16 Greatest QBs in NFL history

[amfootball]

Fox's list of the greatest list of QB in NFL history, http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ranking-the-16-greatest-quarterbacks-in-nfl-history/ss-BBi93r0?ocid=LENDHP

 

They obviously did a combo here of greatest Qbs based on accomplishments as well as guys that impacted that game as I don't think anyone would have Namath on their greatest list.

[Caleb3502]

Unitas should be way higher than #9.   

[MTC]

Drew Brees shouldn't be on this list. 

[ponyboy]

Bradshaw at #7 seemed kind of high to me.   Namath at #13 also.

[BloodyChamp]

That list is incredibly vacuous.

[12isthenew18]

namath is so overrated

[21isSuperman]

Namath as the 13th best QB of all time?  He got one important win (albeit a very important win) and people overrate him like mad.  I can think of several QBs I'd take before Namath.

 

Unitas should be top 5.

 

Bradshaw is another guy I think is overrated.  He had arguably the best defense of all time.

 

Favre is too much of a gunslinger for my liking.  He's reckless with the ball and the reason for his insane numbers is because he played so many years.  I'm not saying he's not a good QB, but I wouldn't call him the 6th best of all time.

 

My top 5 (in no particular order): Manning, Brady, Montana, Unitas, Marino

[BloodyChamp]

I was going to suggest we end the quarterback debate forever with this list -

Jim Thorpe

Doug Flutie

Daryl Lamonica

Brett Favre

but #5 didn't even produce a guy worthy of a joke post.

[Fx Stryker]

, this list is a joke.

[LockeDown]

Not a very well thought out list. 

[shakedownstreet]

Can't believe they neglected Bernard 'crazy legs' Bernbaum of the 1920 Dayton Triangles!! He was quite the gipper!

 

[NewColtsFan]

What?!?

 

AMfootball posted a list that showed Tom Brady as the #1 QB of all-time?!?

 

I'm just shocked -- SHOCKED!!! -- that that would happen!?!     I never saw THAT coming!     

 

I don't suppose it's possible that she's trolling for a fight here?!?     (Oh, nooooooo.)               

[Colts_Fan12]

What?!?

AMfootball posted a list that showed Tom Brady as the #1 QB of all-time?!?

I'm just shocked -- SHOCKED!!! -- that that would happen!?! I never saw THAT coming!

I don't suppose it's possible that she's trolling for a fight here?!? (Oh, nooooooo.)

never!! Lol

[oldunclemark]

Unitas should be way higher than #9.

Agreed..Got to be Top 3 all time

[crazycolt1]

Any list without Sammy Baugh is bogus anyway. At one time Sammy lead the league in passing, TDs, punting and interceptions. All at once. Not to have him on the list at all is real stupid.

[Roboturner913]

Drew Brees shouldn't be on this list. 

If he plays 4 more seasons (he is 36 now, let's say he plays until 40 just like Favre/Manning),  he'll be #1 in career passing yardage, probably #2 in touchdowns and has a list of NFL records about as long as my arm. And he's won a championship, and he's one of the very best playoff performers for a QB in NFL history.

 

• Most consecutive games with at least 1 TD pass - 54^[90]
• Highest completion percentage, season – 71.2% (2011)
• Most Seasons with 5,000+ passing yards - 4 (2008, 2011-2013)
• Most completions in a season – 468 (2011)
• Most 400+ completion seasons, career – 7 (2007-2008, 2010-2014)
• Most consecutive 400+ completion seasons, career – 5 (2010-2014)
• Most consecutive 350+ completion seasons, career – 9 (2006-2014)
• Most consecutive seasons with 4,000+ passing yards – 9 (2006-2014)
• Most consecutive seasons with 4,000+ passing yards and 30+ Touchdowns – 7, 2008-2014
• Most consecutive seasons with 5,000+ passing yards – 3 (2011-2013)
• Most consecutive seasons with 5,000+ passing yards and 30+ Touchdowns – 3, 2011-2013
• Most games with 5+ touchdown passes and no interceptions, career – 7
• Most seasons with 70% pass completion rate (minimum 100 attempts per season) - 2 (2009 & 2011)
• Most games with 30+ completions and 80% pass completion rate, career - 5
• Most games with more than 80% pass completion rate, career (minimum 20 attempts per game) - 16
• Most games with more than 80% pass completion rate and no interceptions, career (minimum 20 attempts per game) - 14
• Most games with more than 80% pass completion rate, season (minimum 20 attempts per game) - 3 (tied with Ben Roethlisberger and Brett Favre)
• Most games with more than 70% pass completion rate, season (minimum 20 attempts per game) - 10 (2011)
• Most games with more than 70% pass completion rate and no interceptions, career (minimum 20 attempts per game) - 42
• Most games, 250+ yards passing, season - 16 (2011)
• Most 300+ yard passing games in a season – 13 (2011)
• Most consecutive 300+ yard passing games – 9 (2011–2012, 2012-2013)
• Most consecutive 300+ yard passing games (regular season and postseason combined)– 11 (2011-2012)
• Most passing yards in first half of a regular season game — 346 (11/4/2007 vs. Jaguars)
• Most games, 350+ yards passing, career - 44
• Most games, 350+ yards passing, season - 8 (2011)
• Most consecutive games with 350+ yards passing – 4 (Weeks 3,4,5,6; 2011)
• Most passing yards in a season in away games - 2,852 (2011)
• Most consecutive 400+ yard passing games - 2 (postseason games 2012) - tied with several other players
• Most consecutive games with 450+ yards passing – 2 (postseason games 2012)
• Most games with 400 yards passing and no interceptions, career - 9 combined (7 regular season, 2 postseason)
• Most games with 20+ completions, season – 16 (2010-2012)
• Most consecutive games with 20+ completions – 57 (2009–2013)^[94]
• Most consecutive games with 25+ completions - 11 (11/25/2012-10/06/2013)
• Most games with 30+ completions, season – 9 (2011)
• Most games with 30+ completions, career – 44
• Most games with 30+ completions and no interceptions, career – 20
• Most games with 39+ completions, career – 4 combined (2 regular season, 2 playoff games)
• Most passing completions per game, career – 24.44 comp/game
• Most passing attempts per game, career – 36.92 att/game
• Most passing attempts per game, postseason- 42.27 att/game
• Most passing yards per game, career – 277.39 yards/game
• Most passing completions per game, season – 29.25 comp/game (2011)
• Most passing completions per game, postseason - 27.82 comp/game
• Highest post-season completion percentage, career – 65.8%
• Lowest post-season interception percentage, career – 1.29%
• Highest average passing yards per game in postseason- 321.73 (11 games)
• Most completions in a playoff game – 40 (at San Francisco, 1/14/2012)
• Most pass attempts in a playoff game with zero interceptions – 60 (at Seattle, 1/8/2011)^[95]
• Most pass completions in a playoff game with zero interceptions – 39 (at Seattle, 1/8/2011)^[95]
• Most passing yards in a playoff game with zero interceptions – 466 (vs. Detroit, 1/7/2012)
• Most consecutive pass attempts without an interception during the playoffs – 226 (January 21, 2007 – January 14, 2012)
• Most Consecutive Playoff Games, 2+ Touchdown Passes - 7 (2006 – 2012) (tied with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana)
• Most Playoff Games, 400+ yards passing - 3 (2011–12; consecutive)
• Most Consecutive Playoff Games, 450+ yards passing - 2 (2012)
• Best Passing Touchdown to Interception ratio in postseason - 4-1 (24 TD Passes - 6 interceptions)
• Best Completions to Interception ratio in postseason - 51-1 (306 Completions - 6 interceptions)
• Best Passing Yards to Interception ratio in postseason - 589.83-1 (3,539 Passing Yards - 6 interceptions)
• Best Passing Touchdown per Game Average, Postseason - 2.182 (24 TD Passes/11 postseason games)
• Most consecutive postseason games with 30+ pass completions- 4 (2/7/2010–1/14/2012)
• Fastest player to reach for 40,000 career passing yards-152 GP
• Fastest player to reach for 50,000 career passing yards-183 GP

[BloodyChamp]

Drew Brees couldn't hold a starting job before the passhappy era. That negates everything he's done lately (as if Bountygate doesn't already).

[-JJ-]

Drew Brees couldn't hold a starting job before the passhappy era. That negates everything he's done lately (as if Bountygate doesn't already).

Well some of the other QBs are also in the pass happy era.

 

Not into ranking but like it or not Brees has done it and belongs there.

[Roboturner913]

Drew Brees couldn't hold a starting job before the passhappy era. That negates everything he's done lately (as if Bountygate doesn't already).

 

 

A. If it's so easy to be awesome during the "passhappy era" then how come Brees' numbers, at the very least, match all the other elite QBs of his era (and surpasses most of them, if you look at it honestly).

 

B. He couldn't "hold a starting job" with the Chargers? Other than his rookie year (a redshirted season) he started 58 out of a possible 64 games in San Diego. And even if you were somehow right (and you're wrong, proven above) how does the first 64 games of his career "negate" the 144 games since?

 

C. Even if Bountygate had NOT been proven to be a total crock (and none other than Paul Tagliabue basically said it was) DREW BREES DOES NOT PLAY DEFENSE! And even if Bountygate was legit (and it was not) there is nothing about paying players for hits that amounts to "cheating", unless you think NFL players who make millions of dollars a year are actually that motivated to make a couple hundred bucks on the side, and that half the other teams in the NFL haven't been doing the same exact thing for 50 years now.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Nadine
baiting

[Caleb3502]

They left off the legendary first QB of the Colts, Fred Enke.

[The Old Crow]

Garbage list.

[The Old Crow]

image.jpg

They left off the legendary first QB of the Colts, Fred Enke.

Nice !

[crazycolt1]

Drew Brees couldn't hold a starting job before the passhappy era. That negates everything he's done lately (as if Bountygate doesn't already).

So what did bountygate have to do with Brees? I don't care too much for Brees but he does have the numbers to match being mentioned in the top QBs.

[King Colt]

Never heard of Fred Enke- I will have to google him. I go back to Unitas taking over for George Shaw.

[crazycolt1]

This subject has always been more opinion that facts. Everyone has a different opinions and that will never change. There are way to many variables to that can be brought into the picture. It could be the best passer. It could be who has the most rings. It could be who was the best all around QB-player. There is no clear cut answer, we all know that. This is a tired subject that there are no clear cut answers.

[HoggHannah]

Drew Brees couldn't hold a starting job before the passhappy era. That negates everything he's done lately (as if Bountygate doesn't already).

 

Sub standard talent evaluation by the Chargers really has nothing to do with Drew Brees.  Best part about it is that they are stuck with Rivers, who best season doesn't even come close to what Brees has done.

[crazycolt1]

 

 

A. If it's so easy to be awesome during the "passhappy era" then how come Brees' numbers, at the very least, match all the other elite QBs of his era (and surpasses most of them, if you look at it honestly).

 

B. He couldn't "hold a starting job" with the Chargers? Other than his rookie year (a redshirted season) he started 58 out of a possible 64 games in San Diego. And even if you were somehow right (and you're wrong, proven above) how does the first 64 games of his career "negate" the 144 games since?

 

C. Even if Bountygate had NOT been proven to be a total crock (and none other than Paul Tagliabue basically said it was) DREW BREES DOES NOT PLAY DEFENSE! And even if Bountygate was legit (and it was not) there is nothing about paying players for hits that amounts to "cheating", unless you think NFL players who make millions of dollars a year are actually that motivated to make a couple hundred bucks on the side, and that half the other teams in the NFL haven't been doing the same exact thing for 50 years now.

 

For one thing 'bountygate' was not a crock. It did happen well after the commish sent the letters out for it to stop. 'Bountygate' had zero to do with Brees but don't act like it never happened and wasn't a big deal. My opinion of Tagliabue is not very high. Look at his history just in the medical aspect when he was commish. He hired his own phony set of doctors to fight the truth. When a player is paid money to intentionally hurts another player it is cheating at it's most IMO.

[HoggHannah]

For one thing 'bountygate' was not a crock. It did happen well after the commish sent the letters out for it to stop. 'Bountygate' had zero to do with Brees but don't act like it never happened and wasn't a big deal. My opinion of Tagliabue is not very high. Look at his history just in the medical aspect when he was commish. He hired his own phony set of doctors to fight the truth. When a player is paid money to intentionally hurts another player it is cheating at it's most IMO.

 

Last I checked, cheating means playing with an unfair advantage.  How does Bounty Gate give an unfair advantage to a team?

[crazycolt1]

Last I checked, cheating means playing with an unfair advantage.  How does Bounty Gate give an unfair advantage to a team?

It that a serious question? If a player is paid to hurt any other player on purpose then the injured player is out of the game. Is that an advantage? Especially if the injured player is a QB. The Saints did their best to hurt Farve bad. It was obvious. It was dirty football at it's highest level. The NFL had over 1800 documents that showed the Saints had bounties after the teams were told to stop. Payton, Loomis and Williams did not get suspended for nothing no matter what you think.

[HoggHannah]

It that a serious question? If a player is paid to hurt any other player on purpose then the injured player is out of the game. Is that an advantage? Especially if the injured player is a QB. The Saints did their best to hurt Farve bad. It was obvious. It was dirty football at it's highest level. The NFL had over 1800 documents that showed the Saints had bounties after the teams were told to stop. Payton, Loomis and Williams did not get suspended for nothing no matter what you think.

 

It is a serious question!  The argument you are making has a critical fault, an assumption that players do not, nor ever, try to injure another player.  The only issue with Bountygate is that players were being paid to do so.  Only a fool would think that trying to injure the other team doesn't happen weekly on a regular basis.

 

In context, BountyGate does not result in an unfair advantage. 

 

That's not even considering the fact that the Saints appear to have injured far fewer players over the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons during BountyGate.  http://www.aei.org/publication/the-saints-aint-sinners/

 

The only thing unfair about this is the way fans and media distort the facts.

[crazycolt1]

It is a serious question!  The argument you are making has a critical fault, an assumption that players do not, nor ever, try to injure another player.  The only issue with Bountygate is that players were being paid to do so.  Only a fool would think that trying to injure the other team doesn't happen weekly on a regular basis.

 

In context, BountyGate does not result in an unfair advantage. 

 

That's not even considering the fact that the Saints appear to have injured far fewer players over the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons during BountyGate.  http://www.aei.org/publication/the-saints-aint-sinners/

 

The only thing unfair about this is the way fans and media distort the facts.

If you choose to overlook the facts that's on you. There were at least 4 QBs on the Saints list to get extra money to injure. There were even bonuses depending on how serious the injuries were.. The only context your missing is the facts.

[Roboturner913]

If you choose to overlook the facts that's on you. There were at least 4 QBs on the Saints list to get extra money to injure. There were even bonuses depending on how serious the injuries were.. The only context your missing is the facts.

Actually the facts in the article linked are what matter. If you disregard that the Saints caused far fewer injuries to opposing offensive players than the NFL average over a 3-year-span, then you are the one "ignoring the facts."

 

Players injured against the Saints in those 3 years that were documented in the supposed "ledgers" (the very existence of these ledgers is in question, since the NFL never actually produced the original "documents".)

 

Giants right tackle Kareem McKenzie - pulled his hamstring pass blocking

Bills Leodis McKelvin - twisted his ankle making a fair catch on a punt return, there was no contact on the play

Kurt Warner - legal hit after throwing an interception, but the hit wasn't even what hurt him. He hit his head on the turf after falling, causing a concussion. Came back in the game anyway.

Brett Favre - bruised his thigh, never left the game.

Panthers defensive back (can't recall for sure which one, think it was Chris Gamble) turf injury

Bears Earl Bennett - went over the middle, got plugged in the ribs by a safety. The only thing close to an illegal hit (other than the one high-low on Favre, which was rightfully penalized), except in 2011 that rule did not exist yet.

 

That's it. I wonder if you went over the list of injuries caused by other teams, how that would compare. Probably pretty favorably, I would guess.

 

Ironically the controversy around Bountygate was why people began to open their eyes about what a terrible, incompetent commissioner Goodell has been, something we've seen come back to haunt him several times since then. So in a way, it was worth it.

 

But all this is incredibly irrelevant to whether Brees is a top 16 greatest NFL quarterback. Based on his numbers and accomplishements, he would seem to be a no-brainer on a list like that, and I haven't seen any arguments to the contrary that make a lick of sense.

[shakedownstreet]

[crazycolt1]

Actually the facts in the article linked are what matter. If you disregard that the Saints caused far fewer injuries to opposing offensive players than the NFL average over a 3-year-span, then you are the one "ignoring the facts."

 

Players injured against the Saints in those 3 years that were documented in the supposed "ledgers" (the very existence of these ledgers is in question, since the NFL never actually produced the original "documents".)

 

Giants right tackle Kareem McKenzie - pulled his hamstring pass blocking

Bills Leodis McKelvin - twisted his ankle making a fair catch on a punt return, there was no contact on the play

Kurt Warner - legal hit after throwing an interception, but the hit wasn't even what hurt him. He hit his head on the turf after falling, causing a concussion. Came back in the game anyway.

Brett Favre - bruised his thigh, never left the game.

Panthers defensive back (can't recall for sure which one, think it was Chris Gamble) turf injury

Bears Earl Bennett - went over the middle, got plugged in the ribs by a safety. The only thing close to an illegal hit (other than the one high-low on Favre, which was rightfully penalized), except in 2011 that rule did not exist yet.

 

That's it. I wonder if you went over the list of injuries caused by other teams, how that would compare. Probably pretty favorably, I would guess.

 

Ironically the controversy around Bountygate was why people began to open their eyes about what a terrible, incompetent commissioner Goodell has been, something we've seen come back to haunt him several times since then. So in a way, it was worth it.

 

But all this is incredibly irrelevant to whether Brees is a top 16 greatest NFL quarterback. Based on his numbers and accomplishements, he would seem to be a no-brainer on a list like that, and I haven't seen any arguments to the contrary that make a lick of sense.

The 'bountygate' issue has little to nothing to do with Brees. You keep bringing up the lack of injuries inflicted by 'bountygate'. It's not the amount of injuries, it's the intent. You don't seem to able to grasp that. What other team did or didn't do makes no difference. The Saints were the ones who were caught. They are the ones who paid the penalty. Because you think it was no big deal is of no consequence. Any list of injuries by any team don't have anything to do with what they did. I see similarities with a few Patriot fans and 'spygate'. It's not about what they did, it's always what some other team did. Like that is suppose to excuse it? For something that wasn't a big deal to you the NFL thought otherwise. Injuries happen in the NFL, we all know that but to go out on the field with the intention of causing an injury is as bout as low as you can get. Have you ever heard the term dirty play? That is exactly what 'bountygate' was about.

[BloodyChamp]

This is the dumbest crap I've read here so far, on multiple levels.

A. If it's so easy to be awesome during the "passhappy era" then how come Brees' numbers, at the very least, match all the other elite QBs of his era (and surpasses most of them, if you look at it honestly).

B. He couldn't "hold a starting job" with the Chargers? Other than his rookie year (a redshirted season) he started 58 out of a possible 64 games in San Diego. And even if you were somehow right (and you're wrong, proven above) how does the first 64 games of his career "negate" the 144 games since?

C. Even if Bountygate had NOT been proven to be a total crock (and none other than Paul Tagliabue basically said it was) DREW BREES DOES NOT PLAY DEFENSE! And even if Bountygate was legit (and it was not) there is nothing about paying players for hits that amounts to "cheating", unless you think NFL players who make millions of dollars a year are actually that motivated to make a couple hundred bucks on the side, and that half the other teams in the NFL haven't been doing the same exact thing for 50 years now.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

A. Because it's the passhappy era and he's a statpadder, which isn't a term I use much even though it's thrown around alot on the internet. The guy had an assistant whose job was to track his stats and notify him of possible records for heck's sake.

B. Starting games that are "possible games" conveniently negates all the times he was hurt and counts all the times he was benched. That makes good sense.

C. Did you even watch the 2009 NFCCG? All Paul said different from Roger was that he didn't think Fujita was in on it, and that the players that were in on it didn't deserve to miss the whole season.

And 1 quick bit about your other post, the hit on Favre wasn't penalized. None of the hits were technically.

[Roboturner913]

The 'bountygate' issue has little to nothing to do with Brees. You keep bringing up the lack of injuries inflicted by 'bountygate'. It's not the amount of injuries, it's the intent. You don't seem to able to grasp that. What other team did or didn't do makes no difference. The Saints were the ones who were caught. They are the ones who paid the penalty. Because you think it was no big deal is of no consequence. Any list of injuries by any team don't have anything to do with what they did. I see similarities with a few Patriot fans and 'spygate'. It's not about what they did, it's always what some other team did. Like that is suppose to excuse it? For something that wasn't a big deal to you the NFL thought otherwise. Injuries happen in the NFL, we all know that but to go out on the field with the intention of causing an injury is as bout as low as you can get. Have you ever heard the term dirty play? That is exactly what 'bountygate' was about.

Doesn't seem like you are capable or willing to read the article. Either that or you are incapable of comprehending what you've read. Either way, I've got no time for somebody who can't be bothered to use his brain.

[Roboturner913]

A. Because it's the passhappy era and he's a statpadder, which isn't a term I use much even though it's thrown around alot on the internet. The guy had an assistant whose job was to track his stats and notify him of possible records for heck's sake.

 

I guess Peyton is a "statpadder" and so is Brady, Rodgers, Luck and everybody else these days then.

 

Show me where you got this info about a guy who tracks his stats and notifies him of records. That's a bunch of crap you just made up, and you know it.

Edited March 10, 2015 by SteelCityColt
Personal Shot

[Warhorse]

If Namath is on the list, I'll pass on looking at it. Thanks for the warning.

[Roboturner913]

If Namath is on the list, I'll pass on looking at it. Thanks for the warning.

This goes back to that question of what your criteria are. If great=influential then Namath certainly has that. He was really pro football's first "larger than life" character. He's still iconic. This is all very subjective.

[Roboturner913]

Words are how we humans communicate. A wise person can learn a lot from words, especially when they're put together into sentences and junk. ;)