Huge moment last night. Just an absolute mega occurrence that people knew was coming, but still weren’t exactly sure how it was going to look like. Of course I’m talking about the return of suspended Saints RB Mark Ingram.
Also, there was a moment in the game where Drew Brees became the all time leading passing yards leader. I suppose you can make the argument that that moment took a bit of the shine off of a former Heisman trophy winner making his comeback to the game after serving a 4 game suspension for taking PEDs.
Kind of selfish of Brees swooping in and stealing the spotlight from Ingram. But you don’t pass for 72,103 passing yards by being passive(get it?). At least he had the decency not to throw another TD pass, which would of gave him 500 for his career. People are going to forget where they were when Mark Ingram came steam rolling back to the league after a suspension he caused and put up a solid 16 carries for 53 yards and two major TDs. But many folks will remember where they were when Brees passed Peyton Manning for the all time leader in passing yards. Sorry Mark.
Brees Top 5?
After thinking about how Mark Ingram must of felt after his own teammate big timed in front of the entire country, I started to pontificate whether or not Brees will be regarded as a top 5 QB of all time. I wrestled with it for a solid 20 minutes before coming to the conclusion that it’s pretty tough to answer. Doing tough things sucks. But I’m a man of perseverance and I came to make a list. I’ll get to that in a bit. A major cliffhanger I know, but there’s so many elements that go into formulating a list like this.
I haven’t seen or listened to much sports talk today but I imagine that this question was posed over all the usual outlets and probably covered and discussed by any number of mom and pop blogs. I’m sure they all had to figure out what their criteria is to determine who the best QBs of all time are. Do you go wins, Super Bowls, stats, the way they threw the ball, the way they played the game while also taking into account the rules that were in place at the time of each player? I think the easy but smart way to go about it is to incorporate all those elements. That being said, here is my list of the top 5 QBs in the entire known universe.
Tom Brady
Don’t know how you can have anyone be number one besides Brady. As a tortured Dolphin’s fan, it pains me just a bit to put him as the greatest QB of all time, but my smart brain knows it to be true. 5 Super Bowl rings, 8 total Super Bowl appearances, 12 AFC title games, 14 division titles(way to go Miami), 67,418 career passing yards, 500 TD passes and 4 MVPs. Idiots will say he’s a system QB, but that stems from mounds of jealousy and I get it.
We all want Brady as our QB. We all want a stone cold killer who doesn’t accept losing as an option to be the guy leading our favorite team. The decision making this guy brings to the table is nearly unmatched and the fact that he plans on playing for a few more years, where he probably will get at least 1-2 more Super Bowl appearances with at least one more victory in the big game. I hate that I believe this, but I have no reason to think anything else will happen besides this.
Joe Montana
Another guy who had no problem ripping your heart out, sticking it back in your chest and then rip it out again. Montana went 4-0 in the Super Bowl, won the MVP 3 times, had 40,551 yards, 273 TDs and won the Super Bowl MVPs. Some people will say that Montana’s teams were loaded with talent and they aren’t wrong about that, but that’s not his fault and I would say that Montana was one the biggest reasons why many of those players turned out the way they did. He also had a 92.3 passer rating. I didn’t see many of his games from the 80s, but everything I’ve seen is that he was money when it counted. Always making the right play at the biggest time.
Peyton Manning
Probably the greatest regular season QB ever. His stats are ridiculous but are starting to fall. He has 2 Super Bowls, 71,940 yards passing, 536 TDs. Watching this guy play was like watching a surgeon operate. He would pick you apart in a matter of minutes. Like, it wouldn’t even be fair. He knew what defenses were trying to do to him before they even knew they had Manning on the schedule.
Like Montana, Manning, always had great players around him on offense but that’s not his fault. If I’m a QB, I’d want great players around me too. And there’s no doubt that Manning made many players around him. You think Dallas Clark would have been Dallas Clark without Manning? But, in the playoffs, Manning would fold like a busted straight. He pretty much was owned by Brady his entire career, so being behind him an Montana is where he goes.
Drew Brees
He’s just so dang accurate. Like stupid accurate. He always puts the ball exactly where it needs to be. Never had the strongest arm, but to me he has always felt like the most accurate. Brees, has the one Super Bowl victory and an alrightish playoff resume. He’s the new all time passing yards leader with 72,103 yards, has 499 TDs, surprisingly no MVPs and tons of pro bowls like all of these guys. It must also be said that he carried an entire city that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and still does. And to think, Brees could have been a Dolphin if it wasn’t for one Dr. and a guy named Wannstedt.
Yeah, a lot of his teams run out of gas in the playoffs, but Brees has been the one constant on the Saints. He also, wasn’t always blessed with tremendous talent. There’s been nice players there like Jimmy Graham, Joe Horn, Marques Colston and currently Michael Thomas. But none of these guys will ever be considered hall of famers like the guys ahead of him. He probably will keep playing because Brady has issued a gauntlet, so his video game numbers will only rise.
Dan Marino
You wanna say I’m a homer? Go for it. You wanna say it’s really stupid how I can put a guy who never won a Super Bowl as one of the top 5 of all time? Go right ahead. But Marino was putting up the numbers that these guys in today’s current NFL are. Back when receivers would routinely get murdered going over the middle. There weren’t flags for putting your hand on a guys back for a half second. There weren’t flags for not shifting your body weight when you’re sacking a QB. This gives the QB more opportunities to gather more stats. The way the game is officiated matters and it matters a lot.
His stats when he retired in 1999 were mind boggling and he was #1 in several passing categories. He had 61,361 yards, 420 TDs, 1 MVP, but 0 Super Bowls and he only went to the big game once. Yep, that’s underwhelming considering Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer and Joe Flacco have rings. Yes, life isn’t fair. Marino knows this because the cast of losers he was forced to play with is a punishment that no QB should have ever had to deal with let alone one of the talent that Marino possessed. His arm talent is mostly considered as one of the top 2 off all time. Rodgers is considered the closest to Marino. When Rodgers is finished, he’ll pass Marino on my list. But to think that Dan wouldn’t demolish the league as it is constructed today is lunacy.
Other guys you could argue I think are Unitas, Moon, Bradshaw, Aikman, Rodgers, Roethlisburger Kitna, Fouts, Kelly, Elway, Favre, Young, Staubach. It’s a fun debate, so try and not lose any friends over it. Or, maybe you do. Either way, it doesn’t really matter to me.
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