Quarterbackery: Round 1, Heat 4

[Rain Man]

Today's quarterbackery matchup pits two long-time nemeses against each other. We have Cincinnati versus Cleveland. Cincinnati has been in existence only 48 seasons, but that's close enough to 50 that I won't bother calculating percentages. Also, on a minor administrative note Cleveland didn't have a team for three years in the 1990s so I went back to 1963 for them to get 50 years.

Let's take a look.


Cincinnati

Ken Anderson - 13 seasons
Boomer Esiason - 8
Carson Palmer - 6
Andy Dalton - 5 (and current starter)
Jeff Blake - 5
Jon Kitna - 3
Virgil Carter - 2
Ryan Fitzpatrick - 1
Akili Smith - 1
Neil O'Donnell - 1
David Klingler - 1
Greg Cook - 1
John Stofa - 1

They've produced 12 pro bowl seasons in 48 years, led by Ken Anderson's 4.

Cleveland

Brian Sipe - 8
Bernie Kosar - 7
Frank Ryan - 5 (led team for 6 seasons, buy only 5 in 1963 or later)
Tim Couch - 4
Mike Phipps - 4
Bill Nelson - 4
Vinny Testaverde - 3
Colt McCoy - 2
Derek Anderson - 2
Josh McCown - 1 (and current starter)
Bobby Hoyer - 1
Jason Campbell - 1
Brandon Weeden - 1
Brady Quinn - 1
Charlie Frye - 1
Trent Dilfer - 1
Jeff Garcia - 1
Kelly Holcomb - 1
Mike Tomczak - 1
Paul McDonald - 1

Cleveland produced 7 pro bowlers in that period, led by Frank Ryan with 3.

[Rain Man]

My thoughts.

First, how has Cincinnati never won a Super Bowl? They've had strong quarterbacks in place for most of the past 50 years. They were never superstars, but they were strong. Among our teams so far, they've produced the most pro bowlers but have no rings to show for it. How sad.

Second, John Stofa is a five-year quarterback who once led his team in passing, and I've never heard of him before. I'm usually pretty good at football history, but he's a lost city that I just discovered.

Third, we talk about how bad Cleveland's QB situation is, but that's a new phenomenon. They never had world beaters by any means, but they weren't horrific up until Bernie Kosar retired. They produced 7 pro bowls, which is 6 more than Chicago has produced. Now, having said that, they still have a bad quarterback history, but I think it's not as epically bad as legend would have us believe.

[Rasputin]

I don't know the answer to your question Rain Man

First, how has Cincinnati never won a Super Bowl?


But Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl and he also went against Joe Montana like Boomer Esiason.

[Rain Man]

I don't know the answer to your question Rain Man

First, how has Cincinnati never won a Super Bowl?


But Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl and he also went against Joe Montana like Boomer Esiason.

That's a good point. And as I mentioned, Cincinnati has had strong QBs but never dominant ones, so maybe that's necessary in most years. Still, you'd think that they would have backed into one at some point.

I guess another challenge for them is that they've always had Pittsburgh in their division, and they came into existence only a few years before Pittsburgh became strong.

[Why Not?]

You could(I'm not gong to, but you could is all I'm saying)make an arguement that Jon Kitna, if he switched sides, would have been in the running for best Browns QB of all time(using the 50 year time frame).

That says it all.