Saints QB Drew Brees

It was the Year of the Quarterback.

The league-wide passer rating (84.3) and touchdown-interception ratio (1.472:1) were both at historic levels, topping the previous records set in 2010 (84.1 passer rating; 1.470:1 TD:INT ratio). Games averaged an all-time high 693.7 total net yards per game, surpassing the previous mark, also set in 2010 (672.0). Explosive passing offenses fueled that trend, with an average of 459.4 net passing yards per game, also an all-time high (443.1 in 2010).

There were 121 individual 300-yard passing games in 2011, the most in any season in NFL history (104 in 2009), and a record number of individual 400-yard passing performances (18), surpassing the previous record of 13 (1986 and 2004).

"It's a quarterback's league now," says CBS analyst and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback DAN FOUTS. "It's how the game has evolved. You've got coaches willing to throw the ball more than ever, and you've got receivers who are the best athletes on the field. Why wouldn't a coach want to use weapons like that?"

Two of the NFL's most significant individual single-season passing records also fell in 2011.

DREW BREES of New Orleans passed for 5,476 yards, besting Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO's previous mark of 5,084 yards in 1984. Green Bay's AARON RODGERS led the NFL with a passer rating of 122.5, topping PEYTON MANNING's record of 121.1 set in 2004.

Bengals QB Andy Dalton

And young quarterbacks excelled, too, highlighted by the standout performances of rookies CAM NEWTON of Carolina and ANDY DALTON of Cincinnati. Newton (NFL rookie-record 4,051 passing yards) and Dalton (3,398) became the first pair of rookie passers to throw for at least 3,000 yards in the same season.

As professional football has evolved, the sophistication and importance of the passing game has grown consistently. Defenders have grown stronger and faster while defensive coordinators have become more creative. Moving the ball downfield three yards at a time via the run has grown increasingly difficult.

"Everybody feeds off of what the quarterback can and cannot do," says ESPN analyst and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback STEVE YOUNG. "Defensively, offensively, everybody reacts to what threats or non-threats the quarterback has. Everything else is secondary."

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers

Three quarterbacks reached the 5,000-yard mark in 2011, more than the previous combined total in NFL history. Entering 2011, only two quarterbacks in NFL history had ever passed for at least 5,000 yards in a season.

A record three quarterbacks threw 40+ passing touchdowns. No other season in NFL history had more than one quarterback with at least 40 passing TDs.

Four quarterbacks finished the year with a passer rating of 100 or better, which is tied for the second-most in history (5 in 2009; 4 in 1998, 2004 and 2011).

The quarterbacks with 5,000+ yards, 40+ touchdowns or a 100+ passer rating in 2011:

5,000+ Passing Yards:

Drew Brees (5,476), Tom Brady (5,235), Matthew Stafford (5,038)

40+ Touchdown Passes

Drew Brees (46), Aaron Rodgers (45), Matthew Stafford (41)

100+ Passer Rating

Aaron Rodgers (122.5), Drew Brees (110.6), Tom Brady (105.6), Tony Romo (102.5)