In the 1973 Super Bowl, Bob Griese threw a grand total of 11 passes to help the Miami Dolphins complete the NFL's only perfect season.
The sport was more wide open a generation later, when winning quarterback Troy Aikman threw 23 passes in the 1996 championship game for the Dallas Cowboys. The Baltimore Ravens allowed Trent Dilfer to throw a whopping 25 times when they won the league title in 2001.
Peyton Manning and Drew Brees may pass those numbers before halftime in Sunday's Super Bowl between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, because passing wins like never before.
Every 12-year-old fan can recite the NFL's common coaching mantra: Run the ball, control the clock and play good defense. But that longtime model for winning championships may be headed the way of leather helmets.
"The game has changed," said Bill Cowher, a former Pittsburgh Steelers coach. "It's catered to throwing."
Manning and Brees do it better than anyone else, which is a big reason their teams are in the title game. Brees set an NFL record with his completion percentage of 70.6, and Manning ranked second at 68.8. Brees led the league with 34 touchdown passes, and Manning tied Brett Favre for second at 33.
Gaudy passing statistics haven't historically translated into winning. Instead, 300-yard games were for losers. But this year, eight of the league's top 10 teams in passing yardage made the playoffs. Teams reaching the postseason passed more than the league average.
The Colts will play for the title despite ranking last in rushing. The Arizona Cardinals also ranked last a year ago when they reached the Super Bowl.
So what happened to the notion of keeping the ball on the ground to win?
"That day has gone," said NFL draft consultant Gil Brandt, who has worked in the league since the 1960s. "If you get 10 carries as a running back now, that's good. And whatever amount teams passed this year, there will be more passing next year."
There are exceptions to every trend, and the surprising New York Jets reached the AFC championship game this season with a rookie quarterback, grinding ground game and stout defense.
"I was pulling for the Jets, because that was old-time football -- run the ball and play defense," Cowher said.
"It's not out the window, because the Jets still do it," said Rod Woodson, a Hall of Fame defensive back. "Old-school football -- it's kind of crazy even to call it that. But today's game is made to throw the ball."
Woodson and others said one factor is rule changes that protect quarterbacks and receivers.
"The quarterbacks can't get hit. The receivers can't get hit. The guy running over the middle can't get hit," Cowher said.
Phil Simms finds the numbers misleading and the trend exaggerated. He said short, safe throws pad passing stats, and teams use such plays to control the ball.
"There are some teams in the NFL that will throw 10 to 15 passes a week of 5 yards or less," said Simms, the MVP of the 1987 Super Bowl.
"I could go out there now and throw left-handed and hit 50 percent, because there are so many easy throws."
Manning's at the head of the quarterback class. He won the NFL MVP award for the fourth time this season, and 78 percent of the Colts' yards came through the air.
"Indianapolis is an exception," Cowher says. "I don't think you'll ever find another team that can do what they're doing. I don't think you can use them as a model."
The Saints are more balanced, with 67 percent of their yards via the pass, and they ranked sixth in rushing. Perhaps that gives them an edge in the Super Bowl. Deion Sanders, for one, believes the path to a championship remains on the ground.
"Both of these teams are going to have to resort to the old model to win this game," Sanders said. "They're going to run the ball. It's got to be a little more balanced. If you see a team with 45 passes and 15 runs, that means that team is losing."
How times change: Prime Time is now old school.
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