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Top 10 campaigns in NFL history

SCall13

SCall13

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This top ten list is attributed to APs attempt to break Dickerson's single season rushing record:


1. Dan Marino, Miami, 1984: Marino used his second NFL season to terrorize opposing defenses on a weekly basis. Blessed with a quick release and a rocket right arm, he produced a season-long performance that required its own section in the league record books once he was done. Marino set NFL marks for yards (he became the first player to pass for 5,000 yards in a season with 5,084) and touchdown passes (he blew away the old mark of 36 with 48 of his own) and he led the Dolphins to a spot in that season's Super Bowl. Marino's Hall of Fame career included many great seasons, but nothing ever topped those feats.

In fact, there is one chief reason his performance still ranks better than those produced more recently by Peyton Manning and Brady: The application of the rules was different. Both Manning and Brady benefited from the league's decision in 2004 to place greater emphasis on enforcing the illegal contact rule, which penalizes defenders who touch receivers more than five yards beyond from the line of scrimmage. If Marino had that advantage going for him, nobody would've ever matched the season he produced 24 years ago.

the rest of the top ten: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...es-list-top-10-individual-seasons-nfl-history
 
Glad to see Marino getting the love . I think they ranked OJ Simpsons 2000 yard season way too low on the list. That might be the hardest of all the accomplishments they listed
 
dlockz said:
I think they ranked OJ Simpsons 2000 yard season way too low on the list. That might be the hardest of all the accomplishments they listed
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It's insanity. Simpson should be closer to first than tenth. I'd probably rate him first.

Buffalo had a rookie quarterback who completed barely 44% of his passes that year, and for only 5.7 yards per attempt. Defenses were already sturdy against the run in that era but against the Bills you could all but ignore the pass. Granted, Buffalo had an emerging talented offensive line and a rugged complimentary classic fullback in Jim Braxton. But 2000 yards was so unthinkable it didn't even enter the discussion until the final two weeks. That final game against the Jets was one of the memorable telecasts in NFL history, given the preoccupation on an individual quest, and the snowy playing conditions. The upcoming playoffs weren't a topic at all that week, competing against O.J.'s pursuit of history.
 
dlockz said:
Glad to see Marino getting the love . I think they ranked OJ Simpsons 2000 yard season way too low on the list. That might be the hardest of all the accomplishments they listed
Click to expand...

I agree 100%

OJs season was so incredible when you consider he did it in 14 games
He averaged 143 yards rushing per game...amazing
 
He was a great RB but he is where he belongs right now. In Jail!!

Ozzy rules!!
 
Simpson should probably be number 1 but oh well, nice to see Marino getting some respect for a change. Typically he's just discarded for not winning a super bowl, sad.
 
They got number one right. I'm really enjoying AD's year. I love seeing historical greatness. I enjoy seeing a performance that's not a product of the offense or an era so much as it is a superhuman effort by one of the all-time greats.
 
Had the Dolphins won the Super Bowl that year, Marino's 1984 season would forever be known as the greatest season by any QB ever. But they didn't so he usually gets short shrift.
 
SCall13 said:
This top ten list is attributed to APs attempt to break Dickerson's single season rushing record:


1. Dan Marino, Miami, 1984: Marino used his second NFL season to terrorize opposing defenses on a weekly basis. Blessed with a quick release and a rocket right arm, he produced a season-long performance that required its own section in the league record books once he was done. Marino set NFL marks for yards (he became the first player to pass for 5,000 yards in a season with 5,084) and touchdown passes (he blew away the old mark of 36 with 48 of his own) and he led the Dolphins to a spot in that season's Super Bowl. Marino's Hall of Fame career included many great seasons, but nothing ever topped those feats.

In fact, there is one chief reason his performance still ranks better than those produced more recently by Peyton Manning and Brady: The application of the rules was different. Both Manning and Brady benefited from the league's decision in 2004 to place greater emphasis on enforcing the illegal contact rule, which penalizes defenders who touch receivers more than five yards beyond from the line of scrimmage. If Marino had that advantage going for him, nobody would've ever matched the season he produced 24 years ago.

the rest of the top ten: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...es-list-top-10-individual-seasons-nfl-history
Click to expand...

Great post.

That 84 season of Marino's was by far and away the greatest single season performance by any player at any position in football. People rarely are smart enough to rank it 1st where it belongs.
 
Megatron and AP are both the best ever at there respective positions. We may also see the next great QB in Luck.

Sit back and enjoy fellas, were seeing football gods on the field today.
 
WVDolphan said:
Great post.

That 84 season of Marino's was by far and away the greatest single season performance by any player at any position in football. People rarely are smart enough to rank it 1st where it belongs.
Click to expand...

I dont know Marino is my favorite player but rushing for over 2000 yards in 14 games I believe is on at least equal footing. Simpson averaged 143 yards a game for a season running and no one else has come within 10 yards of that on average. Both achievements are all time greats.
 
Phinatic8u said:
Megatron and AP are both the best ever at there respective positions. We may also see the next great QB in Luck.

Sit back and enjoy fellas, were seeing football gods on the field today.
Click to expand...

AP is awesome but he is not the best ever and same goes for Mega.
 
Phinatic8u said:
Megatron and AP are both the best ever at there respective positions. We may also see the next great QB in Luck.

Sit back and enjoy fellas, were seeing football gods on the field today.
Click to expand...

It's an awful era in pro football. In fact, it's an insulting era, considering the way defenses are restricted. The college game is not what it was, with BCS idiocy and the ruination of New Year's Day, but at least the college game is still mostly recognizable in terms of hitting. Alabama last season had the best pass defense in decades, allowing 4.6 yards per attempt in the regular season and lowering that in the bowl game.

Calvin Johnson wasn't even bothered last week by the Lions' terrible season. He was all grins and giggles while being interviewed after yet another loss. A home loss in prime time, no less. That interview defined this era as well as any other. Many of the past greats wouldn't even have done that interview, considering the circumstances. I absolutely guarantee an early '70s Dolphin wouldn't have dared to step in front of a microphone.

As dlockz posted, Jerry Rice is above Johnson and Jim Brown is unquestionably superior to Adrian Petersen.

Also, regarding Dan Marino, the pass defense rules and application of them had already been softened considerably by 1984. Anybody who doesn't believe that is out of his mind, or snuggling up to a Marino pillow. The game was pure and brutal until 1974, when the first wave of changes coddling the offense and particularly the passing game was adopted. The Dolphins were largely responsible, after Curtis Johnson and Tim Foley made a habit of eliminating wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. As a kid I absolutely loved it. I remember screaming in mischievous glee as the opposing quarterback dropped back with nobody to throw to. There were 2-3 man patterns in those days and the Dolphins reduced it to 1. It prompted the so-called Isaac Curtis Rule.

This is a brief description of the changes in 1974. Notice that every one favored the offense and specifically the passing game , including reduction of penalty yardage. Previously a 15 yard holding penalty could all but end a possession before it started:

"roll-blocking and cutting of wide receivers was eliminated; the extent of downfield contact a defender could have with an eligible receiver was restricted; the penalties for offensive holding, illegal use of the hands, and tripping were reduced from 15 to 10 yards..."

There were further changes aiding the passing game in 1977 and notably in 1978:

"The NFL continued a trend toward opening up the game. Rules changes permitted a defender to maintain contact with a receiver within five yards of the line of scrimmage, but restricted contact beyond that point. The pass-blocking rule was interpreted to permit the extending of arms and open hands."

Sorry, but Dan Marino was already playing in a dumbed up league, compared to what I witnessed earlier. Not even debatable. I think they had the correct balance in the '80s and '90s but it was hardly the brutal sport of the '60s and early '70s. The posters who rip Joe Namath, now that's comedic. Candidates for the corn field. They look at those stats and think it was today's rules and style of play, with worthless dump off passes and crossing patterns. Namath was a true downfield gunslinger. His lifetime 14.7 yards per completion is seven tenths higher than the best season Marino ever had (1984), and more than 2 yards beyond Marino's lifetime average. By Marino's era it was already an underneath league with heavy benefit of a doubt to the passer, compared to only 10 or 15 years earlier.
 
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