OT: Mahomes vs Montana
As this is a Michigan board we all are aware that Brady is the Unstoppable Super Bowl Throw God
But who inhabits second place? To me it comes down to Mahomes or Montana. The comparison:
Montana in four Super Bowls:
83-122, 1142, 11 TDs, 0 INTs, 127.8
Mahomes in four Super Bowls:
107-164, 1071, 7 TDs, 5 INTs, 85.2
I was a bit taken aback when I initially compared the numbers. Montana threw for more yards on 42 less attempts in an age where DBs were permitted to be far more physical than they are now.
Got to be honest, part of me(🤌🏻)still believes Joe Cool is the GOAT because of how dominant he was in the Super Bowl. He was sooo good while outperforming some all time greats on the other sideline.(Marino, Elway)
Mahomes is already an all time great who is must watch TV. But man, hard to go against Montana if you need to win a big game.
February 13th, 2024 at 10:08 AM ^
As compared to Brady, Mahomes obviously relies a lot more on athletism. I wonder how that plays out as he starts to age a bit more and some of that athletism fades.
February 13th, 2024 at 11:33 PM ^
So by 2030 Mahomes might catch Brady and the fans will have more tailgating space since they just announced the Royals will be moving downtown. Maybe they’ll finally give KC the Super Bowl that was promised in 06 for 2015. They let freakin New Jersey host without a roof
February 13th, 2024 at 6:03 AM ^
Montana threw for more yards on 42 less attempts in an age where DBs were permitted to be far more physical than they are now.
Worth remembering that he also played most of his career before the salary cap existed, on a team that was absolutely stacked.
February 13th, 2024 at 7:54 AM ^
I wouldn't exactly say the '81 and '84 Super Bowl teams were stacked. Rice and Taylor weren't on either of those teams and Craig's big breakout year was '85.
February 13th, 2024 at 8:30 AM ^
See above- that first Montana SF SB team (1981 season, 1982 SB) was anything but stacked.
February 13th, 2024 at 9:11 AM ^
This is my thing with comparing the eras as well. Parity is much greater in the NFL now, the top teams are barely separated in terms of overall talent so these games come down to a few key plays at a few key moments. The gap was so much greater from top to middle to bottom in the past that you didn't have as many coin-flip type of games.
February 13th, 2024 at 6:36 AM ^
Stop with Mahomes. He was average in this past SB and do people forget the shit show he had against Brady just a few years ago??
February 13th, 2024 at 8:21 AM ^
This Super Bowl - and season tbh - felt a lot like the early Brady years for Mahomes. The Chiefs defense carried them and he did what he had to do to win in the playoffs.
Think about it: The Chiefs had one touchdown in regulation that they got on a 15 yard, one play drive after the 49ers had a punt hit a player in the leg and the return man couldn't pick it up. Their longest play in regulation was a 52 yard bomb that was into double coverage that a 49ers defender lost in the air (similar to Waller against Purdue this year). The Chiefs fumbled 5 times and only lost one of the fumbles. Mahomes threw a pick in his territory that the 49ers turned into 0 points. Through 58 minutes, the KC offense was basically three field goal drives and a gift touchdown.
But from that point on Mahomes was excellent and won his team the game.
February 13th, 2024 at 7:03 AM ^
Montana never lost a SB
February 13th, 2024 at 7:19 AM ^
Here we go again. Only 2 days after the Super Bowl, and already the first "who's the greatest QB of all time" thread. How about all of them? Settled.
February 13th, 2024 at 7:47 AM ^
Mahomes is 9-2 in the playoffs when trailing by a touchdown or more. Next best is Brady at 10-11.
February 13th, 2024 at 8:38 AM ^
It's between Mahomes and Brady for the best QB of all time. Mahomes still has more years left in his tank so he could very well be the goat when all is said and done. He had the worst weapons in his career and it's probably a bottom 5 offensive skill position players group in the league yet he still won a SB. Instead of being a slinger, he re-modeled his game into being a game manager which is wild considering what he has done early in his career.
Mahomes went to the AFCC in his entire career and lost two of them to OT.
Mahomes is the most talented QB of the 3 (Brady and Montana) by a wide margin and he is also just as accomplished as both of them.
February 13th, 2024 at 9:01 AM ^
Too early in Mahome's career to classify as top QB but he is on pace and a joy to watch. I am just as impressed with Andy Reid's play calling.
Like our FB natty, can't we just enjoy great players/teams for a short time without dissecting and comparing it to different players/eras?.
Speaking of greats, Caitlyn Clark will probably set the all time women's scoring record Thursday versus UM. She is a generational talent worth watching. Sort of like watching Steph Curry when he's on.
Happy Fat Tuesday!
February 13th, 2024 at 11:04 AM ^
Caitlyn is fun to watch and her 3 point range is amazing. I have a question though which I have never seen addressed: exactly how much smaller is the women's basketball than the mens' and how much easier does it make shooting? It has to be some advantage, but how much?
February 13th, 2024 at 9:31 AM ^
1. Brady
2. Montana
3. Bradshaw
4. Mahomes
February 13th, 2024 at 9:33 AM ^
Montana went 4-0 and blew out Marino and Elway. Crazy stat I heard was he beat the regular season MVP three times in the SB.
So, yeah the 49ers were loaded, but so were a lot of the teams they faced.
February 13th, 2024 at 9:58 AM ^
In the 2017 draft my Cleveland Browns held the 1st and 10th draft pick. They selected Myles Garret at #1 and traded out of #10 meaning they COUDLD HAVE had both the most dominant defensive player and offensive player in the same fucking draft if they had just taken Mahomes at #10. Of course that year Mitch Trubisky of all players was considered QB #1, not Patrick, so that just shows nobody knows dick-squat about drafting QBs.
Oh, back to the question at hand. Brady, Montana, Mahomes but Mahomes is definitely closing the gap fast on the top two. Dude is unbelievable in the clutch.
February 13th, 2024 at 10:15 AM ^
It appears thirteen QBs have won multiple Super Bowls - going back to Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and Jim Plunkett - who each won two.
Winning three or more is rarefied air.
Brady has seven - no questions there.
Montana and Bradshaw have four.
Mahomes and Aikman have three.
It’s not “just” about numbers - but, that sequence seems about right to me.
February 13th, 2024 at 10:30 AM ^
Comparison is the thief of joy.
I personally think that if you could put players from different eras on the same field, today's greats would likely come out ahead because they have the advantage of modern sports science and studying the greats from before, but the Montanas and Staubachs might understandably disagree. Ultimately though, each Super Bowl champion beat the teams on their schedule and that's all you can really ask. Overall though, what these debates mostly reveal is what era of the sport you grew up with.
February 13th, 2024 at 11:26 AM ^
Agree with your sentiments. The rules have changed significantly over the years. Game theory and strategies have changed significantly. Even the players approach has changed. It is silly to compare across eras at this point.
Case in point, I believe Tom Brady would be the GOAT in any era. But no way does he make it to 10 Super Bowls in the old days with the types of hits you were allowed to take on QB’s.
February 13th, 2024 at 10:46 AM ^
For all the marbles, I would take Joe Cool bar none.
February 13th, 2024 at 11:13 AM ^
I'm still with Tom. he had one spectacular year of Randy Moss and several great tight end years of Gronk but most of the time he was throwing to guys like Troy Taylor, Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman et all, ordinary guys who were elevated because of Tom's precision passing.
February 13th, 2024 at 12:24 PM ^
This is actually very helpful. So many young 'uns fueled by ESPN's clickbait machine think Mahomes is already the Goat. Um, no, he's not even in 2nd place. Montana's stats are superior in every way, and as you mentioned they came at a time when bump and run and kill shots by head hunting safeties were the norm
February 13th, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^
You take Joe Montana off the 49ers and that core still won a Super Bowl with Steve Young; you take Brady off the Patriots or Mahomes off the Chiefs and those franchises crash back down to earth.
February 13th, 2024 at 11:50 PM ^
That’s a special exception, it’s rare that franchises get back to back HOF QBs.