Best Two QBs in History, my Opinions

[NameUsedBefore]

Okay, in my opinion the two best quarterbacks in history are:

John Elway and Dan Marino.

These are two QBs who carried their teams on their shoulders.

Elway played on some average teams during the 80s yet brought the Broncos to three (horrendous) superbowls. The man doesn't have the best stats but to me stats don't matter, its the WINS which I think Elway has the NFL's most of...

Marino is the stat-master. I've never seen such an accurate passer in my time... he also had an incredibly quick release and was very aware of his surroundings... he also had some pretty cruddy teams and its a shame he never won the big game.

In my opinion Joe Montana is one of the more (but not most) overrated quarterbacks. Yes he was good, but look at what he had working for him: he was using an offensive system that at the time tore other teams to part (west-coast where its the receivers that do the work), great receivers and an awesome line.

I could go on and on but I don't have the time, add your $0.02

[BlueDamsel]

there were other QBs?

[Pierce]

John Elway and Joe Montana are my two picks.

[RunByDesign]

Montana and Elway.

[broncosbeast]

1000 posts for me!

Originally posted by portisistheman
Montana and Elway.

I would be inclined to agree with you. They were both the total package and Elway could have been just as, if not more successful than Montana if he had gotten the same talent around him.

[Nixhex78]

Marino is perhaps my favorite QB of my lifetime. It's a shame he never had a running back worth a damn. Where was Dan's Terrel Davis huh? The guy had two bad twigs and was slow as a snail but had a lightening quick release, deadly accuracy and very good ability to read defenses.

[Fat Joe]

Elway has more wins then any other QB ever. Along with more come from behind wins then any other QB in history. 'Nuff said.


As far as the other, man, theres a pretty giant list.

As far as recently, Marino(even though I dont like him, gotta give him credit), Montana(who Im semi-biased towards because Im named after him), Aikmen, the guy created a dynasty, but if you wanna go back, Nemath, Starr, Bradshaw, Unitas, etc. Its pretty hard to pick just two, theres been so many greats over the years, so to make it fair, we should narrow it down to a certain category.

I.E.- 1985-present or something along those lines.

If thats the case I'd say Montana and Elway.

[bronco30]

to this day he'd never admit publically but IMO elway feels he should have way better stats right up there w/ marino....he was limited by the offenive scheme from reeves n lack of talent at WR n still took 3 teams 2 the SB.....u take his stats when shanny was the off. cooridnator n then head coach he'd be wayyyy upppp there if had that his whole career....yes its all bout wins n im glad he has that record n 2 SB rings.....

elway n marino r my picks

[indianaBRONCO]

You can't forget about that sorry excuse for a coach Elway had to deal with for most of his career!
Reeves is a dumba$$....he fired The Mastermind....need I say more.

[RealBronco]

Elway and Montana...


Marino never won a Super Bowl. While good, yeah...can't be great if you don't have that. Except for if Elway had never won a SB I'd have made up some excuse, but still, Elway and Montana were better than Marino could ever have dreamed.

[Nixhex78]

Originally posted by RealBronco
Elway and Montana...


Marino never won a Super Bowl. While good, yeah...can't be great if you don't have that. Except for if Elway had never won a SB I'd have made up some excuse, but still, Elway and Montana were better than Marino could ever have dreamed.

Saying Montana and Elway were better than Marino could ever have dreamed is a little far fetched don't ya think. I know Marino never won a superbowl but there are a lot of great QB's that have never won a superbowl. Elway had 3 shots at it and didn't get it done until he had the right teammates. I.E. Terrell Davis. Marino never had a RB the caliber of Davis. While having the opinion that Elway and Montana were better than Marino is just fine. I do however think saying they were better than Marino ever dreamed is a little over the edge.

[AsianOrange]

Originally posted by RealBronco
Elway and Montana...


Marino never won a Super Bowl. While good, yeah...can't be great if you don't have that. Except for if Elway had never won a SB I'd have made up some excuse, but still, Elway and Montana were better than Marino could ever have dreamed.

Wassup [email protected] Haven't see ya in a while!

I like Montana and Elway and I'll throw in: Troy Aikman.

[Jared]

you are going to have to seperate the modern era (1980 or so) from the rest of the NFL's history. Due to changes in pass-interference rules and down the field contact rules regarding receivers and DB's, modern WR's have an easier time getting into an open space than previous WR's. This has made the QB's job more difficult (more complex defenses to read), but it has made the staistical ratio of pass to run increase, thus giving an unfair edge to QB's who played more recently. Its almost apples and oranges. Under the current QB rating system, guys like Graham and Unitas hang out in the 60's or 70's, even though the won and had HUGE arms and threw alot for their era, while guys like Pennington and Montana who are accurate and throw shorter passes have career ratings in the 80's and 90's. Part of that is the way the rating system is set up, but part of it is also how the passing game has developed. There are less downfield passes per game and a shorter YPA then there was back then. It used to be run, run run, pass to keep d honest so you could run some more. Now its pass short, to make it like a run.


Not saying any era is better, but understand that its difficult to predict how a current QB would have fared back then, and vice versa.

[AsianOrange]

Don't get me started on Pennington...he hasn't proved anything to me yet. As far as I'm concern, he's Drew Bledsoe and Jim Kelly right now...

(at least drew has a ring)

But he needs to prove he can have a full season of success before we mention him in the same sentence as Joe Montana.

[BroncosFanInPA]

Elway & Marino would be my pick, i don't however think montana was all that great considering the talent he had around him, all the he was very good but not in john & dan's class IMO.