Strong Arm Tactics:
A History and Statistical Analysis of the Professional Quarterback
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Strong Arm Tactics: A History and Statistical Analysis of the Professional Quarterback |
Relative Points Scored
The quarterback's job is to put points on the board. The aim of each player is to help his team win the game, and the best way a quarterback can help his team win is by leading his offense to scores. Scoring is another way we can examine a quarterback's performance relative to the league average. I looked at every quarterback who was the predominant starter on his team in at least five seasons and compared the team's point totals to the league average in those seasons. While some teams are better at scoring via defense and special teams than others and some teams take a more ball control approach to offense, relative scoring does present some interesting data on quarterbacks. In the book, I listed the top 20 quarterbacks in scoring above the league average. Those whose offenses scored below 114% of the league through 2006 are listed here.
Relative Quarterback Scoring Offense
| Quarterback | Years Counted | Team Points | League Average |
Relative Rating |
| Dan Marino | 1983-99 | 6252 | 5564 | 112% |
| Paul Christman | 1945-50 | 1663 | 1480 | 112% |
| Tony Eason | 1984-86 | 1136 | 1012 | 112% |
| John Elway | 1983-98 | 5850 | 5231 | 112% |
| George Ratterman | 1947-50 | 1282 | 1147 | 112% |
| Don Meredith | 1961-68 | 2732 | 2450 | 112% |
| Len Dawson | 1962-75 | 4617 | 4152 | 111% |
| Johnny Lujack | 1949-51 | 897 | 809 | 111% |
| Rich Gannon | 1990-93, 1997-03 | 3946 | 3563 | 111% |
| Jim Kelly | 1986-96 | 3900 | 3526 | 111% |
| Frank Ryan | 1960-67 | 2677 | 2421 | 111% |
| Daunte Culpepper | 1900-05 | 2204 | 2006 | 110% |
| Pat Haden | 1976-79, 1981 | 1595 | 1454 | 110% |
| Ken Stabler | 1973-83 | 3423 | 3127 | 109% |
| James Harris | 1974-77 | 1148 | 1051 | 109% |
| Mark Rypien | 1988-95 | 2776 | 2547 | 109% |
| Dan Fouts | 1973-76, 78-87 | 4594 | 4223 | 109% |
| Jeff Garcia | 1999-06 | 2892 | 2670 | 108% |
| Bert Jones | 1973-77, 1980-81 | 2137 | 1982 | 108% |
| Roger Staubach | 1971, 1973-79 | 2381 | 2209 | 108% |
| Wade Wilson | 1984, 1986-90, 1992-93 | 2762 | 2566 | 108% |
| Johnny Unitas | 1956-67, 1969-72 | 5200 | 4834 | 108% |
| Eli Manning | 2004-06 | 1080 | 1004 | 108% |
| George Blanda | 1952-54, 1960-66 | 3288 | 3057 | 108% |
| Warren Moon | 1984-98 | 5246 | 4882 | 107% |
| Ed Danowski | 1935-39 | 785 | 731 | 107% |
| Matt Hasselbeck | 1901-06 | 2217 | 2066 | 107% |
| Joe Namath | 1965-69, 1972, 1974-7677 | 2823 | 2634 | 107% |
| Tommy Thompson | 1941-42, 46-50 | 1786 | 1671 | 107% |
| Donovan McNabb | 1999-06 | 2849 | 2670 | 107% |
| Steve Grogan | 1975-83, 1985, 1987, 1989 | 3840 | 3599 | 107% |
| Joe Theismann | 1976-85 | 3170 | 2996 | 106% |
| Steve McNair | 1996-06 | 3881 | 3669 | 106% |
| Marc Bulger | 2002-06 | 1780 | 1683 | 106% |
| John Hadl | 1962, 1964-75 | 4041 | 3828 | 106% |
| Elvis Grbac | 1995-01 | 1750 | 1660 | 105% |
| Ken Anderson | 1971-84 | 4236 | 4021 | 105% |
| Earl Morrall | 1957, 1963, 1965-66, 1968, 1971-72 | 2120 | 2014 | 105% |
| Tom Flores | 1960-61, 1963-66 | 2048 | 1946 | 105% |
| Steve Bono | 1991, 1994-96 | 1367 | 1299 | 105% |
| Sammy Baugh | 1937-51 | 3280 | 3119 | 105% |
| Fran Tarkenton | 1961-78 | 5448 | 5183 | 105% |
| Bart Starr | 1957-70 | 4237 | 4035 | 105% |
| Bobby Layne | 1949-62 | 3908 | 3728 | 105% |
| Brian Griese | 1999-05 | 2443 | 2339 | 104% |
| Troy Aikman | 1989-00 | 4041 | 3885 | 104% |
| Bill Wade | 1956, 1958-64 | 2350 | 2260 | 104% |
| Jim Hardy | 1948-51 | 1130 | 1088 | 104% |
| Bobby Hebert | 1985, 1987-93, 1996 | 2984 | 2874 | 104% |
| Y.A. Tittle | 1948-64 | 4827 | 4650 | 104% |
| David Woodley | 1980-82, 1984-85 | 1575 | 1524 | 103% |
| John Brodie | 1958, 1960-62, 1964-73 | 4190 | 4061 | 103% |
| Jim Plunkett | 1971-74, 1976-77, 1980-84, 1986 | 3556 | 3447 | 103% |
| Stan Humphries | 1992-97 | 2316 | 2248 | 103% |
| Bill Nelsen | 1965-71 | 2115 | 2053 | 103% |
| Sonny Jurgensen | 1961-70, 1973-74 | 3645 | 3539 | 103% |
| Charley Johnson | 1962-66, 1969-70, 1972-75 | 3311 | 3216 | 103% |
| Ed Brown | 1955-61, 1963-64 | 2504 | 2435 | 103% |
| Jim Zorn | 1976-83 | 2377 | 2312 | 103% |
| Greg Landry | 1969-73, 1976-77, 1979 | 2273 | 2219 | 102% |
| Boomer Esiason | 1984-97 | 4645 | 4541 | 102% |
| Jim Hart | 1967-81 | 4398 | 4306 | 102% |
| Jack Kemp | 1960-61, 1963-67, 1969 | 2611 | 2559 | 102% |
| Brian Sipe | 1976-83 | 2358 | 2312 | 102% |
| Dave Krieg | 1983-96 | 4332 | 4260 | 102% |
| Tommy Maddox | 2002-03 | 690 | 679 | 102% |
| Ken O'Brien | 1984-91 | 2657 | 2616 | 102% |
| Mike Tomczak | 1986-92, 1996, 1999 | 2932 | 2891 | 101% |
| Tommy Kramer | 1979-82, 1984-86, 1988-89 | 2865 | 2827 | 101% |
| Scott Mitchell | 1993, 1995-99 | 1651 | 1633 | 101% |
| Drew Bledsoe | 1993-00, 2002-06 | 4350 | 4313 | 101% |
| Craig Morton | 1969-72, 1974-81 | 3455 | 3441 | 100% |
| Jake Delhomme | 1903-06 | 1341 | 1338 | 100% |
| Neil O'Donnell | 1991-98 | 2909 | 2903 | 100% |
| Michael Vick | 2001-02, 2004-06 | 1675 | 1673 | 100% |
| Charlie Conerly | 1948-60 | 3398 | 3394 | 100% |
| Billy Kilmer | 1967-77 | 3031 | 3033 | 100% |
| Mark Brunell | 1995-2002 | 3677 | 3680 | 100% |
| Gus Frerotte | 1995-97, 1999-00, 2005 | 1994 | 1996 | 100% |
| Jeff Hostetler | 1991-97 | 2211 | 2229 | 99% |
| Tobin Rote | 1950-59, 1963-64 | 3204 | 3235 | 99% |
| Vince Ferragamo | 1979-80, 1982-83, 1985 | 1508 | 1524 | 99% |
| Jim Everett | 1987-96 | 3159 | 3197 | 99% |
| Jim McMahon | 1982-89, 1991, 1993 | 3081 | 3124 | 99% |
| Brad Johnson | 1996-97, 1999-03, 2005-06 | 2935 | 2985 | 98% |
| Kordell Stewart | 1997-03 | 2298 | 2338 | 98% |
| Roman Gabriel | 1962-75 | 4007 | 4080 | 98% |
| Steve Bartkowski | 1975, 1977-84 | 2624 | 2672 | 98% |
| Doug Flutie | 1988, 1998-01 | 1617 | 1652 | 98% |
| Bernie Kosar | 1985-93 | 2803 | 2875 | 97% |
| Mike Livingston | 1969, 1973-78 | 1863 | 1913 | 97% |
| Milt Plum | 1958-62, 1964-67 | 2571 | 2641 | 97% |
| Jay Fiedler | 2000-04 | 1631 | 1677 | 97% |
| Neal Lomax | 1981-88 | 2449 | 2522 | 97% |
| Babe Parilli | 1952-53, 1957-58, 1960-7 | 3515 | 3621 | 97% |
| Steve Beuerlein | 1988-89, 1993-94, 1997-00 | 2533 | 2613 | 97% |
| Rudy Bukich | 1961, 1964-66 | 1198 | 1237 | 97% |
| Phil Simms | 1979-81, 198493 | 4047 | 4194 | 96% |
| Gary Danielson | 1978, 1980, 1982-84 | 1435 | 1491 | 96% |
| Bill Kenney | 1981-88 | 2421 | 2522 | 96% |
| Chris Miller | 1988-92, 1994-95 | 2154 | 2247 | 96% |
| Mark Malone | 1984-88 | 1589 | 1660 | 96% |
| Bobby Thomason | 1951-57 | 1706 | 1784 | 96% |
| Chad Pennington | 2002-04, 2006 | 1292 | 1353 | 95% |
| Cotton Davidson | 1960-64 | 1575 | 1654 | 95% |
| Aaron Brooks | 1900-06 | 2210 | 2337 | 95% |
| Doug Williams | 1978-82. 1987-88 | 1982 | 2102 | 94% |
| Bill Munson | 1964-65, 1968-70, 1973-74 | 1892 | 2007 | 94% |
| Steve DeBerg | 1978-80, 1982-85, 1987-91, 1993 | 3824 | 4060 | 94% |
| Erik Kramer | 1991-95, 1997-98 | 2112 | 2243 | 94% |
| Jim Harbaugh | 1989-99 | 3340 | 3555 | 94% |
| Lynn Dickey | 1976-77, 1979-85 | 2535 | 2703 | 94% |
| Richard Todd | 1976-77, 1979-84 | 2210 | 2358 | 94% |
| Jon Kitna | 1998-03, 2006 | 2187 | 2337 | 94% |
| Jay Schroeder | 1985-94 | 2990 | 3199 | 93% |
| Rick Mirer | 1993-97, 1999 | 1831 | 1959 | 93% |
| Norm Snead | 1961-70, 1972-75 | 3839 | 4110 | 93% |
| Joe Ferguson | 1973-84 | 3232 | 3467 | 93% |
| Vinny Testaverde | 1987-98, 200-01, 2003-04 | 4848 | 5201 | 93% |
| Jeff Blake | 1994-00, 2002-03 | 2798 | 3009 | 93% |
| Chris Chandler | 1992, 1994-03 | 3376 | 3633 | 93% |
| Glenn Dobbs | 1946-49 | 1065 | 1148 | 93% |
| Jake Plummer | 1997-06 | 3095 | 3342 | 93% |
| Dan Pastorini | 1971-19, 1981 | 2612 | 2823 | 93% |
| Ron Jaworski | 1977-86 | 2825 | 3056 | 92% |
| Ace Parker | 1938-41, 1946 | 853 | 941 | 91% |
| Tony Banks | 1996-01 | 1800 | 1986 | 91% |
| Steve Spurrier | 1969, 1972-73, 1975-76 | 1272 | 1405 | 91% |
| Mike Phipps | 1972-75, 1979-80 | 1581 | 1747 | 90% |
| Marc Wilson | 1981, 1984-87, 1989-90 | 2097 | 2319 | 90% |
| Rodney Peete | 1984-93, 1995, 2002 | 3527 | 3904 | 90% |
| Al Dorow | 1954, 1956, 1960-61 | 1073 | 1188 | 90% |
| Kerry Collins | 1995-05 | 3320 | 3682 | 90% |
| Kent Graham | 1996-00 | 1490 | 1663 | 90% |
| Don Majkowski | 1988-91 | 1146 | 1280 | 90% |
| Tommy O'Connell | 1956-57, 1960 | 732 | 820 | 89% |
| Byron Leftwich | 2003-05 | 898 | 1007 | 89% |
| Jim Finks | 1952-55 | 925 | 1038 | 89% |
| Gary Cuozzo | 1967, 1970-72 | 1006 | 1130 | 89% |
| Parker Hall | 1939-42 | 632 | 710 | 89% |
| Bubby Brister | 1988-91, 1993, 1995 | 1711 | 1923 | 89% |
| Mickey Slaughter | 1963-65 | 844 | 950 | 89% |
| Eddie LeBaron | 1952-53, 1955-62 | 2338 | 2657 | 88% |
| Steve Tensi | 1967-69 | 808 | 924 | 87% |
| Jeff George | 1990-95, 1997-00 | 2800 | 3229 | 87% |
| Frank Tripucka | 1949-50, 1952, 1960-63 | 1565 | 1817 | 86% |
| Trent Dilfer | 1995-02, 2005 | 2563 | 3005 | 85% |
| Bob Berry | 1968-72 | 1195 | 1403 | 85% |
| Lamar McHan | 1954-59, 1963 | 1554 | 1830 | 85% |
| Adrian Burk | 1950-51, 1953-55 | 1331 | 1577 | 84% |
| Billy Joe Tolliver | 1989-90, 1994, 1998-99 | 1372 | 1649 | 83% |
| Jack Trudeau | 1986-87, 1989-90, 1992 | 1324 | 1604 | 83% |
| Clyde LeForce | 1947-49 | 668 | 812 | 82% |
| Dave Brown | 1994-97, 1999 | 1363 | 1660 | 82% |
| Archie Manning | 1971-75, 1977-82 | 2492 | 3065 | 81% |
| Gary Hogeboom | 1984-85, 1987-90 | 1577 | 1990 | 79% |
| Dennis Shaw | 1970-72 | 645 | 824 | 78% |
| David Carr | 2002-06 | 1304 | 1683 | 77% |
| Bobby Douglass | 1969, 1971-73, 1976 | 1068 | 1388 | 77% |
| Mike Pagel | 1982-85, 1990 | 1164 | 1537 | 76% |
| Tim Couch | 1999-03 | 1261 | 1666 | 76% |
| Quincy Carter | 2001-03 | 752 | 1010 | 74% |
| Davey O'Brien | 1939-40 | 216 | 334 | 65% |
