The Great QB Debate

The Super Bowl, as the ending of a season should be, has always been a time for reflection. However, this year’s installment offers more than just an opportunity to look back at an interesting 2011 season. Regardless of the winner, once the final gun sounds in Indy, the framework will have been set for another staple of NFL fandom: A quarterback debate. The only question? Is the argument about the better brother or the best ever?

            Now with each group of friends or pundits, there are rules on how to argue greatness. But let’s be frank. To those who discuss sports, whether it be in your basement, a bar, or a school cafeteria, there really is only one rule, and it’s one you have to come to internally. Do you consider championships a measure of individual success? It’s a point of argument that is only amplified when the players in question happen to be QBs, just maybe the most important position in all of sports.

            If Tom Brady’s New England Patriots win on Sunday it’ll be the Golden Boy’s fourth ring; putting him with the likes of Joe Montana and the lesser discussed Terry Bradshaw. History has proven that if this case presents itself, greatest ever considerations are not far off, with the aforementioned Montana representing the opposition. The funny thing is, this would be like comparing apples to, well, apples. Brady is this generation’s Montana, a quarterback that is a known winner, but also the beneficiary of great teams, and maybe greater coaches. That isn’t to say the two aren’t talented QBs, but it makes you at least consider how much of each one’s success was self-generated and how much was just situation.

The Patriots of the early 21^st century, much like the 49ers of the 80’s, weren’t only known for their offense, but great as well. In fact both team’s defensive co-ordinators, George Seifert and Romeo Crennel, would garner head coaching jobs from their work, with Seifert, who took over the Niners from Bill Walsh, winning Super Bowls in 1989 and with Montana replacement Steve Young in 1994. Walsh himself was an even more vital piece of the puzzle. The creator of the West Coast Offense and a 1993 Canton inductee, Walsh is considered one of the best offensive minds in NFL history; thought upon in a similar light to that of Bill Belichick, the League’s current football “genius”.

Now much like with anything in life there are the fortunate and the less fortunate; those whose talents are wasted upon average teams. Or, if you’re Peyton Manning, those who ARE their team. Coming into this season everyone knew the older Manning was one the NFL’s all-time elite quarterbacks, but considering the Colts’ .677 winning percentage since Peyton took the helm in 1999, it wasn’t quite clear just how much was the QB himself, or the team. 2011 taught us it was most certainly not the latter. Was this the same club that won the Super Bowl in 2006? No, but their transition from AFC Championship contender to worst in the NFL was stark. When Tom Brady went down in 2008, New England would actually have a better record, 11-5, than next season, 10-6, when Brady returned. Now Curtis Painter isn’t exactly Matt Cassel, but that’s not complimenting anyone, really. Mainly, it was an indication of how each team functioned. The Patriots had an offensive system. Indy? Well they had the mind of Peyton Manning.

The University of Tennessee product would always be compared against Brady, and until he proved he could win it all in ’06, he would always be compared to Dan Marino; the original all stats, no championships QB. And why not? Marino had easily the best numbers of any quarterback in his generation. In fact it was all of Marino’s records that Manning, and now Brady, was capturing. But the real comparisons lay in the teams that surrounded the two men, and how much they as individuals were responsible for any success the team had. Which raises the question: Is it more impressive to lead a good team to a championship or a bad team to the playoffs? Essentially, who’s better? Brady or Manning? Montana or Marino?

Still, that may not even be the most interesting debate that could stem from this 46^th Super Bowl, with Peyton’s brother Eli looking to win his second Lombardi Trophy, one more than his sibling. If possible, this debate would hinge more on the championship angle than the Brady argument. The New England pivot has the stats to hold his own against the Peyton Manning’s and Dan Marino’s of the world, Eli has more, well, Bradshaw like numbers, and as mentioned before, those don’t always mean a lot. In fact in nearly 100 fewer games, Eli has thrown 14 more interceptions than his brother. He’s had just 3 seasons of more than 25 touchdown passes, his QB rating was under 80 for his first four years in the League, and let’s face it, he’s nowhere near the thespian Peyton is. But a victory Sunday wouldn’t just be a second ring to the younger Manning; in fact the Super Bowl aspect may be the least important part. It would be that for the second time, on the world’s biggest stage, Eli would defeat Tom Brady, something Peyton struggled so mightily with, and remains the key reason the Colts didn’t win more championships. And how fitting is it that the game just so happens to be taking place in Indianapolis? It’s no wonder why sports are such a mining ground for Hollywood script writers.

So sit back on Sunday and enjoy the game. Enjoy the parties. Enjoy the commercials. But make sure you pay attention. Because this year’s Super Bowl isn’t as cut and dry as Giants vs. Patriots. Sure, one of these two teams has to take home the Lombardi, but how much of that was a team effort and how much was the action of an individual quarterback is up for debate. It may seem unnecessary, but hey, we need something to tide us over till September don’t we?