Comparing
quarterbacks in the different ERAs. It
is very difficult to compare quarterbacks from 1979-2003 vs 2003- present. To me when comparing the all time records of
say some of the greats that I grew up with like Dan Marino, Joe Montana, John
Elway and Roger Staubach vs todays Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and
Aaron Rodgers. Lets break is down. Joe Montana to me is the all time best
quarterback going by the eye test. The most TD that Montana ever through in a
season was 31. But its not about stats. Back in the 80s the 49ers were not running
a hurry up offense a lot of the game.
Montana would consistently throw 25 TD and about 12 picks. He also
almost never threw a pick at the end of a game. Don’t get me wrong nobody is
perfect but with the 4-0 Super Bowl Record and never having a turnover in those
games is unbelievable. He was also 117-47
and a 16-7 playoff record. The 1988
Super Bowl vs the Bengals where the 49ers were down 16-13 with about 3 minutes
left to play was probably the most clutch in NFL history with a title on the
line. The 49ers had not played a great game to that point but Montana picked up
his game and Jerry Rice in the big moments carved up the Bengals defense. Then
when you expected Montana to throw to Jerry Rice, he fools everyone with a
perfect throw to John Taylor with 39 Sec left to win 20-16. He also had the
famous catch game with Dwight Clark in 1981 to lead SF to their first Super
Bowl by beating the Dallas Cowboys who were the powerhouse at the time in the
NFL. Now as most want to compare him to
Tom Brady it is very difficult. Tom has had seasons of 50 TD passes, 39 and 36.
Not to take anything away from Brady as he has been outstanding in his own
right but the changes to the illegal contact and pass interference rules or the
enforcing of them has really made it hard to play defense in the NFL. He has won his 3 Super Bowls and has a
remarkable 17-7 playoff record and is 139-39 which looks like a misprint. In just comparing the two players if Montana
played today he would probably be the same as Brady with the remarkable stats
with the 50 TD etc. If Tom had to go back to the 1980s when the defensive backs
could chuck and beat up the wide receivers, it would take a truly heroic effort
to throw 50 TD and in my opinion is not likely. He would probably throw 30 or
so, just like Montana. Ronnie Lott,
Everson Walls, Rod Woodson, Lester Hayes, Mike Hayes, Darryl Green would still
be great but at a disadvantage in todays more wide open NFL. Also back then there was much more
running. Montana usually had around 400 pass
attempts per season while Brady has usually 550 to 600. Of course you are going
to throw for more yards and TD with over 100 more attempts a season. It is the
nature of the NFL today. It is not Bradys fault. He is remarkable to adjust to
many different WR over the years. From Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Givens,
Deion Branch, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and now Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.
Another unfair
comparison is between 2 Denver Broncos. John Elway and Peyton Manning. Elway’s
best season of TD passes is 27. Manning has 49.
The style of play once again from the 1980s especially when Elway was
under Dan Reeves was a run first and then let John win the game in the 4th
quarter. This worked in the early part
of John’s career but until he got Mike Shanahan and then Terrell Davis, is when
he truly had a chance to finally win a Super Bowl. John took 3 mediocre teams to the Super Bowl
in a weak AFC before winning the 2 at the end of his career. He only surpassed 4000 yards one time,
Manning has done it 12 times. But once
again the style of play is a part. Pass
attempts by Elway were usually in the 475 to 500 range when Manning is in the
550 to 600 Range. How would Elway do in
the post 2003 league? I think with his
ability to scramble and move around like an Andrew Luck and find the open WR in
the 2 minute drill which a lot of teams use now a days most of the game or at
least a large part of it. I say he throws 35 TD and possibly 40 if he had a
great amount of talent. There would be
no lets establish the run with Sammy Winder today. Also those great DBs would
be getting the pass interference penalties that make them back off now. Its
deadly and is why that Manning, Brady et all shred defenses. Elway did finish 148-82-1 with a 14-7 playoff
record. Manning is now currently 157-70
and a playoff record of 9-11. Some like to say Manning is a choker. Its hard to
call someone who has won a Super Bowl a choker. Yes he is a bit spotty in the
playoffs and has not always been great but a choker is not Manning. I am sure him and the Bronco fans would like
to win another Super Bowl to quiet the critics.
He has a great shot this year if his team stays healthy. He also needs his defense to help. The other
great QBs listed above have always had help from their defenses to win
Championships. The 49ers might have the
most underrated defense of all time. The Pats defense in the early 2000s
especially 2003 when they had the best QBR rating against any team in NFL
history, are a huge part of a Championship.
The all offense teams usually don’t win.
The Chargers in the early 1980s and the Colts until the 2006 team were
examples. The 06 Colts won because they got hot and Bob Sanders was a huge stabilizing
force on that team.
The last
comparison I want to do is two QB is Roger Staubach and Drew Brees. Staubach to
me is the empitomy of Captain Comeback. Even though his career was a bit
shorter due to serving in the Navy for 4 years, he was 85-29 lifetime with 11-6
in the playoffs with 2 Super Bowl Wins.
Roger had 23 comebacks in the last 2 minutes of games. The most
remarkable one for him was in the 1972 playoffs vs SF when down 28-13 then
28-16 with under 2 minutes left, Captain Comeback threw 2 tds to win the game
30-28. This was the beginning of the legend.
He also has the famous Hail Mary game where he coined that phrase in a
game at Minnesota to win 17-14 in 1975.
Drew Pearson caught the pass and when asked after the game, Staubach said
that he said a Hail Mary and then threw the ball. It is now a football term
that has stuck through the years. The most TD that Staubach threw was 27 in his
final season. He averaged about 20 TD a
year. He had a remarkable running game
with Tony Dorsett and before that Duane Thomas.
His average pass attempts were usually about 350 to 400. Now Brees with his 102-70 record with a
playoff record of 4-4. Brees has a career high of 46 TDs and surpassed 5000
yards 3 times. He also has averaged
about 650 pass attempts. More chances to throw for yards and TDs. Staubach would be great in todays NFL with his
great decision making and clutch play and probably throw 40 tds. Brees would still be good back in the 1970s
but not throw for 5000 maybe not even 3500 yards. Also keep in mind prior to 1978 Staubach
played in a 14 game schedule and not the 16 of today.
I am not
trying to put down todays NFL, my main point is that is is very hard to cross
eras. These are all Hall of Fame Qbs or
will be Hall of Fame Qbs and I have had the fortune to see all of them play as
either a young boy, teenager and then adult.
Football to me is the best game as each game means something and we can
all be enthralled by either the team we root for, fantasy football, NFL pools
etc. Thank you all for reading again, I
really appreciate it.
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