The 12 Best Quarterback Passing Seasons of the Last 12 Years

9. Peyton Manning, 2009

In 2009, Peyton Manning led the league with 188.8 Passing NEP and finished just 12.94 points ahead of Philip Rivers, a much smaller margin than we've seen previously in this countdown.

Jamarcus Russell and his -115.52 Passing NEP almost broke the NEP machine that season, but he was just one of the 38.7 percent of quarterbacks with at least 250 drop backs who finished the year with negative NEP.

The average Passing NEP per drop back among the 31 qualifying quarterbacks in 2009 was 0.05, and Manning's 0.32 per drop back was 0.27 points above average. However, it was Rivers who led the league in Passing NEP per drop back at 0.34, which is tied for sixth-best since 2000.

The Indianapolis Colts won the AFC South with a 14-2 record and cruised through the playoffs to the Super Bowl, where they lost to New Orleans. The Colts had a chance to tie the game at 24 late in the fourth quarter, but Tracy Porter intercepted a Manning pass and took it 74 yards to the house and iced the victory.

Manning's 55.94 percent Success Rate, although the 12th-best mark since 2000, was second best in 2009, behind Drew Brees' 56.18 percent, the 7th-best since 2000.

Manning completed 68.8 percent of his passes in 2009, for an even 4,500 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. Both Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark had exactly 100 receptions and 10 touchdowns that season.