PhinsPhan
Pro Bowler
I was just looking at a stats page and I never actually realized how bad Elways numbers were. It is unreal that so many people say this was the greatest QB ever.
When debating who is the best QB of all time you can argue numbers in which case you would have to say Marino is the best. Or you can argue Superbowl and crunch time wins in which case you would have to say Montana is the best. You could also argue a current QB such as Farve or maybe even Manning. But Manning still has years left to prove his longevity and Farve isn't retired yet. Or finally, you could argue for the revolutionaries or old school which you might say Baugh, Tittle, Unitas, or Bart Starr.
But how on earth could you argue Elway. Just look at these numbers.
TD - INT ratio
1983 7/14
1984 - 18/15
1985 - 22/23
1986 - 19/13
1987 - 19/12
1988 - 17/19
1989 - 18/18
1990 - 15/14
1991 - 13/12
1992 - 10/17
or 158/157 (pretty average)
Now his number do take a huge increase from 93-98. In those remaining years he throws. 142/69. So he had 5 good years. It only took him 10 years of mediocrity to get there.
For passing percentage he averaged around 55% for the first 10 years. From 93-98 it was around 60%.
Perhaps Superbowls are your barometer. But then how do you ever place him above Joe Montana in that argument. Or even Terrible Terry Bradshaw.
As said before if it is numbers that are your barometer than you could barely argue Fran Tarkenton let alone Dan Marino.
If you argue that he unlike Montana was the closest to record setting numbers and unlike Marino and Tarkenton, he actually won the big games. But consider this...
taking Bob Griese as an example. No one would argue he was the greatest ever and to tell you the truth his numbers show him as being pretty average with the exception of a few years. But he also won 2 superbowls.
Elway is 2nd all time in passing yards but consider this.
Elway averaged 220 yards per game he played. He did that off of 31 pass attempts though.
Griese averaged 156 yard per game he played. He did that off of 21 passes.
Their yards per attempt are both 7.3.
Both had a career average of 56%. Elways TD/Int ratio was 1.35. Griese's was 1.11.
I am not going to say Griese was better than Elways but fact is Griese is not consider anywhere close to him by most people. Plus there are other QBs out there in the same boat as Griese who have won and have put up numbers close to Elway.
Now not everything can be measured in number but what exactly then can you argue for Elway being the greatest?
As a final note I know this is a Dolphins fan board so I doubt this will get that many arguments but even if this was posted on a Broncos board what could they argue? After all the numbers don't lie.
When debating who is the best QB of all time you can argue numbers in which case you would have to say Marino is the best. Or you can argue Superbowl and crunch time wins in which case you would have to say Montana is the best. You could also argue a current QB such as Farve or maybe even Manning. But Manning still has years left to prove his longevity and Farve isn't retired yet. Or finally, you could argue for the revolutionaries or old school which you might say Baugh, Tittle, Unitas, or Bart Starr.
But how on earth could you argue Elway. Just look at these numbers.
TD - INT ratio
1983 7/14
1984 - 18/15
1985 - 22/23
1986 - 19/13
1987 - 19/12
1988 - 17/19
1989 - 18/18
1990 - 15/14
1991 - 13/12
1992 - 10/17
or 158/157 (pretty average)
Now his number do take a huge increase from 93-98. In those remaining years he throws. 142/69. So he had 5 good years. It only took him 10 years of mediocrity to get there.
For passing percentage he averaged around 55% for the first 10 years. From 93-98 it was around 60%.
Perhaps Superbowls are your barometer. But then how do you ever place him above Joe Montana in that argument. Or even Terrible Terry Bradshaw.
As said before if it is numbers that are your barometer than you could barely argue Fran Tarkenton let alone Dan Marino.
If you argue that he unlike Montana was the closest to record setting numbers and unlike Marino and Tarkenton, he actually won the big games. But consider this...
taking Bob Griese as an example. No one would argue he was the greatest ever and to tell you the truth his numbers show him as being pretty average with the exception of a few years. But he also won 2 superbowls.
Elway is 2nd all time in passing yards but consider this.
Elway averaged 220 yards per game he played. He did that off of 31 pass attempts though.
Griese averaged 156 yard per game he played. He did that off of 21 passes.
Their yards per attempt are both 7.3.
Both had a career average of 56%. Elways TD/Int ratio was 1.35. Griese's was 1.11.
I am not going to say Griese was better than Elways but fact is Griese is not consider anywhere close to him by most people. Plus there are other QBs out there in the same boat as Griese who have won and have put up numbers close to Elway.
Now not everything can be measured in number but what exactly then can you argue for Elway being the greatest?
As a final note I know this is a Dolphins fan board so I doubt this will get that many arguments but even if this was posted on a Broncos board what could they argue? After all the numbers don't lie.
