The NFL’s worst QB performances are actually ghastlier than they have us believe

You or I could go out and try playing quarterback against an NFL defense, throw an interception on every pass, and the NFL would for some reason spare us from our actual passer rating hitting the books, choosing instead to simply call it zero – the same artificial number they attach to a bunch of performances by actual professional quarterbacks that in reality should be in the negatives. And so the extent to which the worst games should sink below zero are ignored by Big Shield in lieu of a life raft to ensure they stay buoyed at zero. Well, not here. We’re taking away that life raft in this endeavor to explore the wondrous beauty of what remains when we plunge into the Mariana Trench of the quarterback futility ocean.

Written and produced by Alex Rubenstein
Editing and motion graphics by Phil Pasternak
Editing by Jiazhen Zhang

[seismoneer]

Gotta get a shoutout to Jared Goff for his perfect game that wasn't perfect rating

[turbokart]

Gotta love this coming right after Jared Goff got a passer rating of 155 despite a 100% completion percentage.

[SwagnerCountsThings]

"my uncle scored a free ticket .. he did not get his money's worth" 😂😂😂😂
That is an amazing insult

[ItsDatCajunStuff]

When you're fresh out of long-form Dorktown sports documentaries but you luckily find a snack-sized version in the fridge.

[jtsholtod.]

As a statistician, there are some formulas that are necessarily simplified to ensure they don't convolute the directional answer. Frustratingly, some sports metrics such as quarterback rating should not be one of those. I love that you're dissecting the whole picture, both highs and lows.

[jtpal]

If all of Pastorini's near picks were actual picks his uncapped passer rating would be -158.4.

If we exclude the near-INTs on the same drive or near-INTs on drives that would end in real INTs that leaves him with 6 possible INTs for an uncapped rating of -98.9

[walterwright]

That Peyton Manning is also notable because it's the game he broke the all-time passing yards record in

[meadowenthusiast]

Pastorini: Gosh, it sure is nice being able to relax and enjoy my autumn years now that everyone has completely forgotten about my infamously bad performance in that one game. Life is good!
Secret Base: Um . . .

[Jerbear]

Honestly shocked the 2017 Nathan Peterman game with 5 INTs doesn't register that low

[pakpaksugar]

the episode focusing on how passer rating can hide just how good a players game really was was nice and all, but im glad we all get to be haters now

[gbrow]

People forget that, back in the day, it was perfectly normal to have more INTs than TDs.

[gmwdim]

Fun fact: Pastorini was a pro bowler for the 1975 season. He had a 47.7% completion percentage that year, with 14 TDs and 16 INTs.

[chrisj.]

I was stunned that Ryan Leaf's Sept. 20, 1998 game against the Chiefs didn't come up .... until I realized he only threw 15 passing attempts, and thus didn't qualify. But because it was so terrible, here's his line: 1 compleition in 15 attempts for 4 yards and 2 interceptions. Yikes.

[phineasbogg]

“Tries his hand with his feet … oooh that’s a shame” 😂😂😂

[onebigadvocado]

Pastorini's reaction of "Not again" is the perfect punchline to the worst performance ever 😂

[conormaloney]

Hilarious that Pastorini had that bad of a game then literally was still their QB 7 years later. Different kind of patience in those days

[hiimemily]

In a slightly different universe, we'd be talking about Dan Pastorini's 9 INT game every time a QB throws 5 or 6. He should thank his lucky stars that he ended up with only 4 in that game.

[alexlowe]

"He got a free ticket to that game. He didn't get his money worth" is such a good burn.

Also, I remember watching Manning during his last season. He was obviously too old to be playing, but he refused to retire. I'm glad he won the super bowl, but he definitely wasn't the same that year. I'm glad he retired rather than try to hang onto the glory days for one more season.

[deepowls]

Steve Tensi

I looked at Steve Tensi's Wikipedia page for his two 0.0 official passer ratings within the same season. There was no mention of them. What I did find was that after two years and 52 pass attempts in the AFL after being a 4th round pick (16th round NFL), this remarkable trade happened:

"On August 15, 1967, shortly before the 1967 season, new coach and general manager Lou Saban traded Denver's #1 draft picks in the 1968 and 1969 common AFL-NFL draft for Tensi. These proved to be valuable picks for San Diego, becoming the #4 and #9 overall selections respectively."

1967 was his season of two 0.0 official passer rating games. His first had an uncapped rating of -3.125, which is a candidate for the highest uncapped rating for an official 0.0 game. That line was 6/20 for 55 yards with 2 INT.

Tensi's second game had a -21.023 uncapped rating, which is more like it (3 INT in 22 attempts being the main difference).

[lapdogofthefalseempe]

I didn't know I needed this series until it started. Superb work.