Peyton Manning and Steve Young are similar, with the edge going to Peyton because of the length of time he has been able to sustain his level.  But the reality is that despite the big regular season numbers (and MVPs and passing titles), they fell short in a TON of championship games.  If you put one ahead of the other, that's fine and understandable.  Both are top-8, maybe top-5 quarterbacks.

Bart Starr was the quintessential "game-manager".  He did what was necessary to win championship games on the Lombardi-led teams, and almost NEVER lost in the playoffs.  He is NOT a top-10 quarterback in terms of skills or impact on championship teams, but he does a bunch of rings.  Remember, those teams, even with all those Hall-of-Famers, barely beat Dandy Don Meredith and the Cowboys in consecutive NFC championship games.  Of course, then the Packers slaughtered the Chiefs and the Raiders...

Jeez, if you want a gimmicky offense, then the K-gun was a much bigger gimmick than the West Coast offense.  I like Jim Kelly as a top-20 pick, and he's underrated because of the four consecutive losses, ignoring the fact that nobody else got to four straight games (maybe Starr or Graham may have in the pre-SB days)  Like I said, he was drafted the same year as Marino, won more division titles, won more playoff games, got to more Super Bowls, and skipped a year or two in the USFL.

I'm probably one of the only ones who actually saw Jurgensen.  He was flabby by the time he got to the Redskins (and was traded for Norm Snead, for god's sake), and was passed over for Billy Kilmer.  Billy ******* Kilmer!  Supposedly, he was the best thrower of the 60's, but his teams never won, so I'm not sure who they were comparing him to.  He'd be like picking Kyle Boller because he threw the ball through the uprights from his knees from 50 yards away. 

Posted by bistiza on 2/27/2013 3:48:00 PM (view original):
The only people who rate Montana over Peyton are people who over rate the 4 to 1 Super Bowl ring count.

If Peyton had won 3 more rings, there would be no one in their right mind who would ever argue Peyton is the greatest in NFL history.

I think Montana is great but I don't know that he is number two behind Peyton. Heck, I think Steve Young had more ability in many ways but didn't get the team success Montana did.

I don't even know how true that is.   As I pointed out, Manning didn't blow coverage with virtually no time left on the clock.   He threw a bad pick in OT but, if Denver's vaunted D plays like an average D, they advance.    Picking one play and saying "Same ol' Peyton blowing another one" doesn't necessarily ring true.

And this applies to all QB who didn't "win".