'94 qb rating for each...
Montana = 83.6
Young = 112.8 and completed 70.3% of passes (both numbers are better than any year of Montana)
Printable View
Ha, I must have missed where Deion Branch, Troy Brown, and Antowain Smith were HOFers. And you are right about Montana also making some no names look good. There are a lot of similarities between the two of them. But where they differ is Brady getting more rings and playing in more Super Bowls in general. And he did that by staying on top of his game and in his prime for longer than anyone else. Right or wrong, longevity plays a big part in separating out the all time greats. Brady just threw for 450+ yards in leading his team back from a 25 point deficit in the Super Bowl....as a 39 year old. Let that sink in for a second.
Ironically that's what people are trying to argue by saying Brady is better than Montana since he has five to Montana's four. But the thing about Montana is he never lost one- Brady had a chance to beat the Giants twice and choked twice. Montana NEVER threw an interception in Super Bowl play. Brady threw a pick six tonight. Montana probably beats the Giants if the roles are reversed and he probably doesn't throw a pick six. Also Montana was WAY more mobile at 40 than Brady on his prime. Brady has played longer and has not missed as much time due to injury or suspension as Brady has- and assuming Brady comes back that will be essentially at least three- four more years than Montana.
OK- so you took the year that Young had Rice and Taylor and Brent Jones led NFL TE's in TD's and the same year that Montana had Birden and Willie Davis and was 40. And he STILL beat Young head to head that year. If you switch Montana and give him that team the 49ers had in 1994 he would have likely put up the same numbers or comparable as Young.
I did. And like I said if you gave them the same teams Montana would have done just as well. To be honest- 1994 was probably the time where they were about the same but that's only because of age slowing down Montana. But to me if an older QB can perform just as well as a younger QB in his prime, wouldn't you say that the older one was better?
So you are penalizing Brady for leading his teams to more Super Bowls than Montana did? Because if you go to almost twice as many super bowls as another player, the chances are good you are going to have a few more losses in the big game. Saying Montana is better all time because he never lost a Super Bowl is like saying Urban Meyer is a better all time coach than Saban because he never lost a national championship game. Just an irrational argument.
Well .. maybe he spread it around a little 1 year haha. I won't deny I'm biased against Steve Young. But I'll guarantee you this ... he couldn't have taken KC to the AFC Championship title game like Montana did. Name Joe's offensive weepons that year.
I'm not gonna argue the Brady vs. Montana. I'd still take Joe but think if they played 10 times against each other it would probably be 5 - 5 or maybe 6 - 4 one way or the other.
But really when looking at an entire career + playoffs ... there is no doubt Brady is better. At the beginning of the GOAT thread I said it wasn't over yet. I wasn't counting Brady out.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb1994
That site came up with a formula to compare the 2 in '94
I know no one is arguing that. But I'm saying you can't compare the eras. Does Brady stay healthy like he has in the NFL of the 1980's? We'll never know but it's less likely. Montana would have been more likely to stay healthy in today's era as well. Again- we'll never know but it's certainly more likely that he would stay healthy.
What is undisputable is Montana never lost a Super Bowl in multiple tries and he never threw an interception in one either. He also beat Marino and Elway two of the best head to head in two of those and in a third he led one of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history.
No- I'm penalizing him for losing more Super Bowls and not performing as well in Super Bowls. 4 INT's and a QB rating of 95.3 vs. No losses, 0 INT's and a rating of 127.8. I'm also saying that this era is more QB friendly for Brady in terms of passing and player safety which is what in turn leads to those extra chances.
Meyer and Saban are coaching in the same era and Montana and Brady played in different eras- that's the difference.