Quote:
Originally Posted by CupidStunt
Manning > Elway by quite a lot. If he ranks below guys, it's those with much more playoff success, your Bradys and Montanas. Elway was a 55% passer in the playoffs with barely more TDs than INTs, not to mention more SB losses than wins.
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It all depends on the process you use.. wins, stats, whatever... most rankings that I've ever seen have Elway in the top 5. I don't get too concerned with it. I'm quite confident that in a must win situation, there aren't too many others you would want playing the position.
A lot of Elway's stats, esp early on are thanks to Reeves and the type of offense he ran. They were never a prolific offense by design.
Reeves left in 1992, all you need to see really is the FY stats YOY until 1992 and then after to really see the difference and you'll see that if Elway had a coach with an affinity for a passing attack... his numbers would be more off the charts.
142 of his 300 regular season TDs were after Reeves in his final 6 seasons. Think about that... 47% of his career reg season TDs in the 6 years after 10 years of Reeves. And only 69 of his INTs (30%) after Reeves.
Elway was 7-6 in the playoffs with Reeves, with 3 SB losses.
Elway was 7-2 in the playoffs after Reeves, with 2 SB wins.
Elway certainly carried those teams in the early years, but you can rewrite history or bump him down the all-time lists if you like.