Brady would not be Brady had he been drafted into the situation that some others have been drafted into. He would still probably be an all time great, but not a 6-time Super Bowl winning QB without that organization and Belichik.
On pure ability, I have a hard time thinking of a more gifted QB than Mahomes. He can literally do everything. He makes throws that no other QB can make. I don’t think that’s hyperbole either.
Brees, Brady, and Peyton are the most productive QBs ever, but I think all of their numbers will be surpassed sooner rather than later. They’re really the first group of elite QBs to play almost their entire primes in the “Passing League” era of the NFL. A lot of their early career numbers aren’t all that impressive. The QBs drafted into this era that become the next batch of greats will probably have better numbers when they retire.
For instance, right now there have only been 13 seasons in which a QB has thrown for 40 TDs or more. 8 of those were in 2010 or later. Prior to 1999, only 1 QB ever had done (Marino twice in the 80’s).
I think Mahomes will easily have 7+ seasons of 40 TDs if he plays as long as Brady or Brees. I don’t think that’s a knock on those guys either. It’s partially of product of playing in this era. [Reply]
Greatest passer of all time is Brees or Warner; everyone else can vie for #3 if they'd like, but as pure passers I've never seen anyone better than those 2.
Greatest multi-threat QB of all time is Steve Young. And if I could choose any QB to start a franchise with and have that QB at 23 yrs old going forward, it would be Mahomes...but Young would be #2. I think you could've given him any coach and any system at any time and he'd have been able to execute it at the highest level. Steve Young is criminally underrated.
Greatest career of all time has to be Brady. I mean fuck you if I'll ever vote for him in a poll or anything; I'm not reducing that to a number. But dude has like 10 AFC championships and 6 SB rings or whatever - the numbers are so goddamn ridiculous as to defy memory. He has SB comebacks and amazing playoff performances. Sure, his coach is a wizard and his division is a joke so he has had more opportunities than anyone, but he's done quite a damn bit on his own. [Reply]
If we look at statistics, the answer is unquestionably Drew Brees.
If we look at SBs, the answer has to be Brady.
If we look at arm talent, (excepting Mahomes who doesn't have enough data to analyze properly) it's Marino.
And so on.
I based my answer on which QBs I've actually seen in their primes, which excluded Baugh, Graham, and Unitas.
But when we look at how a QB played under pressure and, in the end, which QB would I want under center with 2 minutes on the clock to win the SB, the answer is pretty easy: it has to be Joe "Cool" Montana. [Reply]
Manning is up there too, but whilted under pressure too much.
Question: Why doesn't anyone criticize Brees for this?
The dude has 2 of the most inexplicable losses of all time on his playoff resume. The 2010 1st round home playoff loss to a 7-9 football team. A Seahawks team that was losing 35-10 in the 4th quarter the following week to a Lovie Smith coached Bears squad before putting up 2 garbage time scores and losing in a slightly less embarrassing manner.
And being outgunned by Alex Smith.
And people want to give him a pass on that goofy Minnesota loss when his safety missed the tackle and they lost w/ 0:00 on the clock but Drew - maybe don't throw 2 picks? And the Rams PI last year was brutal but Brees was in full dink/dunk mode by then and was incapable of putting the Rams away in that game. The Saints had their foot on the Rams neck in the 1st half and got virtually nothing out of it. With the ball first, an interception (giving them the ball at the Ram 16) and a 3 and out, the Saints converted 1 of those opportunities into 6 because Brees couldn't power the football into small windows in the red zone. Up 20-10 in the 2nd half and the Saints go Punt, Punt, FG to keep the Rams alive.
And for as bad as the PI was - the Saints had the football to start OT and Brees cut their throats with that pick.
Nobody EVER says "hey wait a minute now - what about Brees in the post-season...." but Manning takes worlds of shit for it. Just seems strange to me. [Reply]
It pains me to say it, but it's Brady, and to me it's not particularly close. Peyton struggled way more in big games than I'd have liked. Warner was probably the most dominant I've seen in a small stretch, but it was very short. Brees... I can't stand behind him. He benefited big time playing in a dome and outside of 1 super bowl, he's been really mediocre in the playoffs. Probably a lot of that because of the dome thing. Really hard to crown someone as GOAT is he was never an mvp.
Which leaves me with Montana and Brady. A lot of similarities. But I saw Brady dominate with reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney as his receivers. Whereas Montana typically had an obscene amount of talent. [Reply]
Never threw 30 TDs in a season and only threw for 4,000 yards once.
Averaged 3,200 yards, 19 TDs, and 14 interceptions per year. His career passer rating is 80. Career completion percentage is 57%. He threw for at least as many interceptions as touchdowns in 5 different seasons. He only had a 2:1 or better Touchdown-Interception ratio in 3 seasons out of 16.
As I explained previously, he didn’t really play in the “Passing League”....but compare his numbers to what Marino did during the same era. [Reply]
Manning is up there too, but whilted under pressure too much.
The thing about Manning, I don't think some appreciate how bad an organization the Colts are. They had a very crappy line and a completely miserable Dee for most of his time there. [Reply]
As of right now the correct answer here is Aaron Rodgers
Only QB to have a career QB rating average over 100. 2nd best QB rating ever on the road of 98.
His career TD to INT ratio is over 4 to 1. That is insane.
His arm is as good as anyone in history and he can throw any arm angle, so the talent is as good as any QB ever.
I don’t care about how many rings Brady, Montana or Bradshaw has. Rodgers carried a team to a Super Bowl title with about 20 players on IR against an elite defense.
If you put Rodgers with Belichick, he’d have as many or more rings than Tom. [Reply]
