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Rest of post available here: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=7371
Great article. Many of your points are dead on.One minor thing I would add as to why we don't see this anymore nowadays is also fear of injury. In todays NFL losing a QB you have multi-millions of dollars invested in to an injury because he was trying to throw for 500+ yards in a game your team was up by 21+ would get coaches run out of town faster than trading away all your draft picks for one guy. While I also agree that teams "take their foot off the gas" (to borrow from Revis) late in games when they are up big - I think it has as much to do with injury concern (not only to the QB, but most everyone - especially if the other team seeks "revenge" shots for teams running it up on them) as with other aspects.
Well, that was 20 years ago. No doubt it will fall, though.
There have been at least six different football teams that went by the NY Yanks or Yankees.1) C.C. Pyle tried to get a football team called the New York Yankees into the NFL in 1926, but was denied. He signed Red Grange, and formed his own football league, called the American Football League. The NYY played there in '26, then Pyle's Yankees (and Grange) were granted entry into the NFL in '27. They folded after '28, although they did have two notable players in Grange and Ray Flaherty.
I will never forget watching that game with my Oiler bro clan. Moon was on fire that day against a stout KC defense, and he did it on the road against an amped up sellout crowd at Arrowhead. He would've easily broken the record but the Oilers had that game in hand and Jack Pardee decided to dial it down and run the ball in the fourth quarter. I was not happy about that and wanted him to let Moon get the record.
Bob Waterfield was the veteran QB on the team, and a future HOFer himself (even if Van Brocklin was a much better quarterback in the grand scheme of things, Waterfield wasn't exactly bad). Van Brocklin actually attempted more passes on the season (the two alternated series as QB) but Waterfield was the nominal starter. Still, both averaged 8.9 yards per attempt, had identical interception rates, and Waterfield actually averaged slightly more TDs per pass. The two Rams quarterbacks ranked 1st and 2nd in the league in adjusted yards per attempt in 1951, just like another pair of Rams quarterbacks 49 years later.
Three receivers with catches in the game, one with 19 yards per catch, one with 23 yards per catch, and one with 51.5 yards per catch?
There are also more completions, which leads to the clock running for longer, and fewer snaps. But while there may be fewer snaps, there are more pass attempts. I would think that would be far more important.
The boxscore only lists players with 100+ yards receiving; there were another 116 yards on 9 catches among other players. But yes, the New York Yanks couldn't tackle (but also they had to stack the box somewhat, as the Rams had a great running game, too (29-181 on the day, with 3 very good running backs)).
I think having 16 more plays would help modern QBs have a better shot at breaking the record.Edited to add: 39 incompletions in 2009 GB-PITT, 40 incompletions in 1951 Yanks-RamsAnd your point about more completions reminds me of the profound impact of Bill Walsh on the modern passing game, which has resulted in more passing attempts and higher completion percentages but also reduced yards per completion. Ball-control passing may be a big contributor to why this record still stands, too.
Interesting post. Worth pointing out, though, that:The Steelers averaged 10.9 Y/A; the Packers completed 54.2% of their passes
If I understand the linked chart correctly, it looks like the average game in 1951 had just over 134 snaps, so it seems like NVB benefited in part from some circumstances that enabled 147 plays to run in the 1951 game, nearly 13 over the average for the season.Add in the aforementioned poor tackling of the Yanks, and it looks like we know at least two components of the "mystery" of why the record still stands.
If I remember correctly this game was against the Chiefs and there was a pass to Haywood Jeffries that would have broken the record, but it was ruled incomplete. Replays showed the pass should have been ruled complete (Jeffries did get 2 feet down on the sideline), but there was no red flag to be thrown at this time in the NFL.
