Quote:
Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco
Not at first in the NFL. He's was down right terrible. But that thrird season it really picked up for him. Few QB's walk into the league and make an impact at the QB position to the point of deep playoff wins. I can only think of 2 Big Ben and Marino.
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A lot of it also was the cast around him and the style of offense that Reeves ran... Reeves wasn't near as conservative as Fox, but Reeves wasn't a pass happy oriented type of coach.
I do like to read comments about how they never won a title until Shanahan came in and it was all Davis. There aren't many QBs out there that have taken teams with a cast of characters like Denver had and won a lot of SBs. They had good teams, but they ere never dominant on the ground game. I mean, his best WRs were the Three Amigos - good, but they weren't the Marks brothers.
And, it's always interesting to see when fans like to use (or ignore) stats in favor of the side of the debate they're hammering.
Under Reeves:
9-7
13-3
11-5
11-5
10-4
8-8
11-5
5-11
12-4
8-8
Under Wade Phillips:
9-7
7-9
Under Shanahan:
8-8
13-3
12-4
14-2
16 Seasons ... 2 were 8-8 and 2 were under .500 ... 12 were 9+ wins
14-8 Postseason Record
5 SB appearances with 2 wins
Yes, they never dominated and won titles until Shanahan put a "team" around him... but the guy certainly didn't spare everyone to death in the years before Shanahan.
Elway retired as the QB with the most wins... bottom line, he was great.
Marino did great things in 1984... and that was THE ONLY season in which his teams won more than 1 playoff game... so he doesn't really fit your comment in bold above. Marino and his teams, from 1985 through 1999 never won more than 1 playoff game in a single season.
Big Ben ... yes, he fits - but you can't compare the team he had around him to what Dan or John had early in their careers.