I totally agree with the last point. For all the talk about Walsh's system, he was a heck of a scout too, and, with the help of Eddie-D's cash machine, totally turned their roster over in a couple years -- but Joe deserves credit for all the winning...coaches coach and players play.
it's my fault, but we're getting into a JM/TB thing here...but I love this stuff...
I have this argument with Mike Silver at SI all the time...he covered the Niners beat back in their glory years.
The '81 Niners are the closest comparison to the '01 Pats...but I'm still not convinced Joe/Walsh (no, not the god of gibson guitars
) had it tougher than our guys...the fact the Niners consistently faced vastly inferior AFC opponents in the SB is one of the cornerstones of my argument...yes, I'm aware the NFC Championship foes were tough, but so are the AFC Championship foes of today.
Joe is considered the greatest because his overall body of work is unmatched (for now) -- and he just had tremendous instincts, threw an incredibly catchable ball, had tremendous accuracy, leadership, etc...but when it comes to TB comparisons I hold no punches, nor do I conveniently overlook Joe's "choke years" -- which I'm willing to forgive when we're comparing him to anyone else.
When it comes to comparing playoff careers, Tom has been more consistent, done
more with less, and done
more in less time than Joe did.
There are technical reasons why the Bailey INT in the Denver game
was at best a calculated risk/great defensive play, and at worst a bad decision, but regardless of that lone throw, his overall performance against the Broncos was hardly a "choke" and puts to shame the following three by Montana:
1985: Niners, the best team in the league, LOSE in
first round of playoffs.
1986: Niners, the best team in the league, LOSE in
first round of playoffs.
1987: Niners, the best team in the league, LOSE in
first round of playoffs.
In all Montana had 7 losses in the playoffs.
In those
3 losses above, Joe averaged 15-of-29 (52%) for 168, 0td, 1.3int.
In Tom's
only loss he was, 20-of-36 (56%) for 341, 1td, 2int.
TB is already a better postseason QB than Montana:
Playoff records:
JM: 16-7
TB: 11-1 (all-time record)
Playoff INT:ATT ratio
JM: 21ints in 732 attempts = 2.86%
JM: 5ints in 367 attempts = 1.36% (all-time record)
Playoff TD:INT ratio
JM: 2.1
TB: 3.0 (all-time record)
Average spread Niners faced in Joe's 4 Super Bowls = -6 (4-0)
Average spread Pats faced in tom's 3 Super bowls = 0 (3-0)
Super Bowl 4th-quarter comeback drives (tied or behind to take the lead):
JM:
ONE 4th-quarter SB comeback drive:
* 96 yard monster against Bengals -- but he had six minutes, 3 timeouts, the 2-min warning, and the most ridiculous array of offensive talent ever assembled...the way the Niners were built that year (16 pro bowlers!) they should NOT have played Cincy close.
TB:
FOUR 4th-quarter SB comeback drives (all-time record):
* SB-36, 1:21, no timeouts, 56 yards against the 6th ranked defense, to put AV in position to win the game.
* SB-38,
TWO drives in final 4 minutes for 10 points against Carolina's vaunted defense (94 yards passing, 114 yards including a late phantom push off from Troy Brown).
* SB-39, engineered TD drive early in 4th quarter that put NE ahead of Philly for good...another 4th quarter drive resulting in a FG provided the winning margin.
Twice Montana threw 3 PICKS in playoff VICTORIES. There's no way the Pats win a playoff game if Tom throws 3 picks. One pick was basically all it took for us to lose in Denver (I'm sure we'll agree the Pats were cooked before he'd thrown that desperation pick at the end).
Anyway, just food for thought, I love these historical comparisons...I'll let you draw your own conclusions:eat3: ...