Remember when throwing 30 touchdowns in a season meant something?
I started watching football in the ‘70s. Nobody in the ‘70s threw 30 touchdowns in a season.
They changed some rules and went to a 16-game season in 1978. This opened this up (radically, it seemed at the time), and 13 times in that decade a quarterback reached the 30-touchdown mark. That included Dan Marino’s legendary seasons of 48 and 44.
In the ‘90s, 17 quarterbacks reached 30 touchdowns. At this time, for fantasy purposes, if you felt a quarterback was going to throw 31-33 touchdowns in a season, that’s a guy you could think about selecting in the first or second round.
Now we’re getting to the point where almost half of the season is getting close to 30. At the halfway point of the season, and 12 quarterbacks are on pace to throw 30-plus.
It’s now 40 touchdowns that’s special. That’s a plateau that’s been reached only 11 times, but five quartebacks have a realistic chance of hitting 40 this year. Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck look like shoo-ins. Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers are all just off the clip.
Here’s the list of all quarterbacks who’ve hit 37 touchdowns in a season, along with where today’s quarterbacks currently are projected to finish.
SINGLE-SEASON TOUCHDOWN PASS LEADERS | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Player | TD |
2013 | Peyton Manning, Broncos | 55 |
2007 | Tom Brady, Patriots | 50 |
2004 | Peyton Manning, Colts | 49 |
2014 | Peyton Manning, Broncos | 48 |
1984 | Dan Marino, Dolphins | 48 |
2014 | Andrew Luck, Colts | 46 |
2011 | Drew Brees, Saints | 46 |
2011 | Aaron Rodgers, Packers | 45 |
1986 | Dan Marino, Dolphins | 44 |
2012 | Drew Brees, Saints | 43 |
2011 | Matthew Stafford, Lions | 41 |
1999 | Kurt Warner, Rams | 41 |
2014 | Tom Brady, Patriots | 39 |
2014 | Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers | 39 |
2013 | Drew Brees, Saints | 39 |
2012 | Aaron Rodgers, Packers | 39 |
2011 | Tom Brady, Patriots | 39 |
2004 | Daunte Culpepper, Vikings | 39 |
1996 | Brett Favre, Packers | 39 |
2014 | Aaron Rodgers, Packers | 38 |
1995 | Brett Favre, Packers | 38 |
2012 | Peyton Manning, Broncos | 37 |
2001 | Kurt Warner, Rams | 37 |
—Ian Allan