When I started watching football, 55% completion and 1/1 TD/INT ratio meant you had a really good QB.
Yup. However, that was before the rules came in to favor the offense. They didn't have much roughing the passer type of penalties back then either. Or defenseless player. Heck Jack Tatum crippled a player (Darryl Stingley) in a NFL game.
Remembering Daryl Stingley
" Stingley was running a slant as Grogan dropped back to fire the ball over the middle. Tatum lowered his shoulder and laid a forearm and helmet to Stingley’s face mask as the receiver lunged for a pass that would sail over his head, out of reach.
Stingley dropped to the ground, unconscious, at the Raiders’ 10-yard line. His roommate, Pro Bowl tight end Russ Francis was the first Patriot to reach Stingley’s motionless body, and it was clear to anyone watching that Francis knew right away that something was terribly wrong,
Training staff for both teams rushed onto the field to assess the situation and quickly came to the same conclusion.
The stretcher was brought out, and Stingley was carefully strapped onto it, his head secured in a stabilizing brace as he was rolled off the field.
There was an ambulance, there was tension, there was chaos.
There was no flag, however, no penalty assessed. The Hit was entirely legal at the time. Defensive backs were free to initiate this kind of contact with a receiver anywhere on the field, whether or not he had the ball."