jmt57

Seems to me that ever since the Super Bowl the “best quarterback debate” has gained some volume. Specifically, Steelers fans appear to jump all over any column on any web site that does not include Ben Roethlisberger in the same sentence as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady; based on the final two minutes of the last two Super Bowls their theory is that Roethlisberger is more clutch than Brady and that given the choice, any team would be better off with the football in the hands of Big Ben rather than TFB.

I don’t have the time or resources to compare their NFL careers play-by-play, but I thought it might be worth looking at how their respective teams have done in the 4th quarter over their NFL careers – especially with the game on the line. As I write this, my pre-conceived notion is that none will ever compare to Elway or Montana, but I’ll have to save those comparisons for another day. Here is a look at what I found for their teams’ records in each season, and their team’s records when the game was in doubt – defined by within 14 points entering the 4th quarter.

Note: some totals won’t add up to 16 games in a year because I excluded games when backups were the primary QB – most often in season finales. As a result the won-loss totals below won’t be the same as official NFL won-loss records.

The first pair of numbers is that quarterback’s record in regular season and playoff games for that season. The second set of numbers is that quarterback’s record in regular and then playoff games that were within 14 points (“close” games) entering the fourth quarter; the number in parenthesis is the total for both regular season and playoff games.

This is by no means definitive, but I just wanted to shed some light and statistics on the whole ‘who is most clutch' debate that seems to be circulating.



Peyton Manning
1998: 3-13 regular season & 0-0 playoff record; 2-9 & 0-0 (2-9) in close games.
1999: 13-3 regular season & 0-1 playoff record; 10-2 & 0-1 (10-3) in close games.
2000: 10-6 regular season & 0-1 playoff record; 8-6 & 0-1 (8-7) in close games.
2001: 6-10 regular season & 0-0 playoff record; 5-6 & 0-0 (5-6) in close games.
2002: 10-6 regular season & 0-0 playoff record; 8-4 & 0-0 (8-4) in close games.
2003: 12-4 regular season & 2-1 playoff record; 9-4 & 1-1 (10-5) in close games.
2004: 11-4 regular season & 2-1 playoff record; 8-3 & 1-1 (9-4) in close games.
2005: 13-1 regular season & 0-1 playoff record; 9-1 & 0-1 (9-2) in close games.
2006: 12-4 regular season & 4-0 playoff record; 8-3 & 4-0 (12-3) in close games.
2007: 12-3 regular season & 0-1 playoff record; 8-2 & 0-1 (8-3) in close games.
2008: 11-4 regular season & 0-1 playoff record; 10-2 & 0-1 (10-3) in close games.
Total: 113-58 regular season & 8-7 playoff (121-65) record; 85-42 & 6-7 (91-49) in close games.


Tom Brady
2001: 11-3 regular season & 3-0 playoff record; 8-2 & 3-0 (11-2) in close games.
2002: 9-7 regular season & 0-0 playoff record; 6-6 & 0-0 (6-6) in close games.
2003: 14-2 regular season & 3-0 playoff record; 12-1 & 3-0 (15-1) in close games.
2004: 14-2 regular season & 3-0 playoff record; 12-1 & 3-0 (15-1) in close games.
2005: 10-5 regular season & 1-1 playoff record; 7-1 & 0-0 (7-1) in close games.
2006: 12-4 regular season & 2-1 playoff record; 8-4 & 2-1 (10-5) in close games.
2007: 16-0 regular season & 2-1 playoff record; 8-0 & 2-1 (10-1) in close games.
Total: 86-23 regular season & 14-3 playoff (100-27) record; 61-15 & 13-2 (74-17) in close games.


Ben Roethlisberger
2004: 13-1 regular season & 1-1 playoff record; 12-0 & 1-1 (13-1) in close games.
2005: 9-3 regular season & 4-0 playoff record; 5-3 & 4-0 (9-3) in close games.
2006: 7-8 regular season & 0-0 playoff record; 4-7 & 0-0 (4-7) in close games.
2007: 10-5 regular season & 0-1 playoff record; 6-3 & 0-1 (6-4) in close games.
2008: 12-4 regular season & 3-0 playoff record; 10-4 & 3-0 (13-4) in close games.

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APatrioticVirginian

Worthlessburger doesnt rate period.

Palm Beach Pats Fan

The Manning playoff stats are off. He is 7-8, not 8-7 in the playoffs, for his career:

Peyton Manning Gamelogs and Game Logs - Pro-Football-Reference.com

The discrepancies: He was 0-1 in the 2002 postseason and 1-1 in the 2004 postseason. (fixed upon edit)

I am sure of this since I often remind my Colts friends that Peyton, for his career in the playoffs, has a losing record. Further, the odds of Peyton winning any particular playoff game (46.7%) are far less than the odds of Shaquille O'Neal making any particular free throw (52.8% for his career).

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maverick4

Brady is the best of the current QB's. I love Brady, but for all time he's still not as great under pressure as Joe Montana. Even when Montana was an old man at 37, with no-name receivers, he still repeatedly brought back the Chiefs for TD's against Elway's Broncos in an epic game.

ALP

somewhere in there if it were possible to take account of the steelers great defense over the yeas, Ben's numbers really dont look as good

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Last time I lived in New England the Pats became a Dynasty

Then I moved away and they haven't won since

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godef

How can you be 1-2 in the postseason? One loss and you're out.

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fair catch fryar

Between these QB's.....no contest, Tom Brady, hands down. The only way to spark debate on this topic is to compare Brady to the likes of Montana, Elway, etc...

BTW. Thanks for posting the comparisons.

Patriots2001

Then it becomes a discussion,otherwise Brady is numero uno

Palm Beach Pats Fan

my bad (typo) 1-1 instead of 2-1, so the original stats in the first post in this thread gave Peyton a win he didn't have (after the 2004 season ) and missed a loss he did have (after the 2002 season).

My link was correct, and also all stats. Peyton Manning is 7-8 in the playoffs (46.7%):

Peyton Manning Gamelogs and Game Logs - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Tom Brady is 14-3 (82.4%):
Tom Brady Gamelogs and Game Logs - Pro-Football-Reference.com

So using my free throw analogy, the difference in playoff winning percentage for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning (35.7%) is ALMOST equal to the difference in career free throw percentages for Larry Bird and Shaquille O'Neal (88.6 -52.8% = 35.8%).

Going from Peyton Manning to Tom Brady in a playoff game is like having Larry Bird shoot a free throw in place of Shaquille O'Neal. Their winning percentage in the regular season in those same playoff years is pretty comparable, so it can't just be blamed upon having a poorer team. Peyton's overall reg season winning percentage is lowered by two bad years for his team.

Ben doesn't stand up in regular season production.

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It is what it is, so just go out there and do your job!

jmt57

Yes, good catch; Manning's playoff record is 7-8, not 8-7.
He was 1-1 (not 2-1) in the 2004 playoffs, and 0-1 in the 2002 playoffs - a 41-0 loss to the Jets.

Also, Roethlisberger's combined regular season and playoff record is 59-22, not 49-22.

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