Brady's unusual 2005 season

[Mooch]

With 4,110 yards passing this year, Tom Brady ranks 42nd all-time for single season passing yardage.

What makes this unusal?

Out of the top 50 single season passing performances, only FOUR were accomplished without the help of at least one 1,000 receiver.

Marino did it twice: 1985 and 1992
Brian Sipe accompished it in 1980.

Here's the list, along with the number of 1,000 receivers on the team each year:

D Marino      1984   5084  clayton, duper
K Warner      2001   4830   bruce, holt
D Fouts       1981   4802   joiner
D Marino      1986   4746   clayton, duper
D Culpepper   2004   4717   burleson
D Fouts       1980   4715   jefferson, joiner
W Moon        1991   4690   hill, jeffries
W Moon        1990   4689   hill, jeffries
R Gannon      2002   4689   rice
N Lomax       1984   4614   roy green
T Green       2004   4591   kennison
P Manning     2004   4557   harrison, stokely, wayne
D Bledsoe     1994   4555   coates
L ****ey      1983   4458   lofton
D Marino      1994   4453   fryar
S Beuerlein   1999   4436   jeffers, muhammad
D Marino      1988   4434   clayton
P Manning     2000   4413   harrison
B Favre       1995   4413   brooks
M Brunell     1996   4367   mccardell, smith
D Bledsoe     2002   4359   moulds, price
K Warner      1999   4353   bruce, faulk
B Kenney      1983   4348   carlos carson
S Mitchell    1995   4338   moore, perriman
D Majkowski   1989   4318   sharpe
J Everett     1989   4310   anderson, ellard
J Garcia      2000   4278   t.o.
P Manning     2003   4267   harrison
W Moon        1994   4264   carter, reed
W Moon        1995   4228   carter, reed
B Favre       1998   4212   freeman
P Manning     2002   4200   harrison
V Testaverde  1996   4177   alexander, jackson
S Young       1998   4170   rice
E Grbac       2000   4164   alexander
J George      1995   4143   emanuel, mathis, metcalf
D Marino      1985   4137   NONE
P Manning     1999   4135   harrison
B Sipe        1980   4132   NONE
P Manning     2001   4131   Harrison
D Marino      1992   4116   NONE
T Brady       2005   4110   NONE
J Schroeder   1986   4109   Clark, Monk
B Favre       1999   4091   Freeman, Schroeder
J Plummer     2004   4089   Lelie, Smith
B Favre       2004   4088   Driver, Walker
D Bledsoe     1996   4086   Glenn
D Fouts       1979   4082   Jefferson, Joiner
K Collins     2002   4073   Toomer

 

[brdmaverick]

nice research, very interesting

 

[Brownfan80]

Interesting... but to be fair Branch just Barely missed a 1000 yard season.

 

[Mooch]

OK, here's part II.

Brady has ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in passing yards each year for the past 4 seasons.

He is the ONLY Top 10 QB without a single 1,000 receiver in EACH of those four seasons.

Check it out:

2002:

R Gannon       4689	Rice
D Bledsoe      4359	Price, Moulds
P Manning      4200	Harrison
K Collins      4073	Toomer
D Culpepper    3859	Moss
T Brady        3764	NONE
T Green        3690	NONE
B Favre        3658	Driver
A Brooks       3572	Horn
S McNair       3387	Mason

2003:

P Manning      4267	Manning
T Green        4039	NONE
M Bulger       3845	Holt
M Hasselbeck   3844	Jackson
B Johnson      3811	McCardell
T Brady        3620	NONE
J Kitna        3591	Johnson
A Brooks       3546	NONE
D Culpepper    3479	Moss
T Maddox       3414	Ward

2004:

D Culpepper    4717	Burleson
T Green        4591	Kennison, Gonzalez
P Manning      4557	Harrison, Wayne, Stokely
J Plummer      4089	Smith, Lelie
B Favre        4088	Driver, Walker
M Bulger       3964	Bruce, Holt
J Delhomme     3886	Muhammad
D McNabb       3875	T.O.
A Brooks       3810	Horn
T Brady        3692	NONE

2005:

T Brady        4110	NONE
T Green        4014	Kennison
B Favre        3881	Driver
C Palmer       3836	Johnson
E Manning      3762	Burress
K Collins      3759	Moss
P Manning      3747	Harrison, Wayne	
D Bledsoe      3639	Glenn
D Brees        3576	Gates
M Hasselbeck   3455	NONE