Im not afraid of not having the franchise guy because SF certainly doesn’t and they were a play away from beating Mahomes.
Jimmy Garoppolo came oh so close to having as many notches on his belt as Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.
The franchise QB helps, but not more than the entire franchise.
YES times 1000%.
You‘re not afraid because you get it. SF and TEN are great examples for just this season. Yes, neither team won, ultimately, but they were certainly playing well enough to win during the playoffs.
MIA once had the ultimate franchise QB. Yet only appeared in ONE Super Bowl. Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and numerous others were never part of a title winner. Meanwhile the lIkes of Jim McMahon, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and Nick Foles all have.
As you pointed out, Rodgers and Brees have combined to play around 30 seasons as starting QB’s. They each only have 1 title each to speak of. And they‘re as elite as elite can be.
It‘s more about the team and system. See the New England Patriots.
Brady has 6 titles, yes, in large part thanks to a defense. Especially the last 3.
The Patriots have 6 titles. Brady was just part of them.
The Patriots have managed to win 6 titles because they built the perfect storm program. And managed to keep it consistent. And cheated numerous times, allegedly. But I digress.
Besides Brady, NE has had the most accomplished coach of all time. Not just during his time in NE, but also in NY with the Giants. They also had the most accomplished and clutch playoff place kicker of all time. And numerous other HOF’ers or soon to be.
I’ve made the argument many times that the first couple SB’s the Patriots won were on the strength of their defense and special teams, notably Vinatieri. Who made the two kicks against OAK in the snow to advance to a SB then game winners in two of the Super Bowls.
In short, it’s been a team and organization accomplishment above all else.
IMO, the Patriots have a ton in common with the 80’s SF 49ers. Numerous HOF players on both sides of the all. HOF head coaches. And an organizational system that was ahead of it’s time.
It wasn’t all on their QB, or even mostly.