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PART 2.5: Top 20 QBs of All-Time

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29 2008

How far will Brady move up with a win?

Now that Peyton Manning and the Colts are done for the year, Peyton won’t move from where I have him at #9. If he would either make it to another Super Bowl next year, or continue to play at a very high level (like he has the past few years) for 2 or 3 more years, then I think he would have to move up, eventually.

If Favre had made it to another Super Bowl, I don’t think that alone would have moved him up higher, but if he won another Super Bowl this year, then his resume would then have read: 2 Super Bowl wins, including an upset one over the juggernaut Patriots of this season, along with his record 442 TD passes and 61,657 career passing yards.

If Brady wins another Super Bowl, he could shoot up near the top of the list. He would have four Super Bowl wins in four tries. A strong argument could be made that if he wins a fourth, he should move up to #2, and the list could read: #1. Joe Montana, #2. Tom Brady, #3 Terry Bradshaw… Others might argue that Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr should be in the top 3 or 4.

On the other hand, how much would Tom Brady's legacy be tarnished if they lost to the Giants this year. If the Giants pulled the upset, he would be an imperfect 3 out of 4, rather than 4 for 4 like Montana and Bradshaw. Even worse, what if Brady lost the game and played poorly, throwing several interceptions (whether due to an injured foot or not)?

I decided to post all of the stats that I compared when compiling my list of The Top 20 QBs of All-Time last month. Note: I have made a few changes at the bottom of the list.

The criteria I considered when making the list were: Super Bowl Appearances, Super Bowl Wins, Performance in Super Bowls, Career Passer Rating, Career TD Passes, Career TDs rushing, & Career Passing Yardage. In certain instances, I noted in parentheses if players won additional championships before the Super Bowl was started or Canadian Football League championships (ex. Warren Moon).

The Top 20 Quarterbacks of All-Time

                          SBA   SBW     CPR    PTD    RTD    CPY

1. Joe Montana       4       4        92.3    273    20    40,551
2. Terry Bradshaw    4       4        70.9    212    32    27,989
3. Steve Young        1       1       96.8    232    43    33,124
4. John Elway          5       2        79.9    300    33    51,475
5. Johnny Unitas   2(+2)  2(+2)   78.2    290    13    40,239
6. Tom Brady             4        3            92.9    197        5      26,370
7. Bart Starr         2(+3)   2(+3)  80.5    152     15    24,718
8. Brett Favre           2         1           85.7     442      13       61,657
9. Peyton Manning   1         1           94.7     306      16      41,626
10. Dan Marino        1      0        86.4    420      9     61,361
11. Troy Aikman      3      3        81.6    165      9     32,942
12. Bob Griese        3       2        81.5    192      7     25,092
13. Warren Moon   0(5)    0(5)    80.9    291    22     50,000
14. Dan Fouts         0       0        80.2    254    13     43,040
15. Roger Staubach  4       2       83.4    153    20     22,700
16. Jim Kelley         4       0        86.6    237      7     35,467
17. Otto Graham  0(+4)  0(+4)   86.6     174    44     23,580

18. Y.A. Tittle 0 0 75.0 242 39 33,000
19. Randall Cunningham 0 81.5 207 35 29,979

20. Fran Tarkenton 3 0 80.4 342 32 47,003

Just Missed the list:

Kurt Warner 2 1 93.2 152 3 24,008
Joe Namath 1 1 65.0 173 7 27,663

Phil Simms              1*      1*    78.5     199     6     33,462
Jim Plunkett            2        2      67.5     164    14     25,882
Sonny Jurgensen      0        0      82.6     255    15    32,224

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