Best/most efficient Big Game QBs in SB era (1 Viewer)

[David Yudkin]

As an offshoot of other best QBs, best playoff QBs, and best big game QB discussions currently ongoing in other threads, here is a list of how SB era QBs have fared in championship games and Super Bowl games. No regular season stats are included and wildcard and no divisional round playoff games are included. Rather than list all the attempts. yardage, TDs, etc, I used passer rating since that incorporates the numbers and efficiencies in the formula. I also used only players that appeared in at least 3 games, as that would ensure that each player had to have been on two teams that advanced to the championship round. There were 39 such quarterbacks that I found. The W-L represents games in which the QB played a signigicant role in winning or losing. For example, there were games when Steve Young subbed for Joe Montana for a pass or two in a blow out. That win would go to Montana and Young would not be credited with the victory. If two QBs played a fair amount and their team won or lost, both would be credited with winning or losing. I did this pretty quickly, so if I missed someone or something, let me know and I will fix it. It did not make sense to me to list every QB that appeared once or twice in these games, as only Chase would want to see Richard Todd and his 8.8 passer rating and 0-1 record.

QUARTERBACK, PASSER RATING, WINS & LOSSES

Bart Starr 120.2 4-0

Jim Plunkett 119 4-0

Gary Kubiak 113.2 0-1

Joe Montana 104.7 8-3

Troy Aikman 104.6 6-1

Drew Brees 100.8 2-1

Kurt Warner 95.7 4-2

Len Dawson 92.7 3-1

Steve Young 91.7 2-4

Tom Brady 91.6 7-2

Brett Favre 87.6 3-4

Doug Williams 83.7 2-1

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1

Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2

Peyton Manning 80.1 3-2

Jake Delhomme 79.3 1-2

Jim McMahon 78.7 2-1

Steve McNair 77.5 1-2

Roger Staubach 76.7 6-4

Dan Marino 74.4 1-3

John Elway 74.3 7-4

Bob Griese 74.1 5-1

Donovan McNabb 72.9 1-5

Ken Stabler 72.5 2-4

Joe Theismann 71.9 3-1

Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2

Danny White 68.0 0-3

Rich Gannon 64.5 1-2

Daryle Lamonica 61.6 1-4

Jim Kelly 61.1 4-5

Kerry Collins 61.1 1-2

Drew Bledsoe 58.2 2-1

Johnny Unitas 49.5 2-2

Fran Tarkenton 49.5 3-3

Geroge Blanda 49.5 0-1

Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

Craig Morton 36.4 2-2

Earl Morrall 35.0 3-1

Jay Schroeder 22.7 0-2

 

[azgroover]

Damn, that Bart Starr was a bad ###.

 

[boubucarow]

I would want an QB Rating Plus ranking instead of this but since I don't feel like doing it now, I am not complaining. The reason I mention it is that Starr would be more amazing, Bradshaw would pull away from Manning, etc...

 

[CaptainHook]

interesting list, thanks for putting this together

small error i noticed: mcnabb is 1-5

 

[toenail_23]

interesting list, thanks for putting this togethersmall error i noticed: mcnabb is 1-5

McNabb is 1-4 in Conference Championships and 0-1 in the Super Bowl.

 

[David Yudkin]

interesting list, thanks for putting this togethersmall error i noticed: mcnabb is 1-5

McNabb is 1-4 in Conference Championships and 0-1 in the Super Bowl.

I had it at 2-4 initially but have since fixed it.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

only Chase would want to see Richard Todd and his 8.8 passer rating and 0-1 record.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2 Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

This does more to make my argument that Roethlisberger is the reason the Steelers have 2 SBs in the last 5 years than anything else. You "game manager who rides the back of great defenses" honks can #### now.

 

[Sea Bass]

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2 Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

This does more to make my argument that Roethlisberger is the reason the Steelers have 2 SBs in the last 5 years than anything else. You "game manager who rides the back of great defenses" honks can #### now.

None of them seem to compare with Gary Kubiak.

 

[David Yudkin]

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2 Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

This does more to make my argument that Roethlisberger is the reason the Steelers have 2 SBs in the last 5 years than anything else. You "game manager who rides the back of great defenses" honks can #### now.

None of them seem to compare with Gary Kubiak.

Kubiak probably shouldn't be on the list, but he did play in at least three games (although only once for any decent amount).

 

[SSOG]

Damn, that Bart Starr was a bad ###.

In the postseason, yeah. Everyone makes a big deal about how Montana raised his QB rating by 3 points in the postseason... well, Starr raised his rating by TWENTY FOUR POINTS in the postseason. Bart Starr actually had a better postseason QB rating than Montana, straight up. In the regular season, he was only a very good QB, but in the playoffs, he was a badass.Whenever Joe Montana fans start waxing nostalgic about Montana's postseason resume and offering it up as proof that he was the #1 QB of all time, I always bring up Bart Starr just to piss in their Wheaties.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

I knew Troy Aikman was better than Steve Young when it counted!

 

[ffball-novice]

Since Manning has appeared in 2 SB and won one of them pretty sure his record is wrong as shown. He should have 3 wins. I only remember losses to NE and NO but not as positive about the 3 losses being wrong.

Peyton Manning 80.1 2-3

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Damn, that Bart Starr was a bad ###.

He's even better if you throw in the pre-SB NFL Championships.

 

[David Yudkin]

Since Manning has appeared in 2 SB and won one of them pretty sure his record is wrong as shown. He should have 3 wins. I only remember losses to NE and NO but not as positive about the 3 losses being wrong.

Peyton Manning 80.1 2-3

Figures. I borrowed someone else's numbers on Manning, so let's figure this out:L NE 2003W NE 2006W CHI 2006W NYJ 2009L NO 2009So he should be 3-2.

 

[KingEl]

Damn, that Bart Starr was a bad ###.

In the postseason, yeah. Everyone makes a big deal about how Montana raised his QB rating by 3 points in the postseason... well, Starr raised his rating by TWENTY FOUR POINTS in the postseason. Bart Starr actually had a better postseason QB rating than Montana, straight up. In the regular season, he was only a very good QB, but in the playoffs, he was a badass.Whenever Joe Montana fans start waxing nostalgic about Montana's postseason resume and offering it up as proof that he was the #1 QB of all time, I always bring up Bart Starr just to piss in their Wheaties.

I'm not dogging Starr, but looking at the game stats to his playoff games- it looks like he hardly had to throw it. Super efficient though with an incredible td to int ratio.. but he barely avg 175 yds a game and about 13 completions. In the regular season, he was very avg- almost threw as many int's as tds. He threw for less than 10 tds in 9 out of his 16 years as a starter! Clearly he was not playing in a throwing league. He must have been clutch though and his teams were certainly great at times, though it looks like they hit a rough stretch towards the end of his carreer.I don't think the/us Montana fans only offer his postseason resume as proof of his #1 status. The guy was an incredible regular season QB too. In his time he retired in the top 4 in almost all regualr season meaningful categories and had the highest qb rating in history for most of his career. The fact that he upped his already high rating in the playoffs (while most of his contemporaries and modern greats drop) and then went to a 127 rating in the Super Bowls is just part of the equation along with his regualr season #'s, wins, comebacks, etc.In the Should Peyton Manning win the SB... thread you and Choke have an exchange about Starr and you say the following quoted from your post "I wasn't making the argument for Starr in an effort to say he's a top 5 QB all-time. I don't think he is, for many reasons (including the reasons you've already mentioned). I'm making the argument for Starr because I think most people agree that Starr isn't one of the top 5 QBs of all time, playoff excellence or no playoff excellence" Then you say " As I've said, I have absolutely no problem saying that Joe Montana was one of the top 5 QBs in NFL history... but I think he's one of the best because of what he did over 200 games, not what he did over 4 games"Clearly your just using Starr to try and tweak us Montana fans, but fair enough... I agree- Montana deserves credit for his whole career of excellance, just not the postseason.

 

[SSOG]

I knew Troy Aikman was better than Steve Young when it counted!

Heck, based strictly on this, you could say that Aikman was better than Montana when it counted, too. The QB ratings were within a tenth of a point of each other, and Aikman was 6-1 while Montana was 8-3.

Damn, that Bart Starr was a bad ###.

He's even better if you throw in the pre-SB NFL Championships.

Actually, his QB rating drops a lot if you throw in his pre-SB NFL Championships. I didn't bother calculating it, but I'd imagine it'd go from 120 to around 105. His final record jumps from 4-0 to 7-1, though.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2 Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

This does more to make my argument that Roethlisberger is the reason the Steelers have 2 SBs in the last 5 years than anything else. You "game manager who rides the back of great defenses" honks can #### now.

Just because the other guys were awful and Roethlisberger/Bradshaw were above average doesn't make them the reason. There are a million QBs who could ride the Pittsburgh defense to success. Because Kordell freaking Stewart can't do it means nothing.Seriously, I can't believe this is still coming up when the FIRST year Pitt doesn't have a great defense along with Big Ben the Steelers don't even make the playoffs. New Orleans won the Super Bowl with a defense that ranked 8 spots below Pitt this year.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

I knew Troy Aikman was better than Steve Young when it counted!

Heck, based strictly on this, you could say that Aikman was better than Montana when it counted, too. The QB ratings were within a tenth of a point of each other, and Aikman was 6-1 while Montana was 8-3.

Damn, that Bart Starr was a bad ###.

He's even better if you throw in the pre-SB NFL Championships.

Actually, his QB rating drops a lot if you throw in his pre-SB NFL Championships. I didn't bother calculating it, but I'd imagine it'd go from 120 to around 105. His final record jumps from 4-0 to 7-1, though.

LOL, I know. Steve Young was a great QB. I always thought Troy Aikman could do a lot more passing damage if he were asked too, he had an unbelievable arm and super accurate. But when you have the kind of offensive line, defense and running back that the Dallas Cowboys had, I honestly feel that Troy Aikman may be one of the most underrated or untapped QB in the game because most of the time he wasn't needed to throw 40 or 50 times in a game.Aikman reminds me of Ben Roesthlesberger in that most people thought Big Ben was a system QB before this year because they played a style of game of run the ball and play good defense. The defense wasn't as good this year and the running game not as prolific and you saw what kind of numbers Ben can put up if you take off the handcuffs. I watched Ben play in the MAC and he was a gunslinger, nothing short. When he was drafted #11 (I believe), first thing I thought of was STEAL.If you remember or saw some of the throws Aikman could make from sideline to sideline if he would have just dropped back and thrown the ball 50 times a game, his numbers would have been astronomical. Instead, he played on a team that generated the leading rusher in NFL history.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2 Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

This does more to make my argument that Roethlisberger is the reason the Steelers have 2 SBs in the last 5 years than anything else. You "game manager who rides the back of great defenses" honks can #### now.

Just because the other guys were awful and Roethlisberger/Bradshaw were above average doesn't make them the reason. There are a million QBs who could ride the Pittsburgh defense to success. Because Kordell freaking Stewart can't do it means nothing.Seriously, I can't believe this is still coming up when the FIRST year Pitt doesn't have a great defense along with Big Ben the Steelers don't even make the playoffs. New Orleans won the Super Bowl with a defense that ranked 8 spots below Pitt this year.

You're wrong. They had a million other QBs and not one could ride some incredible defenses to success. The missing piece was an elite QB, which they have now for the first time since Bradshaw. Roethlisberger's #s on this list should tell you that he's WELL above average. Where was that defense last year when they needed to hold a 4th quarter lead? Did the defense hold the lead or did they cough it up, leaving Roethlisberger to bail them out? Just stop this.

 

[Tanner9919]

Ben Roethlisberger 82.2 4-1

Terry Bradshaw 81.6 8-2

Neil O'Donnell 69.6 1-2

Kordell Stewart 43.7 0-2

This does more to make my argument that Roethlisberger is the reason the Steelers have 2 SBs in the last 5 years than anything else. You "game manager who rides the back of great defenses" honks can #### now.

Just because the other guys were awful and Roethlisberger/Bradshaw were above average doesn't make them the reason. There are a million QBs who could ride the Pittsburgh defense to success. Because Kordell freaking Stewart can't do it means nothing.Seriously, I can't believe this is still coming up when the FIRST year Pitt doesn't have a great defense along with Big Ben the Steelers don't even make the playoffs. New Orleans won the Super Bowl with a defense that ranked 8 spots below Pitt this year.

I think you're missing the boat on this one:who played the tougher schedule, N.O. or Pitt? I would think the final SOS for the 2009 season, at week 17,was that the Steelers played a tougher schedule.

I mean, it looks to me like N.O. only beat two playoff teams, Dallas and NE, and other than those two teams, I'm not even sure N.O. played anyone else in reg season, with a record above .500, while Pitt played Minnesota, Cincy(2x) , Baltimore (2x), SD, GB...

not picking on N.O. that was a great win for them, just saying that Pitt finished 9-7 barely missed the playoffs, and changed their offensive philosophy in the process, changing from a Run-first team to a pass-happy bunch after losing Polamalu..Pitt isn't used to having a lousy defense, while perhaps N.O. is?

and, N.O. scored a trillions points per week, not because they could,.but rather because they needed to hide some of their defensive shortcomings ( i.e., can't stop the run)..