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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Roselucky_Seven on 2024-12-14 17:10:56+00:00.

So because I saw that stupid article of the “Top 10 QB Seasons of All Time” that didn’t even mention 2004 Manning (or 2010 Brady for that matter), I figured I would do a small write-up on why I, and many others, believe his 2004 season to be the magnum opus of not only Peyton Manning’s career, but of quarterbacking in general.

We’ll start by comparing league averages from 2004 to Peyton’s numbers. We’ll do this by multiplying the averages by 32, removing Manning’s total, and then dividing again by 31 to arrive at the numbers if the NFL only had 31 teams in 2004.

In 2004, QBs not including Manning averaged the following numbers

511.5 Attempts

304.4 Completions

59.5% Completion Percentage

3,330 Yards

22 TDs

16.6 INTs

5.6 ANY/A

Now we will look at Peyton’s stats from this same year.

497 Attempts

336 Completions

67.6% Completion Percentage.

4,557 Yards

49 TDs

10 INTs

9.78 (!!!) ANY/A

On less pass attempts, Peyton had more completions than the average QB for more TDs, less INTs, and more yards. Now we’ll just look at an insane stat that is often left out of articles that only briefly talk about these seasons.

Peyton in 2004 had a TD % of 9.9. This means that 9.9% of his passes resulted in a touchdown. If you take into consideration his completion percentage, this means that for every 6.85 passes completed, the Colts ended up in the endzone. This is such a statistical anomaly in the post-merger NFL that it’s hard to believe it’s true at first glance.

Let’s also not forget that he sat out the Colts’ last game of the season because they had clinched the #3 seed with a 12-3 record by that point (by virtue of him throwing TD 49 against the Chargers and then going for 2 to force overtime) and had no way of moving up with the Patriots at 13-2 (and having lost head-to-head in week 1) and the Steelers at 14-1, and he would constantly be taken out of games early due to the Colts being so far ahead.

I understand why some people go with 2007 Brady, 2013 Peyton, or 1984 Marino for these lists, but from a sheer efficiency perspective I don’t know that we will ever see something like this again even with the modern passing rules.