Former Baltimore Colts QB Among Rare 300-Yard Passers in 1977

by Bruce Raffel on Sep 18, 2011 7:00 AM EDT

Last weekend in the first round of the 2011 regular season games, there were 14 quarterbacks who passed for over 300 yards, the most ever in NFL history. Interesting is that only eight of those 14 were on the winning team in the games, led by New England Patriots QB Tm Brady and his insane 517 yards, including that amazing 99 yard TD pass/run to WR Wes Welker.

In 1977, there were only five 300-yard passing game in the entire season. Former Baltimore Colts QB Bert Jones actually had two of those five games, with 340 yards on December 18, 1977 and 322 yards on November 20, 1977. he most yardage any QB threw for in 1977 was 396 yards by New York Jets QB Richard Todd on October 23, 1977. Noted is that Todd's total as the highest shows there were zero 400-yard passing games in the NFL in 1977, while there were four in the first week of the 2011 season.

Brady's 517 yards was the fifth most in NFL history, behind the Los Angeles Rams QB Norm Van Brocklin's 554 yards against the New York Yanks in 1951. Noted on the list of all-time best games is former Baltimore Ravens QB Elvis Grbac, who threw for the 10th best in league history, when he had 504 yards against the Oakland Raiders as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Luckily, the Baltimore Ravens have not had to air it out like this so far, as their success is usually predicated on a solid running game and although we should expect at least one 300-yard performance in 2011, the odds of QB Joe Flacco getting into these types of record lists seem slim. Ravens fans would definitely prefer the only list Flacco gets on is "Super Bowl Winning Quarterbacks."

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Well, of course

there were only a handful of 300 yard games back 1977. Then, the league, as it had for the previous 50 odd years, played a run oriented game. The only reason that Jones had two of the top 300 games was that he had the highly underrated Roger Carr as his primary receiver. For the short period of Carr’s effective career, the call of “Jones to Carr” became as infamous in Baltimore as “Unitas to Berry” a generation before. Carr had Evans-like capabilities and Jones took full advantage of that and his own cannon of an arm.

re: Big Ben - "God can have his soul. His ass is mine." - Terrell Suggs

by GrumpyOldBird on Sep 18, 2011 8:43 AM EDT reply actions

The Ruston Rifle

One of the most underrated QBs. Next to Johnny U, the best QB this city has ever had until Flacco. Like GOB said, Jones to Carr was the most anticipated play every Sunday. I still remember the game when Bert injured his shoulder and was taken to the locker room. The offense floundered. With the Colts on offense near the closed end of Memorial Stadium, Bert comes out of the locker room with the trainer, shoulder noticeably drooping. As they are walking behind the end zone, suddenly Bert sprints to the huddle and takes the back-up QB (Marty Domres?) out. The crowd goes absolutely nuts! Unfortunately the story ends there, as Bert ran one play (a handoff for no gain) before coming out for good since he could not possibly throw the ball. But it was one of those crazy, unforgettable moments of Colts football at Memorial Stadium.

"What we've got here is failure to communicate."

by Fandemonium on Sep 18, 2011 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

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