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As with obtaining 4 yards per rush, around an 80 rating is the eternal average in the league, so Losman had a statistically better-than-standard '06. Even more impressive is that he did so while accompanied by an underperforming ground attack featuring a back whose ego was much more impressive than his performances, a player who finished 24th overall in rushing. Armed with the universal knowledge that a solid running game does wonders for the passing assault, the question is, Were quarterbacks with higher ratings complemented by better RBs?
It turns out that each of the 10 quarterbacks with better ratings than Losman had more reliable rushing help: All were unsurprisingly paired with either a stud running back or a solid tandem. For example, the one quarterback to finish last season with a rating over 100 was Mister 101.0 himself, Peyton Manning, and we know that he would still be the best ever not to win a Super Bowl if not for Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai. Damon Huard followed Manning for second (no, really) at 98.0, but Larry Johnson finishing second in the league himself with 1,789 rushing yards assuredly aided him.
Deuce McAllister going for 1,057 yards helped Drew Brees finish third, while fourth-place Donovan McNabb certainly appreciated Brian Westbrook's 5.1 yards per carry and 1,217 total yards gained. Fifth-place Tony Romo had a running back in Julius Jones who, at 17th in rushing, finished ahead of Willis McGahee, and Rudi Johnson's workmanlike, 1,300-plus-yard season helped free up Carson Palmer to finish with a 93.9 rating.
Guys seven through 10 (Marc Bulger, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Mark Brunell) all had better featured backs than Buffalo did (Steven Jackson, some guy named LaDainian, the two-headed Corey Dillon/Laurence Maroney beast, and the duo of Clinton Portis and the newly emerged Ladell Betts, respectively). All put forth better seasons than what the Bills got from their starting rusher.
It turns out that each of the 10 quarterbacks with better ratings than Losman had more reliable rushing help: All were unsurprisingly paired with either a stud running back or a solid tandem. For example, the one quarterback to finish last season with a rating over 100 was Mister 101.0 himself, Peyton Manning, and we know that he would still be the best ever not to win a Super Bowl if not for Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai. Damon Huard followed Manning for second (no, really) at 98.0, but Larry Johnson finishing second in the league himself with 1,789 rushing yards assuredly aided him.
Deuce McAllister going for 1,057 yards helped Drew Brees finish third, while fourth-place Donovan McNabb certainly appreciated Brian Westbrook's 5.1 yards per carry and 1,217 total yards gained. Fifth-place Tony Romo had a running back in Julius Jones who, at 17th in rushing, finished ahead of Willis McGahee, and Rudi Johnson's workmanlike, 1,300-plus-yard season helped free up Carson Palmer to finish with a 93.9 rating.
Guys seven through 10 (Marc Bulger, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Mark Brunell) all had better featured backs than Buffalo did (Steven Jackson, some guy named LaDainian, the two-headed Corey Dillon/Laurence Maroney beast, and the duo of Clinton Portis and the newly emerged Ladell Betts, respectively). All put forth better seasons than what the Bills got from their starting rusher.
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