Nov. 21, 1976 – Worst Passing Sunday Ever?
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:35 pm
The mention of much-maligned Gary Marangi in the post about the Worst Seasons ever got me reminiscing about Marangi’s statistical nadir in 1976. Turns out he was hardly alone when he literally bottomed out in passer rating on Nov. 21, 1976.
I know passing was much tougher pre-1978, but the passing stats for the 11th week of 1976 (Nov. 21-22) strike me as extra bad, especially when the games were not severely impacted by weather.
According to the sort feature on pro football reference, this was the only day since 1960 that three quarterbacks (Jim Hart, Bob Avellini, Gary Marangi) attempted 29 or more passes and completed 9 or fewer. Here’s the list of ugly stats:
Gary Marangi – BUF - 8 of 30, 83 yards, 0 TD, 3 Int, 0.0 rating (yes that’s “zero-point-zero” also known as the Blutarsky)
Jim Plunkett – SF – 6 of 18 for 35 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int – 2.8 rating
Carlos Brown – GB – 11 of 25 for 82 yards, 0 TD, 3 Int – 12.8 rating
Roger Staubach – DAL - 13 of 28, 157 yards, 0 TD, 3 Int, 24.6 rating
Joe Namath – NYJ – 16 of 36 for 176 yards, 1 TD, 5 Int – 29.2 rating
Craig Morton – NYG – 11 of 24 for 137 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int – 29.3 rating
Bobby Douglass – NO – 12 of 21 for 115 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int – 32.9 rating (and his team scored 51 points)
Scott Hunter – ATL - 8 of 20, 99 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int, 35.2 rating
Bill Kilmer – WSH – 9 of 20, 110 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int – 41.7 rating
Bob Avellini – CHI – 8 of 29 for 133 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int – 43.3 rating
Jim Zorn – SEA – 11 of 22 for 106 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int – 44.9 rating
Jim Hart – STL - 9 of 31, 181 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int – 48.7 rating
Ken Anderson – CIN – 9 of 17 for 123 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int – 51.8 rating
Bert Jones, Ken Stabler and Brian Sipe had the best statistical performances that day, but across the league that weekend there were 25 TD passes and 46 interceptions. For the norm, the overall league completion percentage for the entire 1976 season was 52.2, and the overall passer rating was 63.6.
Footnote: Marangi followed up his 8 for 30 in 1976 Week 11 with a 4 for 21 performance four days later on Thanksgiving when O.J. ran for 273 against Detroit. Marangi finished 1976 completing 82 of 232 (35.3 percent) total for his 7 starts (all losses) and some other spot duty.
That begs the question, who was Buffalo’s other QB option in 1976?
With Joe Ferguson out for the year with a back injury, the only other QB I can find listed for Buffalo in 1976 was Sam Wyche, who the Bills signed on Oct. 26, the day after Ferguson went down. Wyche did not throw a pass for the Bills.
Marangi Epilogue: Marangi, who the Bills took with a 3rd-round pick in 1974, was traded by Buffalo to the Packers for an undisclosed draft pick on Aug. 31, 1977, but he failed his physical with Green Bay and was released by the Bills on Sept. 6, 1977.
Apparently Marangi had a look by Cleveland the next year but was released by the Browns on July 24, 1978. (Thank you prosportstransactions.com!)
I know passing was much tougher pre-1978, but the passing stats for the 11th week of 1976 (Nov. 21-22) strike me as extra bad, especially when the games were not severely impacted by weather.
According to the sort feature on pro football reference, this was the only day since 1960 that three quarterbacks (Jim Hart, Bob Avellini, Gary Marangi) attempted 29 or more passes and completed 9 or fewer. Here’s the list of ugly stats:
Gary Marangi – BUF - 8 of 30, 83 yards, 0 TD, 3 Int, 0.0 rating (yes that’s “zero-point-zero” also known as the Blutarsky)
Jim Plunkett – SF – 6 of 18 for 35 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int – 2.8 rating
Carlos Brown – GB – 11 of 25 for 82 yards, 0 TD, 3 Int – 12.8 rating
Roger Staubach – DAL - 13 of 28, 157 yards, 0 TD, 3 Int, 24.6 rating
Joe Namath – NYJ – 16 of 36 for 176 yards, 1 TD, 5 Int – 29.2 rating
Craig Morton – NYG – 11 of 24 for 137 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int – 29.3 rating
Bobby Douglass – NO – 12 of 21 for 115 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int – 32.9 rating (and his team scored 51 points)
Scott Hunter – ATL - 8 of 20, 99 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int, 35.2 rating
Bill Kilmer – WSH – 9 of 20, 110 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int – 41.7 rating
Bob Avellini – CHI – 8 of 29 for 133 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int – 43.3 rating
Jim Zorn – SEA – 11 of 22 for 106 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int – 44.9 rating
Jim Hart – STL - 9 of 31, 181 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int – 48.7 rating
Ken Anderson – CIN – 9 of 17 for 123 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int – 51.8 rating
Bert Jones, Ken Stabler and Brian Sipe had the best statistical performances that day, but across the league that weekend there were 25 TD passes and 46 interceptions. For the norm, the overall league completion percentage for the entire 1976 season was 52.2, and the overall passer rating was 63.6.
Footnote: Marangi followed up his 8 for 30 in 1976 Week 11 with a 4 for 21 performance four days later on Thanksgiving when O.J. ran for 273 against Detroit. Marangi finished 1976 completing 82 of 232 (35.3 percent) total for his 7 starts (all losses) and some other spot duty.
That begs the question, who was Buffalo’s other QB option in 1976?
With Joe Ferguson out for the year with a back injury, the only other QB I can find listed for Buffalo in 1976 was Sam Wyche, who the Bills signed on Oct. 26, the day after Ferguson went down. Wyche did not throw a pass for the Bills.
Marangi Epilogue: Marangi, who the Bills took with a 3rd-round pick in 1974, was traded by Buffalo to the Packers for an undisclosed draft pick on Aug. 31, 1977, but he failed his physical with Green Bay and was released by the Bills on Sept. 6, 1977.
Apparently Marangi had a look by Cleveland the next year but was released by the Browns on July 24, 1978. (Thank you prosportstransactions.com!)