Great Quarterback Rivalries
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Note on this......I understand that I left out "the Old Men" in this future rivalry discussion. Brees/BR/Brady/Rodgers (though Rodgers/Wilson could have a few good years left) Rivers etc. I was looking at the next 10-12 years, not the next 1 or 2.
But, in that respect......let's look at the great QB rivalries of the past:
Brady vs. Manning of course
Terry Bradshaw vs. Roger Staubach is in there....at least for a couple of shootout Super Bowls.
Bart Starr vs. Johnny Unitas....banged heads 16 times......with an 8-8 record.
Jim Kelly vs. Dan Marino.....both played in the same division
Kelly/Marino/Elway.....the AFC 1983 boys
Elway vs. Bernie Kosar.....3 times matched up in AFC title game.
Steve Young vs. Troy Aikman...these guys met 3 times in the NFC title game.
Terry Bradshaw and Kenny Stabler probably had a more fierce rivalry than did Bradshaw/Staubach..because they always banged heads in the playoffs.
You could throw in the 2004 boys: Eli vs. Rivers vs. BR ....but those guys always had to butt heads with Brady....who was all of theirs real rival.
For a bit, Flacco vs. BR was a good rivalry...perhaps still is.
Like Stabler/Bradshaw, the better intraconference rivalry may have been Staubach vs. Tarkenton....always meeting up in the playoffs.
And going back: Otto Graham and Bobby Layne met 3-4 times in NFL title games....and before that it was Sid Luckman vs. Sammy Baugh.
Joe Montana's biggest nemesis may in fact have been Phil Simms
Any others?
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Since you brought it up Gipper. I got a bad feeling about this. Shades of Cleveland Ghosts of the past. My POV is Mahomes is looking more and more like a young John Elway. Or you forget those AFC Championship games where the only thing in the way of Kosar and a Browns Super Bowl trip was the Broncos?
Or switching sports to the NBA Championship, the Cavs of Daugherty, Nance, and Price had this guy from the Bulls standing in the way.....
Baker will have to elevate to the Drew Brees potential I saw in him when I was on the draft this guy wagon earlier. And he's going to need a lot more offensive firepower before we can go toe to toe with KC.
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Since you brought it up Gipper. I got a bad feeling about this. Shades of Cleveland Ghosts of the past. My POV is Mahomes is looking more and more like a young John Elway. Or you forget those AFC Championship games where the only thing in the way of Kosar and a Browns Super Bowl trip was the Broncos?
Or switching sports to the NBA Championship, the Cavs of Daugherty, Nance, and Price had this guy from the Bulls standing in the way.....
Baker will have to elevate to the Drew Brees potential I saw in him when I was on the draft this guy wagon earlier. And he's going to need a lot more offensive firepower before we can go toe to toe with KC.
Since you brought it up Gipper. I got a bad feeling about this. Shades of Cleveland Ghosts of the past. My POV is Mahomes is looking more and more like a young John Elway. Or you forget those AFC Championship games where the only thing in the way of Kosar and a Browns Super Bowl trip was the Broncos?
Or switching sports to the NBA Championship, the Cavs of Daugherty, Nance, and Price had this guy from the Bulls standing in the way.....
Baker will have to elevate to the Drew Brees potential I saw in him when I was on the draft this guy wagon earlier. And he's going to need a lot more offensive firepower before we can go toe to toe with KC.
Some of the throws Goff and Mahomes were making the other night were just insane. One of Goff's first TD's literally hit the receiver in the chest from about 25 yards away. The WR had a step or two on the DB, running towards the side of the end zone, and BANG. A perfect out pattern that couldn't be executed any better. This kind of play is what gets me excited about Baker Mayfield. Why? Because plays like that require silly accuracy. A touch behind? It's probably picked. Too much in front? Incomplete. Not hard enough? Picked again. You get the point, and plays like this were just one of the reasons I wanted to draft Baker. He, above the other candidates, has the ability to place the ball with NFL accuracy.
It's funny, statistically, the Bengals have a terrible defense, but for some reason I don't see it that way. Perhaps it's because they've severely owned us since 2014, and I struggle to think of a close game in the past few years. Although it's no surprise, our offense has scored the most points against the poorer defenses in the league, and if Cincy's defense is as bad as their stats say it is, we might just come out on top. Anyone know if AJ Green is playing?
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Since you brought it up Gipper. I got a bad feeling about this. Shades of Cleveland Ghosts of the past. My POV is Mahomes is looking more and more like a young John Elway. Or you forget those AFC Championship games where the only thing in the way of Kosar and a Browns Super Bowl trip was the Broncos?
Or switching sports to the NBA Championship, the Cavs of Daugherty, Nance, and Price had this guy from the Bulls standing in the way.....
Baker will have to elevate to the Drew Brees potential I saw in him when I was on the draft this guy wagon earlier. And he's going to need a lot more offensive firepower before we can go toe to toe with KC.
Some of the throws Goff and Mahomes were making the other night were just insane. One of Goff's first TD's literally hit the receiver in the chest from about 25 yards away. The WR had a step or two on the DB, running towards the side of the end zone, and BANG. A perfect out pattern that couldn't be executed any better. This kind of play is what gets me excited about Baker Mayfield. Why? Because plays like that require silly accuracy. A touch behind? It's probably picked. Too much in front? Incomplete. Not hard enough? Picked again. You get the point, and plays like this were just one of the reasons I wanted to draft Baker. He, above the other candidates, has the ability to place the ball with NFL accuracy.
It's funny, statistically, the Bengals have a terrible defense, but for some reason I don't see it that way. Perhaps it's because they've severely owned us since 2014, and I struggle to think of a close game in the past few years. Although it's no surprise, our offense has scored the most points against the poorer defenses in the league, and if Cincy's defense is as bad as their stats say it is, we might just come out on top. Anyone know if AJ Green is playing?
Some of the throws Goff and Mahomes were making the other night were just insane. One of Goff's first TD's literally hit the receiver in the chest from about 25 yards away. The WR had a step or two on the DB, running towards the side of the end zone, and BANG. A perfect out pattern that couldn't be executed any better. This kind of play is what gets me excited about Baker Mayfield. Why? Because plays like that require silly accuracy. A touch behind? It's probably picked. Too much in front? Incomplete. Not hard enough? Picked again. You get the point, and plays like this were just one of the reasons I wanted to draft Baker. He, above the other candidates, has the ability to place the ball with NFL accuracy........
Yeah like "are these guys are really that young"? Wow, wow, wow.......
Those were not the hit one miss 6 throws. Amazing. And I put Goff ahead of Rodgers on my one FL team.
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jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
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Since you brought it up Gipper. I got a bad feeling about this. Shades of Cleveland Ghosts of the past. My POV is Mahomes is looking more and more like a young John Elway. Or you forget those AFC Championship games where the only thing in the way of Kosar and a Browns Super Bowl trip was the Broncos?
Or switching sports to the NBA Championship, the Cavs of Daugherty, Nance, and Price had this guy from the Bulls standing in the way.....
Baker will have to elevate to the Drew Brees potential I saw in him when I was on the draft this guy wagon earlier. And he's going to need a lot more offensive firepower before we can go toe to toe with KC.
Since you brought it up Gipper. I got a bad feeling about this. Shades of Cleveland Ghosts of the past. My POV is Mahomes is looking more and more like a young John Elway. Or you forget those AFC Championship games where the only thing in the way of Kosar and a Browns Super Bowl trip was the Broncos?
Or switching sports to the NBA Championship, the Cavs of Daugherty, Nance, and Price had this guy from the Bulls standing in the way.....
Baker will have to elevate to the Drew Brees potential I saw in him when I was on the draft this guy wagon earlier. And he's going to need a lot more offensive firepower before we can go toe to toe with KC.
But Mahomes pretty well swallowed a cat on Monday night in crunchtime, throwing 2 int's.
So, I don't know. Maybe what we have in Mayfield is the new Joe Montana.....and Mahomes...and these other young QBs are like Marino, Elway, Anderson, Esiason, etc. All chasing him, never catching him. He beat each of those guys in a Super Bowl.
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These are the Super Bowls that pitted Hall of Fame QB vs. Hall of Fame QB......which matchup do you think was the best:
SB19 Montana vs. Marino
SB 24 Montana vs. Elway
SB1. Starr vs. Dawson
SB 14 Stabler vs. Tarkenton
SB 32 Favre vs. Elway
SB 27/28 Aikman vs. Kelly
SB 6 Griese vs. Staubach
SB 9 Bradshaw vs. Tarkenton
SB 3 Namath vs. Unitas (though Morrall started the game, Unitas finished)
SBs 10/13 Staubach vs. Bradshaw
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These are Super Bowls that pitted potential Hall of Fame matchups. Potential because they are more recent and some of these guys will or may get in, but it is just too early.
Which was the best matchup?:
SB44 Brees vs. Peyton
SB 45 Rodgers vs. Ben R.
SB 51 Brady vs. Ryan
SB 42/46 Eli vs. Brady
SB 49 Brady vs. Wilson
SB36 Warner (in) vs. Brady
SB 50 Peyton vs. Cam Newton
SB 39 Brady vs. McNabb
Warner vs. BR
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jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
Bah....oh well. A good challenge for Denzel Ward!
Speaking of receivers, does anybody find it odd that we don't throw it to Devalve more often? Man, I really thought he'd be a major factor this year. And Baker completed passes to like 9 different guys last week and Devalve still didn't get a ball. Weird right? I know Devalve was hurt early, but geez.
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jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
Bah....oh well. A good challenge for Denzel Ward!
Speaking of receivers, does anybody find it odd that we don't throw it to Devalve more often? Man, I really thought he'd be a major factor this year. And Baker completed passes to like 9 different guys last week and Devalve still didn't get a ball. Weird right? I know Devalve was hurt early, but geez.
Bah....oh well. A good challenge for Denzel Ward!
Speaking of receivers, does anybody find it odd that we don't throw it to Devalve more often? Man, I really thought he'd be a major factor this year. And Baker completed passes to like 9 different guys last week and Devalve still didn't get a ball. Weird right? I know Devalve was hurt early, but geez.
We were not speaking of receivers in this thread, we were speaking about QB rivalries.
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There were actually quite a number of HOF QB Championship game matchups prior to the onset of the Super Bowl. Here they are:
Sid Luckman vs. Sammy Baugh (the Peyton v. Brady of its day)
Sammy Baugh vs. Bob Waterfield .....1945...won by Waterfield's Cleveland team
Otto Graham vs. Bob Waterfield....1950
Otto Graham vs. Norm Van Brocklin
Otto Graham vs. Bobby Layne
Y.A. Tittle vs. Bart Starr
Y.A. Tittle vs. Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas vs. Bart Starr
Bart Starr vs. Norm Van Brocklin
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These are the Super Bowls that pitted Hall of Fame QB vs. Hall of Fame QB......which matchup do you think was the best:
SB19 Montana vs. Marino
SB 24 Montana vs. Elway
SB1. Starr vs. Dawson
SB 14 Stabler vs. Tarkenton
SB 32 Favre vs. Elway
SB 27/28 Aikman vs. Kelly
SB 6 Griese vs. Staubach
SB 9 Bradshaw vs. Tarkenton
SB 3 Namath vs. Unitas (though Morrall started the game, Unitas finished)
SBs 10/13 Staubach vs. Bradshaw
These are the Super Bowls that pitted Hall of Fame QB vs. Hall of Fame QB......which matchup do you think was the best:
SB19 Montana vs. Marino
SB 24 Montana vs. Elway
SB1. Starr vs. Dawson
SB 14 Stabler vs. Tarkenton
SB 32 Favre vs. Elway
SB 27/28 Aikman vs. Kelly
SB 6 Griese vs. Staubach
SB 9 Bradshaw vs. Tarkenton
SB 3 Namath vs. Unitas (though Morrall started the game, Unitas finished)
SBs 10/13 Staubach vs. Bradshaw
Montana/Marino felt like a heavyweight fight. Joe already had one ring and was Mr. Efficient ... jab. jab, jab ... never made a mistake. Don was the young brash power puncher who was knocking everyone out in the first round.
Clearly two best QBs, 2 best offenses, 2 great coaches. 15-1 versus 14-2.
Most folks thought Danny Boy was going to knock out Smoking Joe ...
But in the end, it is a team game, and SF had the superior defense and a superior running game (Craig) and Joe was flawless and they won handily.
But a lot of hype leading up to that one ...
Zombo
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These are the Super Bowls that pitted Hall of Fame QB vs. Hall of Fame QB......which matchup do you think was the best:
SB19 Montana vs. Marino
SB 24 Montana vs. Elway
SB1. Starr vs. Dawson
SB 14 Stabler vs. Tarkenton
SB 32 Favre vs. Elway
SB 27/28 Aikman vs. Kelly
SB 6 Griese vs. Staubach
SB 9 Bradshaw vs. Tarkenton
SB 3 Namath vs. Unitas (though Morrall started the game, Unitas finished)
SBs 10/13 Staubach vs. Bradshaw
These are the Super Bowls that pitted Hall of Fame QB vs. Hall of Fame QB......which matchup do you think was the best:
SB19 Montana vs. Marino
SB 24 Montana vs. Elway
SB1. Starr vs. Dawson
SB 14 Stabler vs. Tarkenton
SB 32 Favre vs. Elway
SB 27/28 Aikman vs. Kelly
SB 6 Griese vs. Staubach
SB 9 Bradshaw vs. Tarkenton
SB 3 Namath vs. Unitas (though Morrall started the game, Unitas finished)
SBs 10/13 Staubach vs. Bradshaw
Of these, the most competitive games between them were the two Bradshaw/Staubach matchups. Both 4 point games that went down to the wire.
Elway vs. Favre also competitive...one score game....Elway's helicopter move. Some of the others ended up being pretty much blowout games.
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These are Super Bowls that pitted potential Hall of Fame matchups. Potential because they are more recent and some of these guys will or may get in, but it is just too early.
Which was the best matchup?:
SB44 Brees vs. Peyton
SB 45 Rodgers vs. Ben R.
SB 51 Brady vs. Ryan
SB 42/46 Eli vs. Brady
SB 49 Brady vs. Wilson
SB36 Warner (in) vs. Brady
SB 50 Peyton vs. Cam Newton
SB 39 Brady vs. McNabb
Warner vs. BR
These are Super Bowls that pitted potential Hall of Fame matchups. Potential because they are more recent and some of these guys will or may get in, but it is just too early.
Which was the best matchup?:
SB44 Brees vs. Peyton
SB 45 Rodgers vs. Ben R.
SB 51 Brady vs. Ryan
SB 42/46 Eli vs. Brady
SB 49 Brady vs. Wilson
SB36 Warner (in) vs. Brady
SB 50 Peyton vs. Cam Newton
SB 39 Brady vs. McNabb
Warner vs. BR
This era of QB matchups gave us many more hotly contested games than the previous era (Super Bowl) of my earlier post. Both Brady/Eli games, Warner v. BR, Brady v. Wilson, Warner v. Brady. All games decided in the last minute. Ryan/Brady too...only OT SB.
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jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
Bah....oh well. A good challenge for Denzel Ward!
Speaking of receivers, does anybody find it odd that we don't throw it to Devalve more often? Man, I really thought he'd be a major factor this year. And Baker completed passes to like 9 different guys last week and Devalve still didn't get a ball. Weird right? I know Devalve was hurt early, but geez.
Yeah Gip I know we're talking QBs, but my memory of those Super Bowls is pretty foggy....
But regarding the Bengals, Green dressed for the Ravens game, and was on the sideline, so little surprise he's likely to play Sunday.
PS Ward would be giving up a lot of height to the 6'4" Green, so don't be surprised at all if the Browns use the same tactic they used against Julio Jones, double him with taller defensive backs...
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jiggins-report this morning is that Green has an excellent chance of playing this Sunday.
Bah....oh well. A good challenge for Denzel Ward!
Speaking of receivers, does anybody find it odd that we don't throw it to Devalve more often? Man, I really thought he'd be a major factor this year. And Baker completed passes to like 9 different guys last week and Devalve still didn't get a ball. Weird right? I know Devalve was hurt early, but geez.
Yeah Gip I know we're talking QBs, but my memory of those Super Bowls is pretty foggy....
But regarding the Bengals, Green dressed for the Ravens game, and was on the sideline, so little surprise he's likely to play Sunday.
PS Ward would be giving up a lot of height to the 6'4" Green, so don't be surprised at all if the Browns use the same tactic they used against Julio Jones, double him with taller defensive backs...
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What is, perhaps the Super Bowl that matched up the two "worst" QBs?
Brad Johnson/Rich Gannon (Bucs vs Raiders)
Trent Dilfer/Kerry Collins (Ravens vs. Giants)
Jim Plunkett vs. Ron Jaworski (Raiders vs. Eagles)
Jim McMahon vs. Tony Eason (Bears vs. Pats)
My opinion is that likely the worst two QBs to ever take a team to the Super Bowl were David Woodley and Rex Grossman.
Fair to say?
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