The 12 Best Quarterback Passing Seasons of the Last 12 Years
12. Tom Brady, 2012
In 2012, Tom Brady led the league with 186.79 Passing NEP, which was 21.91 points higher than Peyton Manning, who finished second that season. A whopping 10 of 32 signal-callers who dropped back to pass at least 250 times that season finished the year with negative Passing NEP.
The Patriots finished the year at 12-4 and won the AFC East for the fourth straight season. They lost the Conference Championship at home to Baltimore, the eventual Super Bowl Champions.
Wes Welker was Brady's favorite receiver, and turned 174 targets into 118 catches for 1,354 yards and 6 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Aaron Hernandez hadn't gone to prison yet, and caught 51 balls for 483 yards.
Brady's 0.28 Passing NEP per drop back was just one one-hundredth of a point better than Peyton Manning in 2012. The 32 qualifying passers averaged 0.06 Passing NEP that season, so Brady was 0.22 points above average.
His 54.44 percent Success Rate also led the league in 2012 and is the 19th best mark since 2000.
Brady completed 63 percent of his passes for 4,827 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He attempted 637 passes that year -- a career high -- making the 8 interceptions a phenomenal feat.
