Brett Favre Vs. Joe Montana

Durability: What makes Favre's achievement all the more significant is that he played every game during the stretch, which may exceed 300 before he is done—including the playoffs. If you can't count on your quarterback to be in, you'd better have a Steve Young to back you up, otherwise the losses the team accrues during your absence are a drawback of having you as the quarterback.

Supporting cast: For most of Montana's career, he had one of the two best lines in the NFL. He had two dynamic running backs behind him, and they were among the best receivers at their positions. He also had the best receiver in the history of football, and aside from Jerry Rice, still one of the deepest and most prolific receiving corps ever: Freddie Solomon, Dwight Clark, Brett Jones, and John Taylor.

And the offense that he ran was so cutting edge that it was almost indefensible. So much so that Favre was still running it years later, and it is the foundation of most offenses two decades after it was first implemented. But, by the time Favre got a hold of it, defenses had begun to successfully scheme ways to stop it.

Favre did have a few Pro Bowl receivers: Sterling Sharpe, Robert Brooks, Donald Driver, Antonio Freeman, and Mark Chmura. But, the sum of those combined players do not have as many Pro Bowls as Jerry Rice alone, and he had each for only a few years.

Freeman did nothing after leaving Favre for a pretty good quarterback in Philadelphia and actually improved when he came back and was over the hill. Sharpe was only around for Favre's first three seasons.

Moreover, the Packers had few seasons with a good running game under Favre, one for Dorsey Levens and four with Ahman Green. By the time they had Green, the receiving corps was sparse, yet Favre made a 1,000-yard receiver out of Bill Schroeder.

The Packers' line was their Achilles' heel in the first half of Favre's career, not one of the best in the game as it was throughout Montana's time in San Francisco. How long could Montana have lasted behind that line when he couldn't even last behind the one he had?

Both quarterbacks took over mediocre teams late in their careers and made them contenders, but Favre was older when he did it. Both of their successors did well with the same cast that they had, but Young got more of his offensive teammates to the Pro Bowl the year Montana sat out with injury than Joe had the previous season.

So how do they match up, statistically?

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?