Best QB of the Decade Debate
Best Active NFL QB Debate
Clutch Factor: Best Under Pressure
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; 2-9 & 0-0 (2-9) in close games.
1999: 13-3 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 10-2 & 0-1 (10-3) in close games.
2000: 10-6 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 8-6 & 0-1 (8-7) in close games.
2001: 6-10 regular season & 0-0 playoff; 5-6 & 0-0 (5-6) in close games.
2002: 10-6 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 8-4 & 0-0 (8-4) in close games.
2003: 12-4 regular season & 2-1 playoff; 9-4 & 1-1 (10-5) in close games.
2004: 11-4 regular season & 1-1 playoff; 8-3 & 1-1 (9-4) in close games.
2005: 13-1 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 9-1 & 0-1 (9-2) in close games.
2006: 12-4 regular season & 4-0 playoff; 8-3 & 4-0 (12-3) in close games.
2007: 12-3 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 8-2 & 0-1 (8-3) in close games.
2008: 11-4 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 10-2 & 0-1 (10-3) in close games.
Total: 113-58 regular season & 7-8 playoff record (121-65 total);
85-42 regular season & 6-7 playoff record (91-49 total) in close games.
NFL career record in overtime: 3-3.
Tom Brady
2001: 11-3 regular season & 3-0 playoff; 8-2 & 3-0 (11-2) in close games.
2002: 9-7 regular season & 0-0 playoff; 6-6 & 0-0 (6-6) in close games.
2003: 14-2 regular season & 3-0 playoff; 12-1 & 3-0 (15-1) in close games.
2004: 14-2 regular season & 3-0 playoff; 12-1 & 3-0 (15-1) in close games.
2005: 10-5 regular season & 1-1 playoff; 7-1 & 0-0 (7-1) in close games.
2006: 12-4 regular season & 2-1 playoff; 8-4 & 2-1 (10-5) in close games.
2007: 16-0 regular season & 2-1 playoff; 8-0 & 2-1 (10-1) in close games.
Total: 86-23 regular season & 14-3 playoff record (100-27 total);
61-15 regular season & 13-2 playoff record (74-17 total) in close games.
NFL career record in overtime: 7-0.
Ben Roethlisberger
2004: 13-1 regular season & 1-1 playoff; 12-0 & 1-1 (13-1) in close games.
2005: 9-3 regular season & 4-0 playoff; 5-3 & 4-0 (9-3) in close games.
2006: 7-8 regular season & 0-0 playoff; 4-7 & 0-0 (4-7) in close games.
2007: 10-5 regular season & 0-1 playoff; 6-3 & 0-1 (6-4) in close games.
2008: 12-4 regular season & 3-0 playoff; 10-4 & 3-0 (13-4) in close games.
Total: 51-20 regular season & 8-2 playoff record (59-22 total);
37-17 regular season & 8-2 playoff record (45-19 total) in close games.
NFL career record in overtime: 2-2.
37-17 regular season & 8-2 playoff record (45-19 total) in close games.
NFL career record in overtime: 2-2.
Bottom Line: Roethlisberger has been very good, but despite two Lombardis he is not yet at Brady's level; in fact it would take not one, but two more 3-0 post-seasons to get there. Manning has more total wins (and yards, TDs, etc.), but he has also played in - and lost - more games. Though Tom Brady has not won a Super Bowl as recently as Manning or Roethlisberger, in my opinion he is still more clutch than either of his highly esteemed colleagues.
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Good job man ; The numbers speak for themselves. You can't go by this play or that play, you have to look at the whole picture. All good QB's make clutch plays, but can they do it over and over again. To me the 7-0 overtime record says it all.
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