Monday, May 5, 2008
The Most Clutch NFL Quarterbacks Ever
UPDATE: The NFL Network hit the nail on the head when talking about why Brett Favre was not in their top 10, building on what I said by saying, "Even Packer fans know that for every great Brett Favre moment there was one equally as bad."
We both had Montana No. 1 and Brady No. 3. They did not have Aikman, Luckman or Bradshaw in their list. They went 10, Marino; 9. Steve Young (this Niners fan definitely disagrees with that as I was not impressed with his clutchness); 8. Starr; 7. Graham; 6. Stabler; 5. Unitas; 4. Staubach; 3. Brady; 2. Elway; 1. Montana
The NFL Network is doing an interesting show tomorrow, ranking the top 10 clutch quarterbacks ever. here are my thoughts...if you care...
10. Troy Aikman: What I don't like about Aikman is that he never brought Dallas from behind in any of his playoff games. What I like about Aikman is that he was so efficient that Dallas didn't have to come back in many games from 1992-95. Aikman won 11 of his first 13 playoff games and threw four touchdown passes in his super bowl debut. He is hurt by the fact that he didn't win another playoff game after 1996.
9. Sid Luckman: Likely to be overlooked by many at places like ESPN whose people don't seem to understand that they played football prior to 1970, Luckman was one of the first big-time clutch quarterbacks and made the Bears the team for the 30s.
8. Bart Starr: You don't win five world championships without having a clutch quarterback. Starr was calm under pressure and was at his best in consecutive NFL title wins over Dallas in 66 and 67 bringing the Packers back twice, including in the legendary Ice Bowl when he navigated the Packers on a long, last-minute scoring drive despite playing on what was basically a skating rink.
7. Roger Staubach: Didn't matter how much they trailed by, the Cowboys always believed they could win as long as No. 12 was under center...because he brought them from behind so many times. His comeback in the 72 playoffs at San Francisco is legendary and twice he almost brought Dallas back from apparent hopeless situations against the Steelers in Super Bowl X and XIII, doing so in remarkably little time against the 70s best defense.
6. Terry Bradshaw: Wild at times, Bradshaw was excellent in four super bowls, winning all and earning the MVP in his last two. Bradshaw brought Pittsburgh from behind in their last three super bowl wins in the 70s, doing so twice in the fourth quarter. He also threw four touchdown passes against a vaunted Cowboys defense in the Super Bowl XXIII, playing against the defending world champions.
5. John Elway: Even before he finally won his two super bowl rings, Elway had established himself as truly clutch, consistently leading average Denver teams to three AFC championships and several playoff wins, often while bringing the Broncos from behind. "The Drive" in Cleveland Stadium in the 86 AFC championship might be the best in NFL history, considering he took the Broncos 98 yards in hostile territory. The fact that it was against a Marty Schottenheimer coached team will not be held against him.
4. Otto Graham: Led the Browns to four straight AAFC championships, then after Cleveland moved to the NFL in 1950, he led them to the title game in five of six years, winning three times. That's mind-boggling. If the media had been what it is today back then, Graham would make the hoopla surrounding Tom Brady last year seem small.
3. Tom Brady: Yes, he played below average in the last super bowl, but the bottom line is that had the defense held on the Giants last possession he would have led the Patriots on a last-minute, game-winning super bowl drive for a third time. 14-3 in the playoffs, Brady won his first 10 playoff games and has led the Patriots on five last-minute, game-winning scoring drives in the playoffs when they were either tied or behind. Oh, and Brady has led the Patriots to four wins against either the AFC's or NFL's top seed in the playoffs during his remarkable NFL career. Unflappable under pressure, he's a modern-day Joe Montana.
2. Johnny Unitas: I wish I could have seen this guy play. He revolutionized the quarterback position and was brilliant in pressure situations as he showed when he led the Colts from behind in the final minutes to beat the Giants in overtime in the 1958 NFL championship. Led the Colts to three world titles, was an offensive wizard calling his own plays and struck fear in every defense the Colts played...listen the 68 Jets talk about how scared they were when Unitas came off the bench in Super Bowl III to see what I mean.
1. Joe Montana: Simply put, if my life depends on winning one football game, Montana is the guy I want calling the shots. The bigger the game the better Mr. Clutch was. A master of the 4th-quarter comeback his last-minute game-winning drives against the Cowboys in the 81 NFC championship and against the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII are legendary. Even in defeat the guy was clutch as when he erased a 21-0 fourth-quarter deficit over the heavily favored Redskins in RFK in the 83 NFC championship and would have forced OT had the refs not called two horrendous pass interference penalties on Washington's ensuing drive. At 37 he led the Chiefs back from double-digit deficits in the 93 playoffs against the Steelers and the Oilers (in the Astrodome against a team that had won 11 straight) and guided them to their first AFC title game since 1969. He was straight money.
Notes: I would imagine many would include Brett Favre but he misses the cut in my book because he played really bad in some playoff games and had some horrible interceptions that basically killed his team's chances at winning (2003 vs. Eagles, 2001 vs. Rams when he threw 6 picks, 2007 NFC championship). I love the guy and he was clutch but I like the other 10 better in the clutch for the simple fact you don't know if you're going to get efficient Favre, or wild Favre.
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