Dan Pompei

It has been said that the NFL is a league of haves and have nots. But perhaps a more accurate description would be to call it a league of cans and can nots.

There are those who can pass. And those who can not pass.

There is a correlation between passing and winning. The top four teams in passing yards per play were the Patriots, Cowboys, Packers and Colts. They also had the four best records in the NFL. Their combined winning percentage is .859.

What these teams have that hardly any other teams have are elite quarterbacks. What separates them are Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

Think about it. Those quarterbacks clearly were a cut above the next tier of passers this season.

On the next level, you would have to include New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Jacksonville’s David Garrard, Seattle’s Matt Hassebeck, Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer, Tampa Bay’s Jeff Garcia, Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb, Cleveland’s Derek Anderson, San Diego’s Philip Rivers and Arizona’s Kurt Warner. Their teams had a combined winning percentage of .568.

Who’s left? The can nots — The Giants, Redskins, Vikings, Lions, Bears, Panthers, Falcons, 49ers, Rams, Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Ravens, Titans, Texans, Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs. Their combined winning percentage: .381.

The can nots have different reasons for their passing inconsistencies. But here is an interesting trend. Of the 18 can nots, only the Giants, Lions and Broncos started the same quarterback all year. Every other team started at least two quarterbacks. The Ravens, Bears, Dolphins, Vikings and Raiders started three. The Panthers and 49ers started four.

In fact, NFL teams started 64 quarterbacks in 2007, more than in any previous season. Only 13 teams had one starter for all 16 games. Seven of them — the Cowboys, Giants, Packers, Seahawks, Chargers, Colts and Patriots — are in the playoffs.

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Passing, it seems, has become more important than ever. Yet, only a handful of teams can throw the ball at a highly efficient level.

I asked New England coach Bill Belichick if he thought the passing game has become more critical. He said, “It’s always been pretty important. It’s a passing league. There’s certainly a premium on being able to throw the ball in this league.”

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Belichick also pointed out the importance of having a balanced attack. The pass is a lot easier to defend without a strong threat of the run.

But the Patriots dropped back to throw 58 percent of the time this season.  When a player like Brady is flinging the rock the way he has this year, it really doesn’t matter what the defense does.

Other teams would love to be able to throw it like the elite teams of the 2007 season, but it wouldn’t be advisable for them to try to do something they are incapable of. If you try to throw like the Patriots with a quarterback like Jon Kitna, you end up like the Lions did — losing seven of their last eight.

It is possible some teams can develop their passing games. Among the young quarterbacks who are capable of making significant improvement as passers next season are Houston’s Matt Schaub, Washington’s Jason Campbell, Arizona’s Matt Leinart, Denver’s Jay Cutler, Minnesota’s Tarvaris Jackson, Buffalo’s Trent Edwards and San Francisco’s Alex Smith.

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