Kelly is a tough guy to fit on an 80's or 90's list. His period of excellence (and make no mistake, he WAS excellent; even the most fire-breathing, Bills-hating Phin fan should be able to see that) was from 1986-1995, with blips in 1988 and 1993.
http://pro-football-reference.com/players/KellJi00.htm
That means he was really, really good for 4 years in both decades. Further complicating matters is that his four best years were 1987, and 1989-1991. Given the 4 AFC Championships in the 90's, I suppose he belongs more properly on the 90's list, but his career fell off pretty rapidly after that. He was still good in 1995, but by 1996, he was practically a liability, and retired after that.
I'll say this, though: if I needed to win a game anytime between 1985 and 1989, I'd take Kelly over Bernie Kosar any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Probably Esiason too, though his impressive stats (
http://pro-football-reference.com/players/EsiaBo00.htm) mean he almost has to be on the list of best 80's QBs.
This is a reason that I hate these "best of the (decade)" type lists; it's pretty arbitrary to draw a line based on the fact that a year ends in zero. Would anyone in their right mind argue that Esiason was a better QB than Kelly?
