Greatest Qb Rivalries In History
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This coming week sees the renewal of the Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning Quarterback rivalry, which is no doubt one of the greatest QB rivalries in NFL history. But what other great QB rivalries have there been in history. Here are a few:
Sammy Baugh vs. Sid Luckman. These were the greatest QBs of the 40s. The only bad thing is that there was no TV for people to see it.
Otto Graham vs. Bobby Layne. These guys matched up like 3-4 times in the NFL title game in the 50s.
Otto Graham vs. Bob Waterfield/Norm Van Brocklin. When OG wasn't matched against the Lions QB, he was matched vs. the Rams duo. Three times the teams met with OG and BW/NVB at the helm
Johnny Unitas vs. Bart Starr. These guys teams, the Colts and Packers, dominated the late 50s and 60s. Only problem here?: These two never met in post season game. The one time the Colts/Packers played for the NFL title was when Unitas was hurt and Tom Matte had to take over as QB for the Colts.
Terry Bradshaw vs. Ken Stabler. How many times did these two meet up with the AFC title on the line? I would have to check but it was at least 3-4 times.
Terry Bradshaw vs. Roger Staubach. Two closely matched teams met twice in the Super Bowl
Joe Montana vs. Dan Marino. More of a TV rivalry than an on field one. Only once did they meet in a Super Bowl and that wasn't much of a contest. But these two were good, and popular. They just didn't meet each other.
John Elway vs. Dan Marino vs. Jim Kelly. This three part rivalry stems from them all being taken in the first round in the same year....and the fact they all competed for supremacy in the AFC for a long while.
John Elway vs. Bernie Kosar. Three meetings in very memorable AFC title games.
Steve Young vs. Troy Aikman. These guys met several times in the NFC title games.
Joe Montana vs. Steve Young... Basically a rehash of the Van Brocklin/Waterfield rivalry. Two HOF QBs on the same team has to create a form of rivalry.
Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. A decade of competition for supremacy between these two...is still going on.
Can you think of any I have left off?
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There are a few in the old AFL that warrant mentioning, but it is sort of a round table:
George Blanda vs. Jack Kemp vs. John Hadl vs. Len Dawson vs. Joe Namath vs. Daryl Lamonica.
Not sure which of these individually would be the best.
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To clarify: The Browns played the Rams in the NFL title game in 1950/1951/1955.
They played the Lions in 1952/1953/1954/1957
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Another good one may have been John Brodie vs. Roman Gabriel 49ers vs. Rams
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Some good inner-divisional ones:
Kenny Anderson v. Terry Bradshaw
Jim Hart v. Rodger Staubach
Warren Moon v. Boomer Esiason v. Bernie Kosar
Joe Theisman v. Ron Jaworski
John Brodie v. Roman Gabriel
Jim Plunkett v. Dan Fouts
Eli Manning v Tony Romo
Jim Kelly v Dan Marino (you mentioned)
Len Dawson v. Darryl Lamonica (you mentioned)
Zombo
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Some good inner-divisional ones:
Kenny Anderson v. Terry Bradshaw
Jim Hart v. Rodger Staubach
Warren Moon v. Boomer Esiason v. Bernie Kosar
Joe Theisman v. Ron Jaworski
John Brodie v. Roman Gabriel
Jim Plunkett v. Dan Fouts
Eli Manning v Tony Romo
Jim Kelly v Dan Marino (you mentioned)
Len Dawson v. Darryl Lamonica (you mentioned)
Zombo
Zombo said:
Some good inner-divisional ones:
Kenny Anderson v. Terry Bradshaw
Jim Hart v. Rodger Staubach
Warren Moon v. Boomer Esiason v. Bernie Kosar
Joe Theisman v. Ron Jaworski
John Brodie v. Roman Gabriel
Jim Plunkett v. Dan Fouts
Eli Manning v Tony Romo
Jim Kelly v Dan Marino (you mentioned)
Len Dawson v. Darryl Lamonica (you mentioned)
Zombo
Bradshaw vs. Pastorini..can Sipe be thrown in there too?
How about Flacco vs. BR? Is that a QB rivalry?
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How about a great future rivalry: The Battle of the Redheads: Weeden vs. Dalton?
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Quinn v Anderson
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Couch vs Holcomb
Quinn vs. Anderson
Colt vs. Weeden
We are the hotbed of QB rivalries
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Couch vs Holcomb
Quinn vs. Anderson
Colt vs. Weeden
We are the hotbed of QB rivalries
That is not really the thing I am looking for. I know I mentioned Young vs. Montana and Waterfield vs. Van Brocklin...but those interteam QB rivalries matched guys who made the Hall of Fame, not crap rivalries.
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On the Terry Bradshaw vs. Ken Stabler rivalry, here is a breakdown:
1972 Steelers won (Immaculate Reception game)
1973 Raiders won
1974 Steelers won
1975 Steelers won
1976 Raiders won
Five consecutive years for that matchup. At least 3 of those were AFC title games.
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Brady vs. the Manning Boys: Playoff games:
2003 AFC Title game Pats over Colts and Peyton 24-14
2004 Division game: Pats over Colts 20-3
2006 AFC Title game: Colts over Pats and Brady 38-34
2007 Super Bowl: Giants and Eli over Pats and Brady 17-14
2011 Super Bowl: Giants and Eli over Pats and Brady 21-17
As you can see the Mannings hold a 3-2 edge over Brady. In fact, Brady hasn't beaten a Manning in a post season game in 8 years, not since 2004.
Now, I know there have been various crucial regular season matchups between Brady and Peyton, but I only document post season here.
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Steve Young was actually involved in two good rivalries: first with Troy Aikman, then with Brett Favre:
Young/Aikman:
1992 NFC Title game Cowboys and Aikman win 30-20
1993 NFC Title game Cowboys win 38-21
1994 NFC title game 49ers win 38-28
Young/Favre:
1995 Division game Packers and Favre win 27-17
1996 Division game Packer and Favre win 35-14
1997 NFC title game Packers win 23-10
1998 Wild card game 49ers win 30-27
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Kelly vs. Marino vs. Elway
As great as these 3 QBs were at the same time, the rivalry matchups between them is not as robust as you would think.
Here are the post season matchups between these 3 iconic QBs:
1990 Bills and Kelly over Dolphins and Marino 44-34 AFC Division game
1991 Bills and Kelly over Broncos and Elway 10-7 (hardly the score you would expect) AFC Title game
1992 Bills over Dolphins 29-10 AFC title game
1995 Bills over Dolphins and Marino 37-22 Wild card game
1998 Dolphins over Bills 24-17 Wild card game
1998 Broncos over Dolphins 38-3 Division round game
Thats it.
Kelly did matchup against Marino 4 times and went 3-1 against him.
Elway was 1-0 against Marino
Kelly was 1-0 against Elway
Total: Kelly 4-1 against the other two. Elway 1-1. Marino 1-4. (note: for a few years Kelly played in the USFL)
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Formerly Sane said:
Good one! Most people don't even know who Dante Pastorini is. He Qb'd the second best team in the NFl for several years, the Oilers never got the recognition they deserved because they couldn't beat the Steelers to advance to the superbowl.
Yes. For at least two years in '78 and '79 if not several. Though, the Cowboys might argue about who was second best of that era.
Though it is pretty clear now who the second best is.....in the state of Texas. I would say the Texans rule Texas, if not the NFL.
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@king-ghoolie-lives said:
Fouts - Stabler
Marino - Fouts
Sipe - Brady......I am curious how you got this one Ghoolie. Did you mean Bradshaw?
Elway - Kosar
Tittle 0 Johnny U
Do we have a winner?..I don't know, but the Unitas/Tittle one is very intriguing. I will have to delve into it more.
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Seems all the good ones have been mentioned.
Jim Everett - Joe Montana
The Rams had some decent teams in the late 80's but were never quite as good as the 49ers. Although they often managed to split division games, they would only meet once in postseason with San Fran winning 30-3.
Phil Simms - Joe Montana
Montana is 6-2 vs Simms in regular season play and they are 1-1 in postseason play. The Giants knocked San Fran out of the 90-91 playoffs but Hostetler was subbing for an injured Simms.
Definitely one of the better team rivalries;probably not your classic quarterback duel.
Jay Cutler - Philip Rivers
No big stakes or much history on this one but it's too bad Cutler was traded and their rivalry was so short lived. These guys hate each other.
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Formerly Sane said:
Sipe really can't be mentioned in any QB rivalry. His TD to INT ratio is nearly 1-1 and he only ever played in one playoff game and lost that. His biggest accomplishment came in a year where both he and his coach admit that every ball bounced the Browns way all year long. If it weren't for that 1980 season, he would not even be remembered by anyone but a Browns fan.
So, even a blind squirrel like you finds the occasional testicle to swallow. You are right....in terms of postseason matchups Sipe would not be on any list.
As for Sipe not being remembered by anyone else. I disagree. He played a long while, was good, and was popular.
Is he a HOFer? No.
(and wouldn't be so quick to criticise the success of someon who had the ball bouncing right....The Steelers and BR won their two SBs based on the ball bouncing just right for them).
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