The Gipper Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Sunday marks yet another meeting between teams Quarterbacked by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Certainly it is arguable that this is the greatest Quarterback rivalry in the history of the league. As of now I understand this matchup consists of the two QBs who have played each other with the most combined wins in history, the most combined TD passes...and probably a few more records. One thing I do know is that when these two QBs do meet, usually a lot is on the line. They have met 3 times in the conference championship game. Tied for most since the 1970 merger. I suspect they probably met a few more times earlier in the playoffs, and usually something like Home field advantage is on the line when they meet....as it is this year. But what other QB Rivalries could arguably be better or equal to this one? Here are a few candidates: The other pair of "3 time" conference championship matchups since 1970 between QBs are these: Troy Aikman vs. Steve Young Terry Bradshaw vs. Ken Stabler Bernie Kosar vs. John Elway Two time conference title matchups: Tom Brady vs. Joe Flacco There is the Kelly/Elway/Marino matchups. All drafted the same year, all played in the same conference, all Hall of Famers. I am sure they had their occasional matchups, but they only met occasionally in conference title games. Other QB rivalries to consider: Johnny Unitas vs. Bart Starr.... I understand they met like 16 times. Same as Brady/Peyton....and probably just about as much was on the line when they met. Roger Staubach vs. Bradshaw. at least 2 memorable Super Bowl matchups Bart Starr vs. Don Meredith...met twice in pre 1970 Super Bowl prelude games Otto Graham vs. Bobby Layne... met 3 consecutive years in NFL title games. What is your top matchup......and did I leave any out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 Couch vs Holcomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob806 Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 I would add Lamonica/Blanda vs. Dawson, from the old Oakland-KC rivalry, and Tarkenton vs. Staubach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck The Frowns Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Bradshaw vs. Stabler is the battle of the overrateds. Both have career ratings in the 70s, lower that Brian Hoyer. Along with Joe Namath, both are among the most overrated QBs ever. Bradshaw played well in big games, Namath played in NYC which boosted their reps, but numbers say they were more ordinary than one would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Bradshaw vs. Stabler is the battle of the overrateds. Both have career ratings in the 70s, lower that Brian Hoyer. Along with Joe Namath, both are among the most overrated QBs ever. Bradshaw played well in big games, Namath played in NYC which boosted their reps, but numbers say they were more ordinary than one would think. You know nothing. Sure, those guys had lower QB ratings. Every freeking QB from that era had lower QB ratings. Almost every QB from that era had barely 50% completion pct. Almost every QB from that era had more int's than they had TD passes. The QB rating system is geared toward the more current age. Matt Schaub and Andy Dalton have much much higher QB ratings. Are you gonna take them over Staubach and Starr and Bradshaw? Fuck no. It is ignorant to say that Bradshaw/Stabler/Namath were overrated because of some idiot statistical analysis. Did you know that Deacon Jones did not record one official sack in his career? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manzier Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 You know nothing. Sure, those guys had lower QB ratings. Every freeking QB from that era had lower QB ratings. Almost every QB from that era had barely 50% completion pct. Almost every QB from that era had more int's than they had TD passes. The QB rating system is geared toward the more current age. Matt Schaub and Andy Dalton have much much higher QB ratings. Are you gonna take them over Staubach and Starr and Bradshaw? Fuck no. It is ignorant to say that Bradshaw/Stabler/Namath were overrated because of some idiot statistical analysis. Did you know that Deacon Jones did not record one official sack in his career? Yeah. No way you can compare. Those QB's got their asses beat, stomped and crushed on a weekly basis. So did their receivers. The league has become COMPLETELY pussyfied and geared 100% toward passing and scoring. A LOT. And it protects QB's and receivers like little girls now. The stat differences will and should be light years apart. If they could do today, what they did back then, Manning + Brady would still be great, but have very very different #'s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Yeah. No way you can compare. Those QB's got their asses beat, stomped and crushed on a weekly basis. So did their receivers. There was no such thing as the 5 yard contact rule. The only rule was "don't interfere once the ball was in the air" A DB could hammer a WR all the way down the field. Also, there was little if anything you couldn't do to "rough the passer" unless it was a Joe Turkey Jones type thing. The league has become COMPLETELY pussyfied and geared 100% toward passing and scoring. A LOT. And it protects QB's and receivers like little girls now. The stat differences will and should be light years apart. And they are. If they could do today, what they did back then, Manning + Brady would still be great, but have very very different #'s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickers Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Yeah. No way you can compare. Those QB's got their asses beat, stomped and crushed on a weekly basis. So did their receivers. The league has become COMPLETELY pussyfied and geared 100% toward passing and scoring. A LOT. And it protects QB's and receivers like little girls now. The stat differences will and should be light years apart. If they could do today, what they did back then, Manning + Brady would still be great, but have very very different #'s Yes, and if they had 16 game seasons when Jim Brown played.. Demarco Murray couldn't keep up... If Brown played today.. He be as unstoppable now as he was then..He was an animal and a man among boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck The Frowns Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 You know nothing. Sure, those guys had lower QB ratings. Every freeking QB from that era had lower QB ratings. Almost every QB from that era had barely 50% completion pct. Almost every QB from that era had more int's than they had TD passes. The QB rating system is geared toward the more current age. Matt Schaub and Andy Dalton have much much higher QB ratings. Are you gonna take them over Staubach and Starr and Bradshaw? Fuck no. It is ignorant to say that Bradshaw/Stabler/Namath were overrated because of some idiot statistical analysis. Did you know that Deacon Jones did not record one official sack in his career? You know nothing. Of approximate contemporaries, Steve DeBerg, Greg Landry, Brian Sipe, and Craig Morton all had better QB ratings than Bradshaw. If not for his last game, he would have had more interceptions than touchdowns in his career. He was fair to middling, with a good supporting cast and the dominant defense of that time. Put in the same situation many other QBs could have had those four rings. Yep, they basically assaulted receivers going down the field back then but Bradshaw was above average, no more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 You know nothing. Of approximate contemporaries, Steve DeBerg, Greg Landry, Brian Sipe, and Craig Morton all had better QB ratings than Bradshaw. One single stat....and a meaningless one at that. Among current contemporaries Romo and Rivers have as good or better passer ratings than Peyton and Brady. So, are you going to tell me those guys are just as good or better. If not for his last game, he would have had more interceptions than touchdowns in his career. As did they all, including the guys you mention above...and the likes of other contemporary HOFers. He was fair to middling, with a good supporting cast and the dominant defense of that time. Put in the same situation many other QBs could have had those four rings. That is an argument that could never be proven. You could also just likely say that if Joe Montana were not nurtured in the Bill Walsh system he would have just been averageish.......if Otto Graham were not nurtured under Paul Brown he would have been average. Yep, they basically assaulted receivers going down the field back then but Bradshaw was above average, no more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob806 Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Oakland-Pittsburgh was a great rivalry, fueled by the Immaculate Reception (Deflection). I hate the Steelers, but one can't deny Bradshaw's greatness, he was simply a winner. His era had 26 teams, and at least 20 other starting QBs were pretty damn good. I don't think you can say 20 starting QBs in a 32 team league nowadays are pretty damn good IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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