G.O.A.T. Talk Brady? Montana? Let’s Take A Dive In
G.O.A.T. Talk Brady? Montana? Let’s Take A Dive In
Intro:
Two greats no doubt in their own respects. Joe Montana like Michael Jordan from an older generation perspective is the greatest quarterback we have ever seen. However this like Jordan with Lebron, Montana has company in the Goat Talk house. New England Patriots long time quarterback Tom Brady is here to challenge that perspective for the new generation. Joe Montana and Bill Walsh gave the 49ers fan smiles for 13 seasons. Just as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have given Patriots for 17 seasons now. It is time to match these two up, to finally found out who is the greatest quarterback we have ever seen.
Regular Season Stats:
Before we talk about the rings argument, let’s talk about what you have to play before the post season the 17 week 16 game regular season. First both quarterbacks reference stats QBR (quarterback rating, QB rating, or passing efficiency) during the regular season. Joe Montana had an average of 92.3 QBR with the 49ers in Chiefs. His highest being at the age of 36 in 1992 when he posted a 118.4 with the 49ers. Just trying to show the team he is still got it; history would show us they would not matter to the 49ers in the end. However Tom Brady posted a 97.6 QBR so far for his career. His career which has expanded longer than Joe Montana's at this point. Brady’s best QBR year was 117.2 in 2007; when he took the Patriots to an undefeated regular season, to later go on to lose to the babyface assassin Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Montant had a better career but for an expand of a career Brady’s QBR is more consentant at higher level just slightly.
Edge: Tom Brady 1-0 (QBR)
Now a stat that is huge in a quarterbacks QBR is their passing yards. Joe Montana for his 15 seasons in the league threw for 40,551 passing yards. This being the 18th highest passing yards thrown in the NFL for a career. His highest being also at an older age in 34 in 1990 throwing for 3,944 for the 49ers. Tom Brady destroys this stat with 66,159 yards for his career. This ranking 4th all time among quarterbacks. He has played 2 more seasons than Montana but still however blows him out of the water in passing yards. Brady’s highest yards thrown in a season was 5,235 yards in 2011; throwing 5,000 yards something Montana never did. Brady has thrown for over 4,000 yards 9 times also something Montana did not even do once. Brady takes an early lead in the regular season but in dominate fashion in passing yards.
Edge: Tom Brady 2-0 (Passing Yards)
A quarterbacks has 1 big job when running an offense, being able to score touchdown. Tom Brady does this task very well. Throwing 488 touchdown passes in his career 4th all time. Montana ranked 16th all time in this category with 273 touchdown passes. Once again 2 seasons would not have made up this ground for Montana especially at his older age. Montana’s Touchdown percentage (This is an unofficial statistic used by analysts and sports broadcasters to rate how often a quarterback or a team scores a touchdown.) he threw a touchdown at 5.1% for his career total passes. Tom Brady once again edging Joe Montana out with throwing a 5.5% touchdown percentage for his career. It’s good thing we have stats like like TD% to help way out those two seasons Brady has over Montana, but once again Brady prevails for 2 more victories in this matchup.
Edge: Tom Brady 4-0 (TD’s, TD%)
The other job for a quarterback when running an offense is keeping the ball out of the other team’s hands. Both quarterbacks among all time greats have done a very swell job of this. Tom Brady has thrown 160 interceptions in his career, this ranking T-53 among all time interceptions. He is behind notables quarterback that are also still playing and were drafted after his 2000 199th pick draft; like Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers (2004), and 2 time Super Bowl Champion Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers (2004). Even Eli Manning (2004) who beat Brady twice in the Super Bowl has more interception than him. Joe Montana threw only 139 picks in his career, he however did in it in less pass attempts for a career than Brady. Montana had 16 interceptions in 1990, Brady never went over 14 for a season. Joe Montana Interception percentage ( A statistic in football that measures the percent of pass attempts that lead to interceptions. Interception rate is mainly used to evaluate the performance of quarterbacks where the lower the INT% the better.) was 2.6% for his career. Tom Brady with the longer career does not matter once again posting a 1.8% interception percentage. Tom Brady splits this one with however since we can’t say Montant would of passed Brady in picks if he played 2 more years, because in his last year he only threw 10 which was 4th lowest when he was a starter.
Edge: Tom Brady 5 (Int%) Joe Montana 1 (Int)
Now how much did both these quarterback do their job in the regular season and win football games? Joe Montana for his 15 seasons in the NFL in the regular season went 117-47. Brady career NFL regular season record is 196-55 for 17 seasons.. Both his wins and losses being higher with more chance. However playing 2 more seasons than Montana he has 79 more wins and only 8 more losses. Brady also has a winning percentage of 78.1% which is better compared to Montana’s 71.3%. I do not think you need a special stat for you to figure out Brady has done much better winning wise in the regular season as well as Montana.
Edge: Tom Brady 7 (Record, WP%) Tom Montana 1
Regular Season Winner: Tom Brady 7 to 1
Playoff Stats:
Now the show where it all matter most, where quarterbacks are really judged, and QBR is a great way to show the efficiency of a QB in the playoffs. Tom Brady in his 37 games under center in the most pressured size games in all of the land posted a 90.9 QBR. Which if you remember from earlie is lower than his regular season 97.6 QBR but also is lot less games being judges. Joe Montana however septed his game up according to QBR going up to a 95.6 compared his 92.3 QBR in the regular season. Montana posted a higher QBR in 23 games less opportunity for failure but also less opportunity to succeed which is harder to make up in numbers. This stat goes to Joe Montana giving him an early lead in Playoff comparisons.
Edge: Joe Montana 1-0 (QBR)
Being able to run your offense down the field off your arm is also very big for a QBs legacy in the Postseason. This is why passing yards is a factor into Goat Talk’s selection of the Goat. Joe Montana put 5,772 yards with a 62.7% passing completion in 23 games. Tom Brady has thrown for an overwhelming 10,226 passing yards with a 62.8% passing percentage in 37 games. His 10,226 yards is the most off all time in the Playoffs. The 2nd is Peyton Manning with 7,339 passing yards; Tom Brady nearly having 3,000 more than the closest to him. In this case he has almost 5,000 more yards than Montana nearly doubling his yardage in the Postseason. Brady walks away in passing yards for the Playoffs and ties the score.
Edge: Tom Brady 1 (Passing Yards) Joe Montana 1
Defense is big in the Postseason but you have to score to win let’s see which QB did this task more efficiently. Tom Brady does not lack at throwing touchdowns for the cameras in the big moments. In the Playoffs Tom Brady has connected with a receiver for a touchdown 71 times in his career. Joe Montana has done this 45 times in his Playoff career. Tom Brady throwing many more touchdowns than Montana in the Playoffs. However if we go in look at TD% Joe Montana shows to setup his game more in the Postseason. Throwing a 6.1% touchdown percentage, much higher than his 5.1% in the regular season. Tom Brady looks to slow down just a tad according to his TD%. Posting a 4.8% touchdown percentage lower than 5.5% in the regular season. Brady in this one walks with how many touchdowns he thrown but Montana takes the stat that measures your ability at throwing the touchdown.
Edge: Tom Brady 2 (TD passes) Joe Montana 2 (TD%)
Not helping the other teams defense and keeping yours off the field is huge in the Postseason that’s why the interception is also factored into this discussion. Tom Brady has 31 interception the Playoffs in 34 games played, and 1464 pass attempts, not too shabby. Joe Montana has thrown for 21 interception in 23 games, only being 10 behind Brady with 734 pass attempts; that’s 730 less pass attempts than Brady almost double. If those stats didn’t prove Brady keeps the ball safer in the playoffs maybe this will. Joe Montana had a 2.6% for his interception rating in the regular season, that went up slightly to 2.9% in the Postseason. Not hurting the team much but sure is not helping. Brady took his 1.8% regular season and also raised it slightly to 2.1%, but for both you have to factor the less attempts they have in the Postseason. Nonetheless Brady’s Interception percentage stays lower than Joe Montana’s. Giving him both categories in this case.
Edge: Tom Brady 4 (Int, Int%) Joe Montana 2
Now 2 stats people like to judge QBs off of is your record in the Postseason and the chances in you winning in the big moment. Joe Montana has played 23 postseason games in his 15 year career. In this time he posted a 16-7 record, with a winning percentage of 69.6%. Tom Brady in his 17 year career has played 37 playoffs games with a record of 27-10, with a winning percentage of 73%. Tom Brady has played more games than Montana, 14 more games to be exact that’s almost a full regular season. He only has 3 more losses than Montana, 11 more wins, and 4 point higher winning percentage with more chances to lose. One thing Tom Brady knows how to do is win and another one bites the dust has he beats Montana in these categories as well.
Edge: Tom Brady 6 (Record, Winning Percentage) Joe Montana 2
One thing you need is trust in your QB in the Playoffs. When the game is on the line you need a QB to drive you down the field to bring you to the promised land. Both quarterbacks did this at very high level. Joe Montana drove his team down the field for a game winning drive 5 times. Tied for 3rd with Eli Manning for most in a Playoff career. It does not however seem to be a better QB to give the ball to than Tom Brady in the big moment. He is 1st in game winning drives in the Postseason with 11 game winners. Nearly double John Elway’s 6 who is second all time. Joe Montana was clutch not taking that away from him but Brady is just that more clutch in the Postseason.
Edge: Tom Brady 7 (Game winners) Joe Montana 2
Playoff Stats: Tom Brady 7 Joe Montana 2
Accolades:
Now accolades or awards and stats that put these two QBs as outcasts from the rest but not from each other that’s why they must be compared. Two awards that both players have won in the Offensive Player of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. Joe Montana won his CPOY award in the year 1986. When in week one he suffered a severe back injury. The injury was to a spinal disc so bad it required immediate surgery with the doctors suggesting Montana retire. Montana recovered faster than most; came back in November of that year. He took the 49ers to finish with a 10-5-1 record; and won the CPOY as co-recipient sharing the award with Viking’s QB Tommy Kramer. Tom Brady won his in 2009 the year before he suffered a torn ACL in week one of the season. Matt Cassel took over the team and took them to 11-5 but still missed the Playoffs. The next year in 2009-2010 Brady threw for 4,398 yards, 28 TD’s, and 13 INT’s taking his team to the Playoffs and winning the CPOY. Joe Montana has won the OPOY one time in 1989. In 1989 Montana threw for 3,521 yards and 26 touchdowns, with only 8 interceptions, giving him what was then the highest single-season passer rating in NFL history. Which was later broken by the guy that who would replace him Steve Young in 1994. Tom Brady won the OPOY 2 times 2007, and 2010. In 2007 he threw for 4,806 passing yards, 50 touchdown passes, and only eight interceptions. He became the first quarterback to pass for 50 touchdowns in a season. With his 17-0 regular season it was not hard to give Brady the unanimous OPOY award. In 2010 Brady passed for 3,900 yards with 36 touchdowns and only four interceptions on the season. He had a 111.0 passer rating; this gave him at the time two of the top five season ratings in NFL history and made him the first player to finish with a rating above 110 in two different seasons. Both dominate but all thing considering into both these awards Brady got credit for both categories but Montana gets credit for 1.
Edge: Tom Brady 2 (OPOY, CPOY) Joe Montana 1 (CPOY)
Now 1 accolade the player puts up that shows he is better than the rest of the league in a certain category and the other where the fans think you are better than the rest. Both players have won or possessed the highest QBR for a single season twice in their careers. Joe Montana won it in 1987 and 1989. In 1987 set the NFL record for most consecutive pass attempts without an incomplete pass (22) while also passing for 3,054 yards, and had a passer rating of 102.1. In 1989 the same year he OPOY when he posted the highest passer rating ever for the time. Brady lead the league in passer rating in 2007 the 17-0 and 2010 both years he won the OPOY. Joe Montana also had the most passing touchdowns in the league for 2 seasons. In 1982 when he threw for 17 touchdowns in the season which is very low for compared to nowadays. Then in 1987 he went back to the top the mountain for touchdowns in the seasons with 31 end zone connections. Almost double his previous total that won him this honor. Tom Brady has had the most touchdowns in the league 4 times. He won it in the years 2002 with 28 TDs, 2010 and 2015 with 36 TDs, and 2007 with the historic 50 TD season. Not just having being in front of the league 2 more times in passing touchdown Montana he Brady has done something Montana has never done. Tom Brady has led the league in passing yards. He has not just done this once he has done this three times (2005, 2007, 2017). Tom Brady has impressed in his seasons explains his 13 Pro Bowl selections. Which outst Joe Montana’s 8 Pro Bowl selections. So when it comes to leading the league in stats and for the fans to vote you into the Pro Bowl Tom Brady takes another away from Montana.
Edge: Tom Brady 4 (Stat Leader, Pro Bowl Selections) Joe Montana 1
Now one of the big 3 when it comes discussing QBs and G.O.A.T. Talk of the QB position, the MVP award. Joe Montana has won the league’s MVP 2 times in 15 seasons. The first time in 1989 when Montana’s 49ers finished the regular season with an NFL-best 14–2 record, and their two losses were by a total of only five points. Then he won it the next season as well in 1990 when he would end up throwing for 3,944 yards and 26 touchdowns while also throwing a career-high 16 interceptions, but also finishing the regular season at 14-2. Tom Brady has one upt Montana once again with getting the MVP 3 times in his 17 seasons (2007, 2010, 2017). In 2007 the classic 18-1 season when he broke the TD record in a season by being the first QB to have 50 TDs in a season. 2010 Brady threw for 3,900 yards with 36 touchdowns and only four interceptions on the season. In the most recent season 2017 Brady aged like a fine wine being the NFL’s passing yards leader with 4,577 passing yards, making him the oldest player ever to lead the league in passing yards. Brady earned 40 of 50 votes to win his 3rd MVP of his career. Brady’s longevity will not hurt him in this debate only help him that why this 3rd MVP in his 17th season gives him another point on the G.O.A.T Talk scoreboard.
Edge: Tom Brady 5 (MVPs) Joe Montana 1
Not the QBs main job play big in the big game we call the Super Bowl but also win the big game. Now here is the debate is 5 rings with 8 apparences better than a sweet Wendy’s 4 for 4 in the Super Bowl. Well both players did not lack in playing in the big game. In 3 of Joe Montana’s 4 Super Bowl wins he has won the Super Bowl MVP 3 times. Brady has played in the game 8 times, has won 5, but has won the MVP 4 times, one more time than Montana. The classic argument “Montana was perfect in the Super Bowl.” That argument will not work here. Brady is not perfect in the super bowl is has lost 3 times almost has many times has Montana has won; but he has won 5 times, one more time than Montana. So who is the better winner? My interpretation would have to be Brady. YOU DO NOT MORE CREDIT FOR LOSING SOONER. Brady won his conference championship game Montana did not, Brady should not being punished for that. He also has one more ring than Montana so you certainly is the better winner. Putting the nail in the coffin.
Edge: Tom Brady 7 (SB MVPs, Super Bowls) Joe Montana 1
Accolades: Tom Brady 7 Joe Montana 1
Conclusion:
Somethings need to be factored in while others do not into this debate. Was both their teams good? Yes both players teams have had Hall of Fame receivers in Randy Moss in New England, and Jerry Rice for the 49ers. Both defenses and offensive lines have all finished in the top 10 or averaged in the 10 for both players careers. Brady has a maybe the best coach in Bill Belichick and Joe Montana has the Bill Walsh; the inventor of the West Coast offense. What about Brady’s cheating? His team has been found guilty twice of cheating one against the Jets in 2007 known has “Spygate”, and in 2015 in the AFC Championship game against the Colts named “Deflategate”; which the Patriots went to win by 38 points so you tell me if it was a factor. Also we have been have 27 different stats in different areas and Brady beat Montana 21-5 on Goat Talks scoreboard. This inferring that Tom Brady is indeed the Greatest Quarterback to ever play the game of football point, blank, period.
By
Matthew Doherty
Sources:
https://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nfl/touchdown-percentage.aspx
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