Top 12 NFL QBs of 1975: Where do Cowboys' Roger Staubach, Steelers' Terry Bradshaw rank among all-timers?

It's Week 3 in the 2025 NFL season, which means it's time to go back to the future.

"The NFL Today" celebrates its 50th birthday on Sunday, and CBS Sports is ringing in the special occasion with an all-star affair: The Week 3 broadcast will feature Brent Musburger, "NFL Today" host from 1975-1990, returning to co-host the show alongside James Brown, Nate Burleson, JJ Watt and Matt Ryan. The classic pregame show will also include special guests, vintage graphics and music, plus a virtual recreation of the 1975 "NFL Today" set.

In celebration of the historic moment, we looked all the way back to the 1975 season to assess the best quarterbacks of the time. Resident NFL historian Bryan DeArdo already paid tribute to some of the all-time games and legendary coaches from the era, even ranking top 10 greats like Chuck Noll and Tom Landry.

Here, DeArdo teams up with Cody Benjamin to honor the top signal-callers of the time, including a slew of Hall of Famers and Super Bowl champions who graced the gridiron and helped define the 1975 campaign:

12. Ken Stabler (Raiders)

Fresh off winning league MVP, the '75 season was not one of Stabler's best from an individual standpoint. But despite throwing a whopping 24 interceptions (the second-high total that season behind only Joe Namath's 28 picks), Stabler played well enough to help the Raiders get to within a game of the Super Bowl. He thew three touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes in leading the Raiders to a first-round playoff win over the Bengals.

11. Dan Pastorini (Oilers)

Statistically, this wasn't a very impressive season for Pastorini. It was, however, successful from a win-loss standpoint as he helped Houston win at least 10 games for the first time in 13 years. One of his biggest highlights that season was his game-winning touchdown pass over the Raiders in Week 13.

10. Bob Griese (Dolphins)

The two-time Super Bowl champion went 7-3 as the Dolphins' starting quarterback while being one of just a handful of starting quarterbacks to complete over 60% of his passes. His season ended prematurely after he was injured during Miami's Week 11 loss to the Colts.

9. James Harris (Rams)

Harris may have thrown slightly more interceptions (15) than touchdown passes (14), but he also was eighth in the NFL in completion percentage (55.1%) and quarterback rating (78.5) while going 11-2 as the Rams' starting quarterback during the regular season. An injury sustained in Week 13 prevented Harris from making an impact during the 1975 playoffs. 

8. Joe Ferguson (Bills)

Ferguson tied Fran Tarkenton with a league-high 25 touchdown passes. He was also fifth in the NFL in passer rating (81.3) and seventh in passing yards. Ferguson and running back O.J. Simpson paced a Bills offense that led the NFL in scoring during the regular season.

'The NFL Today' celebrating 50th anniversary: All you need to know about the 1975 season

Jeff Kerr

7. Billy Kilmer (Washington)

While he didn't get Washington into the playoffs, Kilmer did just about everything else that season. He finished third in the league in touchdown passes (23), was sixth in passing yards (2,440) and seventh in passer rating (77.2). Washington went 8-4 in games that he played in and 0-2 in games that he missed due to injury. 

6. Jim Hart (Cardinals)

This wasn't Hart's most prolific season under Don "Air" Coryell in St. Louis, as he threw as many interceptions (19) as touchdowns, plus another three picks in a playoff loss to the Rams, who started backup Ron Jaworski at the last minute. But Harris absorbed just six sacks throughout the year, leading four different fourth-quarter comebacks for the "Cardiac Cards" en route to an 11-3 record. His 2,507 yards passing also ranked fourth in the NFL.

5. Bert Jones (Colts)

Jones is better known for his next season, when he won NFL MVP with a career-high 24 scoring strikes, adequately filling the shoes of predecessor Johnny Unitas. But 1975 was the stepping stone. Later hailed by Bill Belichick as an underrated all-timer, Jones led the NFL in interception rate (2.3%), tossing 18 scores to just eight picks, and also led three fourth-quarter comebacks. His playoff opener unfortunately ended early due to injury.

4. Terry Bradshaw (Steelers)

A classic case of grit over polish, Bradshaw wasn't the cleanest ball protector in the postseason, throwing more picks (5) than scores (3). His Steelers were also far more dependent on a historic "Steel Curtain" defense outfitted with eight different Pro Bowlers. Still, Bradshaw showed up when it mattered, posting the best yards-per-attempt (9.2) mark of the playoffs and finally tossing two scores and no picks in a Super Bowl X win over the Cowboys.

3. Roger Staubach (Cowboys)

Of all of his years as "Captain Comeback" for the Tom Landry-led Cowboys, Staubach actually enjoyed plenty of finer performances than he did in 1975, famously winning two Super Bowls and leading the NFL in passer rating on four separate occasions. His 16 picks in 1975 tied a career high, and he threw another three picks fighting against the vaunted Steelers defense in a Super Bowl loss. Still, his resilience helped him lead all postseason quarterbacks in yards (670) and scoring passes (7), and his bomb to beat the Vikings in the divisional round was the play that saw him coin the term "Hail Mary."

2. Ken Anderson (Bengals)

Anderson's production didn't translate to a defining playoff push, as his Bengals were edged in a divisional round game against the Raiders. But he was arguably the best pure passer of the entire year, factoring in both regular-season and playoff production. He led the league with 3,169 yards through the air, plus a 93.9 rating and 8.4 yards-per-attempt mark. He also had the best completion rate (63%) and passer rating (110.3) in the playoffs thanks to his comeback effort against the Raiders. It's no surprise he would go on to win NFL MVP and take Cincinnati all the way to the Super Bowl down the road.

1. Fran Tarkenton (Vikings)

Minnesota went one-and-done in the playoffs in 1975, one of several deflating finishes in a four-year span that also included three Super Bowl losses. But those defeats stung in part because of how much magic Tarkenton offered under center. Renowned for his scrambling, he led the NFL with 25 touchdown passes this year, also ranking in the top two for yards (2,994) and passer rating (91.8) en route to an MVP award and 12-2 finish. Whereas Anderson benefitted from a short-area attack featuring top-level wideouts, Tarkenton was undoubtedly the centerpiece of Minnesota's march toward the postseason.