Where does Peyton rank?

Not sure this has been discussed much around here.

I say top 10.

 

Oh that's for sure. He was one of the few who were the reason their teams could legitimately be thought of as championship contenders regardless of the rest of said team.
Do it by era. There's Luckman and Baugh prewar, Otto Graham and Bobby Layne in the '50s. Unitas and Starr in the '60s, Bradshaw and Staubach in the '70s. Montana-Marino-Elway in the '80s, Elway-Aikman-Favre in the '90s and Manning-Brady in this century. That's 15, and he's surely ahead of Layne, Luckman, Bradshaw and Staubach, Marino, Aikman and Favre.

 

He's overall the best statistical QB to play Marino is second and Favre is 3rd.

Those are not the top 3 QBs I would want. Montana, Brady and Elway.

And playing in different eras helped, not just Mannings numbers but if Manning had to face defenses of the 70's and 80's, he would not have lasted.

 

One of the 50 best QBs of all time, for sure.

 

I started this thread just for you.

 

If you put any of those QBs on the Colts during Mannings years, they might not have replicated his passing numbers, exactly, but they would have replicated his win total. Staubach Aikman Marino Facre would have won at least 1 championship.

 

Creosote's Power Rankings:

1. Montana
2. Manning
3. Brady
4. Elway
5. Unitas

 

You mixed up 2 and 3.

 

1, 4, and 5, too.

 

1. Montana -- undefeated in the Super Bowl puts him on the top o' the heap.
2. Brady -- simply because all things being equal, if given the choice, every GM in history would have picked Brady in his prime over Manning in his.
3. Manning. Go Vols.

 

I agree Brady has had the better career, but your reasoning in No. 2 doesn't hold up.

 

Has Brady had the better career? That rests solely on postseason record. Otherwise they're equals. I mean, is Brady less great if Pete Carroll runs the damn ball. No.
Funny how fashions change. Back in the '60s, everybody who followed pro football, fans, media, coaches, other players, rated Unitas as the best quarterback with no real peers. Bart Starr wasn't even in the discussion. He was first team All-Pro once and Johnny U had three MVPs. Yet the Packers and Colts played twice each year, and after Lombardi arrived and made Starr QB, the score is Colts one title, Packers five. Starr's postseason stats, starting with 9-1 record, are just sick (15 TD passes, 3 interceptions, 8.2 yards per attempt).
I'm not saying either evaluation is right or wrong. I'm just noting that standards have changed. I am also old enough to remember that back in the '80s, the consensus in the NFL had Marino ahead of Elway by a mile, with more than one person both inside and outside the game saying Elway was a trifle overrated.