Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

There’s a passing performance that I’ve been thinking about lately that I think is overlooked. You tell me if it is.

In week 6 of the 1970 season, Fran Tarkenton (at this point playing for the Giants) had a game vs the Cardinals where he threw for a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

He completed 15 of 18 passes for 280 yards, five touchdowns and no picks.

He also took three sacks for 18 yards, so 262 yards of net passing, but he also rushed three times for 18 yards, so his sack and rush yards cancel each other out.

Why does this performance stand out to me? Well two things about it in particular:

While sure, there are 79 performances where a quarterback had a perfect passer rating, there are only 14 that featured at least five passing touchdowns.

Tarkenton’s performance here is also the lone such performance between 1964 and 2003, and therefore the only one in the pre-Mel Blount period of the 1970’s where defenses were their best as a collective.

While the 1970 Cardinals are a team with a solid but not amazing record, consider that even with this performance included, they still allowed a passer rating of 59.4 which was sixth best in the NFL that season, and if you remove Tarkenton’s performance, they allowed a passer rating of about 51 vs everyone else they faced that season. They also had two Hall of Fame players in their secondary in Larry Wilson and Roger Wherli, and left linebacker Larry Stallings is listed as a 1970 pro bowler too.

So Tark performed roughly 107 points better in passer rating than the defense he faced allowed vs everyone else, and still 99 points if you straight up compare the average with his totals included.

SeahawkFever wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2024 11:38 am In week 6 of the 1970 season, Fran Tarkenton (at this point playing for the Giants) had a game vs the Cardinals where he threw for a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Tarkenton’s performance here is also the lone such performance between 1964 and 2003, and therefore the only one in the pre-Mel Blount period of the 1970’s where defenses were their best as a collective.

While the 1970 Cardinals are a team with a solid but not amazing record, consider that even with this performance included, they still allowed a passer rating of 59.4 which was sixth best in the NFL that season

Interesting note about Tarkenton. And the 70 Cards are one of the only modern-era teams to record three consecutive shutouts.

Yep, the Giants kept the Cards out of the playoffs in 1970 but lost their last game of the year, to allow Dallas to win the division. In the second Cardinal game, Fran threw three more TDs without an interception. Like 1966, the Cardinals faded down the stretch. Tough break for Jim Hart.

The NFC East had a very exciting pennant race in 1970.
The Cardinals were 8-2-1 and seemingly coasting to the title but then lost their last three to finish an incredibly disappointing 8-5-1.
The Giants lost their first three and then won nine out of ten, with the only loss coming against the last place Eagles 23-20 on a Monday night (Cosell’s drunk game). The Rams blew out the Giants 31-3 at Yankee Stadium in the season finale to eliminate New York with a 9-5 record.
The Cowboys were 5-4 and seemingly out of it but then Doomsday woke up and Dallas won their last five to take the division with a 10-4 record. I have always found it interesting and mysterious how Craig Morton with a bad throwing arm, as was so obviously evident in the playoffs, averaged 18 yards per completion that season. He went 102 of 207 for 1,819 yards with 15 TD’s and only 7 interceptions. A very impressive stat line for the era.