Y/C/Y/A Average of Yards per Comp + Yards per Att So any stats achieved prior to the 1970 regular season, or following Super Bowl XIV in January 1980, are not accounted for. Additionally, the statistics encompass only the players’ seasons during the 1970s. I have narrowed the list down to a Top 10, including an honorable mention, with their respective index scores based upon the same criteria as the Top 100 list. There were 20 men who started the majority of their teams’ games over at least five of the ten years from 1970-1979. While the Quarterbacks of the 1970s saw their passing numbers decline from the previous decade, there was no shortage of exemplary play at the position, as many complemented aerial strategy with calculated scrambling. The result was a much more open passing game at the end of decade, capped off by Dan Fouts’ then-record 4,082 yards passing in 1979. But in 1978, crucial rule changes hindered defensive backs’ abilities to bump and harass receivers during their routes. This was exemplified by Joe Ferguson’s league-leading 2,803 passing yards in ’77, only a hair over 200 yards per game. Zone defenses mitigated the passing game, and teams embraced the security of running the football. In the ‘70s that fell to just over 217 per game, an 8.8% drop. In the ‘60s the annual leading passer averaged 238 yards per game. Then in the 1970s, a notorious step backward.
In 1967, Joe Namath became the first to exceed 4,000. In 1960, Johnny Unitas became the first quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. In the 1960s, the forward pass experienced a huge progression.
2022 (Updated from an article originally posted in Dec.
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