Peyton's Place? No. 1

Peyton Manning is having a Barry Bonds-type of season. By that I mean, his record-breaking performance is in no way a product of the current environment (in this case, one that's acknowledged as super friendly to passing teams). How do we know that? Well, we just compare Manning to his 2004 peers.Peyton's Colts are leading the NFL in yards per passing attempt by a considerable margin (9.0 to 8.4 for the Vikings and 8.2 for the Eagles). But that's not evidence enough. Where the case is decided is by looking at the all-important points per passing attempt (PPA). The Colts right now average a ridiculous, almost obscene .81 points every time Manning ATTEMPTS a pass. Good lord.

How does that compare to the other leaders? The Vikings are at .51 and the Eagles at .46.

Let's look at how that difference compares to other teams that have thrown TDs at record paces in other eras.

In 1999, Kurt Warner's Rams (42 TD passes) had 8.6 YPA, followed by the Vikings (8.2) and three other teams at 7.7. Their .55 PPA was league-best, followed by the Panthers (.44) and Vikings (.42).

The '86 Dolphins (46 TDs) are the one weird team in that they finished just fourth in YPA. Their league-leading PPA was .50, followed by the Vikings at .42 and Seahawks at .37.

The '84 'Phins (49 TDs) were, of course, first in YPA at 9.0 followed by the Niners (8.2) and (the then) St. Louis Cardinals (8.2). The Dolphins PPA clocked in at .60, followed by the Niners (.45) and Seahawks (.45).

The Colts are 60 percent better than their closest rivals in PPA. (Or is it PPPA, I can't decide!) The Rams were 25 pecent better than their closest rival. The '86 Dolphins less than 20 percent better and the '84 Dolphins (a distant second to the 2004 Colts) 33 percent better than the rest of their league.