Miami sets yardagerecord? Or not

[JohnTurney]

Official Record & Fact Book shows Rams 735 as does PFR
but in Stathead search it shows 722, taking out the 13-yard
"lost attempting to pass yards"

Looking at the play-by-play it does seem that Stathead may be right
before I did into this, has someone already done this? Has someone
shown there is a mistake in R&FB?

Big name people are using the official number i.e. Miami is second-most ever
but people who use stathead are using 726 as most ...

Edit: Got the the bottom of this .... see post at PFJ ... I learned details I didn't
know. It's odd.

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[JohnTurney]

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[JohnTurney]

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[CraigRye]

As a Dolphins fan I was intrigued with this post, so have looked at the play-by-play for the game.

I do think that whoever was doing the play-by-play made an error with both the Yanks Net yardage as well as the Rams.

The Yanks should be 111 yards and the Rams 722. The Yards Lost Passing have not been removed from the gross passing yardage.

[JohnTurney]

Correct --- the 13 yards was never subtracted but it is not an error
In 1950 and 1951 by an "NFL ruling "Yards lost attempting to pass are not deducted from Rushing or Passing yardage"
link:
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... d-for.html

So what that means is there was a quirky two-year period that quarterbacks attempting to pass
was not counted as a rushing loss (1949 and before) or a passing loss (1952 to present).

That also means that the stats from those two years don't match. I'd think the NFL could to direct Elias
to conform the 1950-51 stats to conform to one or the other.

I'd think making 50-51 like 1952-present makes the most sense. Then, if they have the ability
have 1949 and before conform to how it is done now ... if possible. Not sure if it is.

So, IMO, the answer is the record was not broken because the 735 is in the Official Record & Fact Book
and it was properly kept under the protocols at the time. However, it was broken if the records of the
time were kept how they are now and how they could/should be backdated.

It's a bit of a Twilight zone thing.

[CraigRye]

Thanks John

Just to add to the quirkiness I also noticed a couple of other things from the game that I'm sure have a similar explanation.

On the first play of the 4th quarter the Yanks scored on a fumble return of 30 yards (interception of a lateral pass) the line of scrimmage was the Rams 40. Sounds like A.Tait plucked the lateral pass out of the air or he could have wrestled the ball from the intended receiver, however 10 yards has not been deducted from the rushing total. It does appear that a run attempt for no gain has been credited to D.Hoerner though. How would this play have been recorded now from a statistics point of view. A fumble by the passer or the intended receiver, and who would have -10 yards rushing added to their totals?

Also found this on the 1950 AFC Championship gamebook which explains a little about laterals but doesn't cover this scenario.

[CraigRye]

Also spotted this Rams possession that appears to show that the Rams punted on 3rd down.

1-10-LAR 30 D.Hoerner right end to LAR 42 for 12 yards.
1-10-LAR 42 PENALTY on NYY, Defensive Offside, 5 yards, enforced at LAR 42 – No Play.
1-5-LAR 47 N.Van Brocklin pass incomplete to T.Fears.
2-5-LAR 47 PENALTY on LAR, Offensive Offside, 5 yards, enforced at LAR 47 – No Play.
2-10-LAR 47 N.Van Brocklin pass incomplete to V.Smith.
3-10-LAR 47 (Punt formation) N.Van Brocklin punts 38 yards to NYY 15. G.Taliaferro to NYY 15 for no gain.

I didn't think either of the penalties would mean loss of down.

[CraigRye]

Also spotted that John Rauch (future HC of the Raiders and Bills) started at QB but was ejected near the end of the 2nd quarter.

It also appears (LA Times 28-Sep-1951) that the Rams achieved there offensive yardage total with an all rookie (all playing their first NFL game) Offensive line.

LT Don Simensen Undrafted
LG Dick Daugherty drafted in 18th round 1951
C Leon McLaughlin drafted in 21st round 1947, stayed at UCLA
RG Bill Lange Drafted in 30th round 1950
RT Tom Dahms undrafted

Edit: Looks like Harry Thompson may have started at RG. Although 1951 was only his second season...

[JohnTurney]

Also spotted that John Rauch (future HC of the Raiders and Bills) started at QB but was ejected near the end of the 2nd quarter.

It also appears (LA Times 28-Sep-1951) that the Rams achieved there offensive yardage total with an all rookie (all playing their first NFL game) Offensive line.

LT Don Simensen Undrafted
LG Dick Daugherty drafted in 18th round 1951
C Leon McLaughlin drafted in 21st round 1947, stayed at UCLA
RG Bill Lange Drafted in 30th round 1950
RT Tom Dahms undrafted

Edit: Looks like Harry Thompson may have started at RG. Although 1951 was only his second season...

Ys, Rams online was all rookies, TJ and I have talked about that .. . he pointed it out to me. They had really good tackles in 1950 and it's remarkable that rookies help up. I have not yet purchased the 1951 PFRA book on the 1951 Rams but I am sure that is in there, too. I have never researched it but it may have been the only time. Off top of heard no one has done it since...would have to look back to see if it happened before.

[JohnTurney]

On the first play of the 4th quarter the Yanks scored on a fumble return of 30 yards (interception of a lateral pass) the line of scrimmage was the Rams 40. Sounds like A.Tait plucked the lateral pass out of the air or he could have wrestled the ball from the intended receiver, however 10 yards has not been deducted from the rushing total. It does appear that a run attempt for no gain has been credited to D.Hoerner though. How would this play have been recorded now from a statistics point of view. A fumble by the passer or the intended receiver, and who would have -10 yards rushing added to their totals?

Also found this on the 1950 AFC Championship gamebook which explains a little about laterals but doesn't cover this scenario.

This is significant and someone else will have to answer. In the early 2010s the NFL eliminated miscellaneous yardage ... it all has to be accounted for. It cost one gay a sack because of a FF and where it was recovered ... past the LOS. For some reason it was not able to be accounted for. I never dug too deep.

First, I don't know if this would be misc. yardage or not. Don't know when that started. Elias would be one to know or maybe a PFRA member
Second, no matter what it is, it has to be accounted for and as you point out it does appear that negative ten yards are missing.
Third, it makes a difference. This would be a whole new angle and I didn't catch that one. It's great work.

So, you are saying there is an un-accounted-for rush by Hoerner that may or many not have happened on this play because it
is clear that Van Brocklin's lateral was intercepted.

This is the part that frustrates me to no end -- I have the first 3 quarters of this game on film. I am missing the 4th quarter ... right where the key play is.

All of the game is significant historically but had one of the 4 reels survived we'd have the play to see what happened.

Me right now

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