10. John Elway: Denver Broncos (1983-1998)
The Good
Elway is one of the greatest passers the game has ever seen. He ranks third in NFL history in attempts, completions, and passing yards. His consistency is shown by his record 12 seasons passing for 3000 or more yards. He threw exactly 300 touchdown passes, which ranks fifth all time.
He earned nine Pro Bowl selections, the second most ever among quarterbacks. Elway earned NFL MVP honors in 1986 and was named the AFC's Offensive Player of the Year in 1993.
Elway was a winner. He ranks second in NFL history with 148 regular season wins. He won Super Bowls in his last two seasons, and earned Super Bowl MVP honors in the last game of his career.
His 47 fourth-quarter comebacks rank first in NFL history. In the 1986 AFC Championship Game, he led the Broncos on a legendary 98-yard drive to tie the game, which the Broncos eventually won in overtime.
He was a better runner than most people remember, rushing for over 200 yards in eleven seasons. His “Helicopter” run in the 1997 Super Bowl proved that the 37-year-old man could still bring it.
His 774 career rushes rank second among quarterbacks, just one behind Randall Cunningham, and he is the only player to run for a touchdown in four Super Bowls.
The Bad
He lost his first three Super Bowls, leading his offense to a combined 40 points in those three games. He has thrown an interception in all five of his Super Bowls and ranks first in Super Bowl history with eight interceptions.
His passing statistics were not even as close to good as people think they were. He once went seven consecutive seasons without topping 20 touchdown passes. He never threw 30 touchdowns in a season and only topped 4000 yards once. Five times he failed to throw for more touchdowns than interceptions.
Elway was generally aided by a very good supporting cast. Running back Terrell Davis earned three Pro Bowl selections and was named the league MVP in 1998. Wide receiver Rod Smith was selected to play in three Pro Bowls and tight end Shannon Sharpe is an eight-time Pro Bowler. The Broncos possessed a top-five defense seven times during Elway's career.
Bottom Line
His fourth-quarter comeback wins and two Super Bowl championships give him a reputation as one of the greatest clutch quarterbacks of all time. While this is true, he still performed terribly in three Super Bowls.
9. Brett Favre: Atlanta Falcons (1991), Green Bay Packers (1992-2007), New York Jets (2008-present)
The Good
The legend of Brett Favre began in the third game of the 1992 season, when he replaced an injured Don Majkowski and led the Pack to a comeback victory in week three. Since then, he has started in a record 266 consecutive regular-season games, and 22 more in the postseason.
He has played through a broken and sprained thumb on his right hand, a badly sprained left ankle, a sprained left foot, a sprained left knee, a torn ligament in his left knee, a severely bruised left hip, and a separated left shoulder.
Brett Favre holds almost every single NFL passing record, including attempts, completions, yards, and touchdown passes. He is the only back-to-back-to-back MVP winner in NFL history (1995-1997). He has been selected to nine Pro Bowls and led the NFL in touchdown passes four times and passing yards twice.
Favre led the Packers to a Super Bowl championship in 1996, tossing two touchdown passes against the New England Patriots. The Packers reached the Super Bowl again the next year. Favre led the Pack to nine division titles and four conference championship game performances.
The Bad
The man is a turnover machine. He had turned the ball over more than 400 times in his NFL career (postseason included) for an average of more than 22 times per season. This is a greater frequency than Vinny Testaverde (Mr. Turnover), Eli Manning, or Rex Grossman. It's almost embarrassing.
He has also struggled in the postseason. Big-time struggled.
He is the only quarterback to throw an interception in overtime in a playoff game twice in a career. He quarterbacked the first-ever playoff game lost by the Packers at their own Lambeau Field. He threw a record six interceptions against the Rams in 2001, and threw four interceptions in a home loss to the 8-8 Minnesota Vikings in 2004.
He was a terrible quarterback in 2005 and a mediocre one in 1993, 1999, 2000, and 2006.
Bottom Line
Favre holds virtually every single passing record in NFL history, including touchdown passes, consecutive games started, and wins by a quarterback. He won a record-tying three MVPs, a Super Bowl, and did most of this without a great supporting cast.
However, he earned a reputation as a great postseason performer following his Super Bowl victory in 1996, and for the rest of his career, failed to deliver when it mattered the most.
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