Brady, Rodgers, Brees -- and Manning -- Looking to Topple Passing Record

(The Wall Street Journal) - While all eyes are trained on Denver and the magic feet of quarterback Tim Tebow, the NFL is quietly having an historic season through the air. It is not that there is one quarterback threatening to smoke Dan Marino's 17-year-old single-season passing record. There are three.

Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, who is averaging 336 passing yards per game, and Tom Brady of New England, who is at 329, are both on pace to surpass Marino's mark of 5,084 yards.

Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, who is arguably having the best season by a quarterback in NFL history, is projected to come within eight yards.

This flowering of passing carries the residue of design: Starting in 1978, the NFL tried to open up the skies by enacting a rule that prohibited defensive players from making contact with receivers more than five yards downfield. The rule sent passing totals soaring over the next five seasons.

Defenses have caught up at various points, but later rules tweaks (many of them designed to protect quarterbacks and wide receivers) continue to make passing better.

Still, the performances of this season's three virtuosos can also be traced the powerful shaping influence of the college game.

Brees, Brady and Rodgers -- who are all between 28 and 34 years old -- are products of a time in college football when offense was being reshaped by the spread: a scheme that features the quarterback taking shotgun snaps with as many as five receivers and an empty backfield. The 1990s were college football's version of the psychedelic '60s: Free-thinking coaches finally stepped away from the bedrock values of the power-running game to fully embrace the pass.

This formula has worked for all three quarterbacks in the NFL, where their offenses are predicated on the pass -- specifically, the quick, short pass. Collectively, the Packers, Patriots and Saints have generated 74.4 percent of their offense by throwing the ball. And more than 60 percent of the time, the three quarterbacks are targeting receivers who are less than 10 yards downfield, according to ProFootballFocus.com.

The college spread has elevated the function of slot receivers, who often work the middle of the field as safety valves who the quarterback can target if pressured. In the NFL, that role is being occupied by larger pass-catching tight ends. Quarterbacks can hit their tight ends if they do feel any pressure, and Brees, Brady and Rodgers all have great footwork, which allows them to extend plays. Overall, tight ends are accounting for 21.3 percent of the league's receiving yards this season, up from just 14.7 percent throughout the 1990s, according to Stats LLC.

If there was any question this is the year of the quarterback, it was erased Sunday when Eli Manning of the New York Giants threw for 400 yards against Dallas -- pushing him to within 20 of Rodgers on the season's list.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal