010
83395 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 4:09 am to
quote:

I know I'll be accused of prisoner of moment reaction to this legend
Holy hell, how old are you? I had you pegged for a 27 year old..
quote:

-3,100 yards passing in 13 games
-36-14 TD/INT ratio
You've got my attention. That's incredibly impressive for his era.
Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
34581 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 5:13 am to
I remember when Vince Ferragamo played for the Rams. He threw for 515 yards in one game, and it wasn't even a team record.
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 11:11 am to
quote:

Bert Jones 1976


Most underrated passing season in league history IMO
Posted by memphis tiger
Memphis, TN
Member since Feb 2006
20720 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 11:44 am to
Looks pretty pedestrian on the surface, but given the era and the fact that you were allowed to play defense back then, you could certainly make the argument.
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 12:32 pm to
It was just such an anomaly back during that Dead Ball Era, practically no one except Bart Starr was completing 60% or more of their passes then much less achieving 36 TD passes which stood for 21 seasons. Not minimizing what Marino did but he played in the post-Mel Blount Rule era and therefore some QB would’ve eclipsed what Tittle did at some point. Tittle and the Giants didn’t have that amount of deference to the offense and were one of the first teams to be pass-dominant, especially when Gifford was converted to wideout. Next to setting phenomenal records, they were arguable trailblazers as well especially with the increased degree of difficulty of 1960s NFL.
Posted by dukke v
PLUTO
Member since Jul 2006
202612 posts
Posted on 10/10/17 at 12:40 pm to
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 3Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitterInstagram