The is the win record differentials for many long term starters that played most of their career in the 1960s.
Fran Tarkenton
| Seasons | Teams | Record | Projected | +/- | Context |
| 1961 | MIN | 2-8 | 2.68-7.32 | -0.68 | Norm van Brocklin was the head coach |
| 1962 | MIN | 2-11 | 3.25-9.75 | -1.25 | RB Mason made a pro bowl |
| 1963 | MIN | 4-8 | 3.57-9.43 | 0.43 | RB Mason made an all-pro, G Alderman made a pro bowl |
| 1964 | MIN | 8-5 | 6.71-7.29 | 1.29 | 3 game winning drives, RB Mason and G Alderman made a pro bowl, C Tinglehoff made all-pros from 1964-1969, FB Bill Brown made all-pros |
| 1965 | MIN | 7-7 | 4.32-9.68 | 2.68 | G Alderman made an all-pro |
| 1966 | MIN | 4-7 | 5.32-6.68 | -1.32 | only 1 game winning drive, RB Mason regressed and miss some games, G Alderman made a pro bowl, G Sundle and WR Flatley made a pro bowl |
| 1967 | NYG | 7-7 | 4.43-9.57 | 2.57 | RB Mason left, G Alderman and RB Koy made a pro bowl |
| 1968 | NYG | 7-7 | 5.44-8.56 | 1.56 | C Larson made a pro bowl |
| 1969 | NYG | 6-8 | 6.74-7.26 | -0.74 | 4 game winning drives, Webster replaced Allie Sherman as the head coach |
| 1970 | NYG | 9-5 | 6.97-7.03 | 2.03 | 5 gw drives, RB Johnson made an all-pro |
| 1971 | NYG | 4-9 | 4.73-8.27 | -0.73 | only 1 gw drive, TE Tucker was productive |
| 1972 | MIN | 7-7 | 8.39-5.61 | -1.39 | 3 gw drives, had Bud Grant as the head coach, WR Gilliam made a pro bowl from 1972-1975, Rt Yary made all-pros from 1972-1977 |
| 1973 | MIN | 12-2 | 10.44-3.56 | 1.56 | 0 gw drives, FB Foreman all-pros from 1973-1977 |
| 1974 | MIN | 9-4 | 8.84-4.16 | 0.16 | only 1 gw drive |
| 1975 | MIN | 12-2 | 9.80-4.21 | 2.21 | only 1 gw drive, G Ed White made pro bowls from 1975-1977 |
| 1976 | MIN | 10-2 | 9.90-3.11 | 0.11 | 3 gw drives, WR Sammy White made pro bowls from 1976-1977 |
| 1977 | MIN | 6-3 | 5.93-3.07 | 0.07 | missed 5 games |
| 1978 | MIN | 8-7 | 8.94-7.06 | -0.94 | only 1 gw drive, FB Foreman and WR Rashad made a pro bowl |
Joe Namath
| Seasons | Teams | Record | Projected | +/- | Context |
| 1965 | NYJ | 3-5 | 3.73-5.27 | -0.73 | WR Maynard, RT Plunkett, and FB Snell made all-pro |
| 1966 | NYJ | 5-6 | 5.63-7.37 | -0.63 | FB Snell, RB Boozer, and RT Plunkett made a pro bowl, WR Seuer made all-pro from 1966-68, TE Lammons was productive |
| 1967 | NYJ | 8-5 | 6.06-7.95 | 1.95 | WR Maynard and TE Lammons made a pro bowl, T Winston Hill made a pro bowl from 1967-68, RB Boozer missed half the season |
| 1968 | NYJ | 11-3 | 7.51-6.49 | 3.49 | 3 game winning drives, RT Plunkett left, WR Maynard made all-pros from 1968-69, G Herman made a pro bowl from 1968-69, RB Boozer made a pro bowl |
| 1969 | NYJ | 10-4 | 7.05-6.95 | 2.95 | 3 game winning drives, FB Snell and T Winston Hill made all-pro, WR Seuer made a pro bowl |
| 1970 | NYJ | 1-4 | 1.29-3.71 | -0.29 | missed the rest of the season after getting hurt, RT Hill made pro bowls from 1970-73, WR Maynard missed half the games and regressed moving forward before leaving after 1972, WR Seuer regressed |
| 1971 | NYJ | 2-1 | 1.36-1.64 | 0.64 | came back late in the season, WR Seuer left |
| 1972 | NYJ | 7-6 | 5.08-7.92 | 1.92 | TE Caster won a pro bowl |
| 1973 | NYJ | 2-3 | 2.06-2.94 | -0.06 | missed most of the season, WR Barkum emerged and made a pro bowl |
| 1974 | NYJ | 7-7 | 6.36-7.64 | 0.64 | 3 game winning drives, Winner replaced Ewbanks as the head coach, TE Caster made a pro bowl from 1974-75 |
| 1975 | NYJ | 3-10 | 3.10-9.90 | -0.10 | 0 gw drives, FB Riggins made a pro bowl |
| 1976 | NYJ | 1-7 | 2.48-5.52 | -1.48 | missed half the season, Lou Holtz replaced Winner |
| 1977 | LAR | 2-2 | 2.61-1.39 | -0.61 | missed the rest of the season after 4 games, WR Harold Jackson, C Saul, G Mack, and LT France all made pro bowls, Riggins most of the season |
Len Dawson
| Seasons | Teams | Record | Projected | +/- | Context |
| 1957 | PIT | 0-1 | 0.94-0.06 | -0.94 | on the bench/not a primary starter |
| 1958 | PIT | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | on the bench/not a primary starter |
| 1959 | PIT | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | on the bench/not a primary starter |
| 1960 | CLE | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | on the bench/not a primary starter |
| 1961 | CLE | 1-0 | 0.17-0.83 | 0.83 | on the bench/not a primary starter |
| 1962 | KC | 11-3 | 8.30-5.70 | 2.70 | had Hank Stram as the head coach for the following years, only 1 game winning drive, RB Hayes and WR Burford both made an all-pro, FB McClinton made a pro bowl, TE Arbanas made all-pro from 1962-64, LT Tyrer and RT Cornelison made a pro bowl, G Terrell made a pro bowl |
| 1963 | KC | 5-7 | 6.78-6.22 | -1.78 | 0 game winning drives, RB Hayes missed some games, LT Tyrer made all-pros from 1963-1970, G Terrell regressed |
| 1964 | KC | 7-7 | 6.38-7.62 | 0.62 | only 1 game winning drive, G Terrell left, RB Hayes made an all-pro, FB McClinton missed a lot of games but FB Mack Lee Hill made a pro bowl |
| 1965 | KC | 6-4 | 6.85-5.15 | -0.85 | only 1 game winning drive, FB McClinton made all-pro, TE Arbanas and WR Frank Jackson made a pro bowl |
| 1966 | KC | 11-2 | 7.21-6.79 | 3.79 | only 1 game winning drive, FB McClinton made pro bowls from 1966-67, RB Garrett made a pro bowl, TE Arbanas made all-pro from 1966-67, G Buddle made all-pros from 1966-69 |
| 1967 | KC | 9-5 | 8.25-5.75 | 0.75 | only 1 game winning drive, TE Arbanas regressed moving forward and left after 1970, RB Garrett made an all-pro |
| 1968 | KC | 11-2 | 9.48-3.52 | 1.52 | RB Holmes made an all-pro |
| 1969 | KC | 5-2 | 4.96-2.04 | 0.04 | only 1 game winning drive, RB Holmes made a pro bowl |
| 1970 | KC | 5-5 | 6.45-5.55 | -1.45 | 0 game winning drives, G Buddle made pro bowls from 1970-71, RB Holmes didn’t start but RB Podolak was productive |
| 1971 | KC | 9-3 | 8.45-4.55 | 0.55 | 3 game winning drives, RB Holmes left during the season, LT Tyrer made a pro bowl, WR Taylor made all-pro |
| 1972 | KC | 7-5 | 6.30-5.70 | 0.70 | WR Taylor made a pro bowl |
| 1973 | KC | 3-2 | 4.72-1.29 | -1.72 | didn’t play most of the remaining games, LT Tyrer regressed and left after this year, C Rudnay made a pro bowl from 1973-1976 |
| 1974 | KC | 3-5 | 3.40 4.60 | -0.40 | missed some games |
| 1975 | KC | 1-4 | 1.43 3.57 | -0.43 | didn’t play most of the game, Paul Wiggin replaced Hank Stram as the head coach, G Buddle didn’t start anymore |
Johnny Unitas
| Seasons | Teams | Record | Projected | +/- | Context |
| 1955 | PIT | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | didn’t make the Steelers roster and was out of NFL, FB Ameche made all-pros from 1955-56 |
| 1956 | BAL (Colts) | 3-4 | 2.75-4.25 | 0.25 | 3 game winning drives, RB Moore made |
| 1957 | BAL | 7-5 | 6.31-5.70 | 0.70 | 3 game winning drives, WR Raymond Berry made an all-pro from 1957-60, FB Ameche and WR Mutscheller made a pro bowl |
| 1958 | BAL | 8-1 | 5.23-3.77 | 2.77 | RB Moore made all-pro from 1958-1961, FB Ameche made all-pros from 1958-59, LT Parker made all-pros from 1958-65, G Spinney made an all-pro from 1058-59 |
| 1959 | BAL | 9-3 | 5.49-6.51 | 3.51 | 3 game winning drives |
| 1960 | BAL | 6-6 | 6.12-5.88 | -0.12 | FB Ameche regressed, G Spinney made a pro bowl |
| 1961 | BAL | 8-6 | 6.04-7.96 | 1.96 | 4 game winning drives, G Spinney retired, FB Ameche left, WR Berry made a pro bowl |
| 1962 | BAL | 7-7 | 6.72-7.28 | 0.28 | 3 game winning drives, RB Moore and C Szymanski made a pro bowl, WR Orr was productive from 1962-64 |
| 1963 | BAL | 8-6 | 6.73-7.28 | 1.28 | defensive minded head coach Shula replaced Ewbanks as head coach, 3 game winning drives, WR Berry made a pro bowl from 1963-64 |
| 1964 | BAL | 12-2 | 8.17-5.83 | 3.83 | RB Moore made all-pro, C Szymanski and LT Vogel made a pro bowl |
| 1965 | BAL | 8-2 | 5.93-5.07 | 2.07 | WR Berry and LT Vogel made an all-pro, TE Mackey made all-pros from 1965-68, WR Orr made an all-pro |
| 1966 | BAL | 9-4 | 8.37-4.63 | 0.63 | only 1 game winning drives, RB Moore regressed and left after 1967, WR Orr regressed moving forward and left after 1970 |
| 1967 | BAL | 11-1 | 9.75 4.25 | 1.25 | 3 game winning drives, WR Berry and LT Parker regressed and missed games, LT Vogel made a pro bowl, WR Richardson emerged and made all-pro |
| 1968 | BAL | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | didn’t start any of the games this season, WR Berry and LT Parker retired, LT Vogel made an all-pro, WR Richardson made a pro bowl, RB Matte made a pro bowl from 1968-69 |
| 1969 | BAL | 7-5 | 6.85-5.16 | 0.16 | 3 game winning drives, C Szymanski retired, WR Richardson was productive, C Curry made all-pro |
| 1970 | BAL | 10-2 | 7.83-5.17 | 2.17 | McCafferty replaced Shula as the head coach, 3 game winning drives, WR Richardson left, RB Matte missed almost all of the season |
| 1971 | BAL | 3-2 | 3.55-1.46 | -0.55 | started later in the year, TE Mackey missed games, LT Vogel and FB Bulaich made a pro bowl, RB Matte was productive, C Curry made a pro bowl from 1971-72 |
| 1972 | BAL | 1-4 | -2.68 2.32 | -1.68 | didn’t finish the season, John Sandusky replaced McCafferty during the season, TE Mackey left, RB Matte missed most of the season and left after the season |
| 1973 | SD | 1-3 | 1.53-2.47 | -0.53 | lost starting job after first few games |
Bart Starr
| Seasons | Teams | Record | Projected | +/- | Context |
| 1956 | GB | 0-1 | 0.53-0.47 | -0.53 | on the bench |
| 1957 | GB | 3-8 | 3.74-7.26 | -0.73 | C Ringo made all-pros from 1957-64, WR Howton made all-pro |
| 1958 | GB | 0-6 | 2.03-4.97 | -2.03 | McLean replaced Blackbourn as the head coach |
| 1959 | GB | 4-1 | 2.92-2.08 | 1.08 | Vince Lombardi replaced McLean as the head coach, WR Howton left, RT Gregg made all-pro from 195-1960, G Thurston made all-pros from 1961-62, RB Hornung made all-pro from 1959-1960 |
| 1960 | GB | 4-4 | 4.14-3.86 | -0.14 | 1 gw drive, FB Taylor and G Jerry Kramer made all-pro |
| 1961 | GB | 11-3 | 8.84-5.17 | 2.17 | 3 game winning drives, RB Hornung won MVP, RT Gregg and FB Taylor made a pro bowl, WR McGee made a pro bowl, G Kramer missed some games |
| 1962 | GB | 13-1 | 10.48-3.53 | 2.53 | 3 game winning drives, FB Taylor won MVP, RT Gregg made all-pro from 1962-67, G Kramer made all-pro from 1962-63, WR McGee was productive, TE Ron Kramer made all-pro from 1962-63, RB Hornung missed some games |
| 1963 | GB | 8-1 | 7.42-2.58 | 0.58 | 1 gw drive, RB Hornung out all season, FB Taylor made all-pro, WR Dowler was productive from 1963-64 |
| 1964 | GB | 8-5 | 7.76-6.24 | 0.24 | 1 gw drive, C Ringo left, FB Taylor made a pro bowl, RB Hornung regressed moving forward and left after 1966, G Kramer missed basically all of the season |
| 1965 | GB | 10-3 | 8.58 5.42 | 1.42 | 1 gw drive, TE Ron Kramer left, FB Taylor regressed, WR Dowler made a pro bowl |
| 1966 | GB | 11-2 | 10.03-2.97 | 0.97 | 1 gw drive, G Kramer made all-pro from 1966-68, LT Skoronski made a pro bowl, WR Dowler regressed |
| 1967 | GB | 8-3 | 7.29-4.71 | 0.71 | FB Taylor left, Thurston regressed and left after the season, WR Dowler made a pro bowl |
| 1968 | GB | 4-5 | 6.17-3.83 | -2.17 | 0 gw drives, defensive minded Bengston replaced Lombardi as the head coach, RB Anderson made a pro bowl, WR Dale made a pro bowl from 1968-70 |
| 1969 | GB | 4-5 | 6.12-2.89 | -2.12 | RB Anderson missed half of the season and regressed, G Gillingham made all-pros from 1969-70 |
| 1970 | GB | 6-7 | 6.06-6.94 | -0.07 | RB Anderson was productive |
| 1971 | GB | 0-2 | 0.87 2.13 | -0.87 | Devine replaced Bengston, G Gillingham made a pro bowl, FB Brockington made all-pro |
Don Meredith
| Seasons | Teams | Record | Projected | +/- | Context |
| 1960 | DAL | 0-1 | 0.04-0.96 | -0.04 | not a primary starter/backup, had Tom Landry as the head coach the whole time while there, WR Doran made a pro bowl |
| 1961 | DAL | 2-1 | 1.53-2.47 | 0.47 | not a primary starter/backup, WR Doran regressed and retired after this season, TE Bielski and RB Perkins made a pro bowl, WR Howton was productive |
| 1962 | DAL | 2-5 | 1.59-6.41 | 0.41 | TE Bielski left, WR Howton was productive, RB Perkins made all-pro, WR Clarke was productive from 1962-63 |
| 1963 | DAL | 4-8 | 3.60-8.40 | 0.40 | only 1 game winning drive, RB Perkins and TE Folkins made a pro bowl |
| 1964 | DAL | 5-4 | 5.74-4.26 | -0.74 | 0 game winning drives, WR Clarke made all-pro, TE Folkins missed most of the season and left after the season |
| 1965 | DAL | 7-4 | 5.72-5.28 | 1.28 | 3 game winning drives, WR Hayes made a pro bowl |
| 1966 | DAL | 9-3 | 7.47-5.53 | 1.53 | RB Perkins made a pro bowl, C Manders made a pro bowl, WR Hayes made all-pro from 1966-68, RB Reeves was productive, RT Neely made all-pro from 1966-68 |
| 1967 | DAL | 7-4 | 5.68-5.32 | 1.32 | only 1 game winning drive, C Manders missed the whole season, RB Perkins made all-pro |
| 1968 | DAL | 11-2 | 9.15-3.85 | 1.85 | only 1 game winning drive, C Manders didn’t start this season and next, RB Perkins made a pro bowl, G Niland made a pro bowl |
Analysis
Tarkenton usually had at least a couple of pro bowl/all-pro level teammates on offense at different positions on that side of the ball. After understandably having a few below average seasons in his first few years, Tarkenton started to average 1-2 wins above what the replacement level quarterback would have done for the following seasons but also had some below average seasons in terms of record differentials. One of those below average seasons was in 1966 when he was a game below average. It coincided with his running back Tommy Mason regressing that season. Another example was in 1969 and 1972 when there were head coaching changes. Despite having some seasons with nice looking statistics, Tarkenton never peaked at 3 or more wins above average.
Tarkenton had defensive support for the first decade of his career during his time with the Giants and the first stint he had with the Vikings. During his second stint with the Vikings, Tarkenton had excellent defensive support. In 1973, the average quarterback would have gone 10-3 that season. Tarkenton’s career regular season differential ends up only being just under half a game above average. As previously stated, his inconsistencies with winning relative to the average in his spot. Also, his low floor of losing a game below average and his lack of high peaks even relative to his era played a role in his record differential not being higher than what it is.
When Namath got more experience in the league, he had a 3-year stretch from 1967-1969 in which he won 2-3.5 games above average despite having a lot of interceptions in those seasons. He had excellent offensive help in those seasons. He mostly had good offensive help in some of his later seasons, but he had a hard time staying healthy. For added context, he also had knee issues before entering the NFL that were going to get worse after 5 years in the league. After 1969, he was basically average, with his record differentials ranging from very slightly below average to only half a game above average. Namath’s regular season defensive support was mediocre because the average quarterback would have been around a game below .500 to a game above .500 over the course of Namath’s career.
When Dawson was playing for the Chiefs, he consistently had stars on offense. He also had Hank Stram as his head coach, whose offensive contributions included implementing plays that had the quarterback roll out and go on the move, albeit to take advantage of Dawson’s mobility. Despite the excellent offensive situation, Dawson was inconsistent as he would fluctuate between having some good record differentials of 2-3.5 games won above average, but also having average and noticeably below average record differential seasons. He basically had good defensive support for most of his career.
Unitas had some pretty good seasons for his era, in 1958 and 1959, when he had a strong offensive supporting cast. When some of the stars aged out or left, he was average. When he had more stars arrive at offense, he had some more successful seasons before being below average in his later seasons as he exited his prime. He had a style of play that allowed him to have some pretty good record differential seasons of winning 2-3 games above average when he had very good offensive players around him. He basically had good defensive support for most of his career, except for a few mediocre seasons.
Starr was noticeably below average with his ability to win compared to the average quarterback until Vince Lombardi arrived along with offensive talent around him, subsequently improving rapidly in 1959 and forward. Despite having Lombardi and many stars on offense, Starr fluctuated between being around average and winning up to 2 games above average. He never peaked at least 3 wins above average, even when accounting for his era. When Lombardi left and the offensive talent started to age out after 1967, Starr declined considerably as he won 2 games below average for the next two following seasons before then aging out. His decline in 1968 and 1969 occurred even with there being at least a couple of standouts on offense. Starr basically won at an average and an above average level only when he had Lombardi as his coach with a lot of offensive talent. Starr had some bad defensive support before Lombardi arrived and mediocre defensive support after Lombardi left. With Lombardi, he had pretty good defensive support.
In the regular season, Meredith mostly had average seasons and a few seasons over a game above average, which amounts to him winning a little over half a game above average in his career. Obviously, when the offensive talent around him improved later in his career, his record differentials per season improved from being average to a little over a game above average. He did not have some of the low floors that some of his peers in the 60s and 70s had but he didn’t have a high regular peak or even a peak of 2-3 games in his era. He had bad defensive support early in his career as the average quarterback would have won under 3 games below .500. However, his defensive support improved to be mediocre and good, respectively.
