Joe Montana (1979-1994)
Peyton Manning (1998-present)
Well let's see what has changed since Montana's retirement in the way of rule changes.
1989
• A defender (approaching from any direction) who has an unrestricted path to the quarterback is prohibited from flagrantly hitting him in the area of the knee(s).
1995
• When tackling a passer during or just after throwing a pass, a defensive player is prohibited from unnecessarily and violently throwing him down and landing on top of him with all or most of the defender's weight.
2007
• A block below the waist against an eligible receiver while the quarterback is in the pocket is a 15-yard penalty instead of a 5-yard penalty (an illegal cut block).
2009
• It is an illegal hit on a defenseless receiver if the initial force of the contact by the defender's helmet, forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of the receiver. Penalty: 15 yards.
Now with these rules in place what does that mean. Well this article is interesting.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... -evolutionRules
The no-contact rule on receivers beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage has been around for years. What's changed has been the enforcement of contact against receivers running across the middle of the field, whether they have the ball or not.
In years past, treading between the numbers was a danger zone for receivers, who expected to be re-routed if they tried to run a crossing pattern or to take a potentially concussive hit once they caught the ball. With officials being more cognizant of penalizing helmet-to-helmet hits, players have backed off, making the middle of the field a far safer place to play.
For proof, look at the New England Patriots. Wes Welker, Gronkowski and Hernandez work the middle of the field like an Etch A Sketch. They exploit matchups, talent and rules arguably better than any team in the league -- especially with a pinpoint passer in Tom Brady.
Former Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos safety Brian Dawkins recently said that one of the reasons why he retired is that players are now in a gray area, meaning there are times a player has to think or pause instead of react. He said he found himself pulling up on bang-bang plays instead of leveling offensive players like he did much of his career.
That reluctance to intimidate has made offenses far more brazen and quarterbacks far more comfortable throwing the ball. Passing the ball to the middle of the field is much easier than trying to stick a 15-yard out pattern on the sideline. With athletes like Graham and Gronkowski and smarter quarterbacks who can decipher defensive weakness, throwing the ball is simply easier.
But I found this article best when it came to comparing past and present.
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/co ... -game/6778The Golden Age (2004-present)
As if quarterbacks hadn't been coddled enough by coaches and rulemakers over the past two decades, one profound game, and one very angry team executive, made their lives even easier in 2004.
• One, New England defenders pushed the bounds of pass interference rules in the 2003 AFC championship game, badly roughing up Indianapolis receivers and shutting down the Colts high-powered offense in a 24-14 Patriots victory.
• Two, Indy's powerful president, Bill Polian, complained to the league rather loudly in the wake of his team's loss.
As a result, the NFL determined that its officials would "re-emphasize" pass interference rules in 2004 and beyond. Though not officially a rule change, the impact on the passing game was profound.
The very next season, Indy quarterback Peyton Manning (pictured here) went out and rewrote the record books, with 49 TD passes and a 121.1 passer rating that was nearly 10 points better than any that had come before it. The league-wide passer rating, meanwhile, jumped from 78.3 in 2003 to a record 82.8 in 2004.
The records have remained under assault since then: Tom Brady broke Manning's TD-toss record with 50 in 2007, while posting the second-highest passer rating in history (117.2). With less fanfare, Drew Brees set a record with 440 completions in 2007. And, as noted above, NFL quarterbacks are poised to rewrite the record books in countless categories here in 2008, while newcomers have bucked tradition by easily performing at high level.
But today's high-flying newcomers and record-setting veterans aren't better quarterbacks than players of the past. They just have advantages their predecessors never enjoyed back before the Golden Age of the passing game.
