The desert and the oasis of quarterback play in the 32-team era.

There have now been 19 NFL seasons with 32 teams. Some call this the 32-team era. I defined the “quarterback desert” as a bottom-four finish in team passer rating. I used passer rating because it has existed for the entirety of this era (QBR has not), and it’s the best transparent method for analyzing quarterback play.

The Broncos have had three such finishes during the 32-team era, but all three have been recent - 2015, 2017 and 2020. Here is a full listing of the desert-wandering teams during this era by year: