Statistical comparison of all 11 QBs with three or more Super Bowl starts

[DBR96A]

RANKINGS BY CATEGORY

Passer rating

124.4 - Joe Montana
112.8 - Terry Bradshaw
111.9 - Troy Aikman
96.7 - Kurt Warner
95.4 - Roger Staubach
94.5 - Tom Brady
72.7 - Bob Griese
69.9 - Ben Roethlisberger
62.0 - John Elway
57.1 - Jim Kelly
43.7 - Fran Tarkenton

Passing yards per game

385.3 - Kurt Warner
260.5 - Joe Montana
258.5 - Jim Kelly
250.3 - Tom Brady
239.8 - John Elway
233.0 - Terry Bradshaw
229.7 - Troy Aikman
214.0 - Ben Roethlisberger
183.5 - Roger Staubach
163.0 - Fran Tarkenton
98.3 - Bob Griese

Yards per attempt

11.1 - Terry Bradshaw
8.8 - Kurt Warner
8.6 - Troy Aikman
8.5 - Joe Montana
7.6 - John Elway
7.5 - Roger Staubach
7.2 - Bob Griese
7.1 - Ben Roethlisberger
6.4 - Tom Brady
5.8 - Jim Kelly
5.5 - Fran Tarkenton

Completion percentage

70.0% - Troy Aikman
68.0% - Joe Montana
64.1% - Tom Brady
63.4% - Bob Griese
62.9% - Kurt Warner
62.2% - Roger Staubach
60.4% - Ben Roethlisberger
58.3% - Terry Bradshaw
56.5% - Jim Kelly
51.7% - Fran Tarkenton
51.6% - John Elway

TD percentage

10.7% - Terry Bradshaw
9.0% - Joe Montana
8.2% - Roger Staubach
6.3% - Troy Aikman
4.5% - Kurt Warner*
4.5% - Tom Brady*
3.3% - Ben Roethlisberger
2.4% - Bob Griese
1.9% - John Elway
1.7% - Jim Kelly
1.1% - Fran Tarkenton

INT percentage

0.0% - Joe Montana
0.6% - Tom Brady
1.3% - Troy Aikman
2.3% - Kurt Warner
4.1% - Roger Staubach
4.8% - Terry Bradshaw
4.9% - Bob Griese
5.1% - Jim Kelly*
5.1% - John Elway*
5.5% - Ben Roethlisberger
6.7% - Fran Tarkenton

TD/INT ratio

∞ - Joe Montana
7.0 - Tom Brady
5.0 - Troy Aikman
2.3 - Terry Bradshaw
2.0 - Roger Staubach
2.0 - Kurt Warner
0.6 - Ben Roethlisberger
0.5 - Bob Griese
0.4 - John Elway
0.3 - Jim Kelly
0.2 - Fran Tarkenton

Raw categorical average

1.9 - Joe Montana
3.4 - Troy Aikman
3.7 - Kurt Warner
4.0 - Terry Bradshaw
4.6 - Tom Brady
5.6 - Roger Staubach
7.4 - Bob Griese
7.9 - Ben Roethlisberger
8.1 - John Elway
8.6 - Jim Kelly
10.7 - Fran Tarkenton

(*: Ties broken by further decimal points.)

RANKINGS BY QB

Troy Aikman

3rd - Passer rating
7th - Yards per game
3rd - Yards per attempt
1st - Completion percentage
4th - TD percentage
3rd - INT percentage
3rd - TD/INT ratio
2nd - Raw categorical average

Terry Bradshaw

2nd - Passer rating
6th - Yards per game
1st - Yards per attempt
8th - Completion percentage
1st - TD percentage
6th - INT percentage
4th - TD/INT ratio
4th - Raw categorical average

Tom Brady

6th - Passer rating
4th - Yards per game
9th - Yards per attempt
3rd - Completion percentage
6th - TD percentage
2nd - INT percentage
2nd - TD/INT ratio
5th - Raw categorical average

John Elway

9th - Passer rating
5th - Yards per game
5th - Yards per attempt
11th - Completion percentage
9th - TD percentage
9th - INT percentage
9th - TD/INT ratio
9th - Raw categorical average

Bob Griese

7th - Passer rating
11th - Yards per game
7th - Yards per attempt
4th - Completion percentage
8th - TD percentage
7th - INT percentage
8th - TD/INT ratio
7th - Raw categorical average

Jim Kelly

10th - Passer rating
3rd - Yards per game
10th - Yards per attempt
9th - Completion percentage
10th - TD percentage
8th - INT percentage
10th - TD/INT ratio
10th - Raw categorical average

Joe Montana

1st - Passer rating
2nd - Yards per game
4th - Yards per attempt
2nd - Completion percentage
2nd - TD percentage
1st - INT percentage
1st - TD/INT ratio
1st - Raw categorical average

Ben Roethlisberger

8th - Passer rating
8th - Yards per game
8th - Yards per attempt
7th - Completion percentage
7th - TD percentage
10th - INT percentage
7th - TD/INT ratio
8th - Raw categorical average

Roger Staubach

5th - Passer rating
9th - Yards per game
6th - Yards per attempt
6th - Completion percentage
3rd - TD percentage
5th - INT percentage
T5th - TD/INT ratio
6th - Raw categorical average

Fran Tarkenton

11th - Passer rating
10th - Yards per game
11th - Yards per attempt
10th - Completion percentage
11th - TD percentage
11th - INT percentage
11th - TD/INT ratio
11th - Raw categorical average

Kurt Warner

4th - Passer rating
1st - Yards per game
2nd - Yards per attempt
5th - Completion percentage
5th - TD percentage
4th - INT percentage
T5th - TD/INT ratio
3rd - Raw categorical average

Of the 11 QBs listed...

Seven are first-ballot Hall-of-Famers (Aikman, Bradshaw, Elway, Kelly, Montana, Staubach, Tarkenton).
One is a Hall-of-Famer who wasn't inducted on the first ballot (Griese).
One has been retired for less than five years (Warner).
Two are still active (Brady, Roethlisberger).

Discuss.

[LarryNJ]

I'm surprised at a few things. Elways stats were so bad, Montana has 0 ints, and Aikman has a 70% completion percentage.

I'm not surprised that Montana stats shows he was the best of the best, Fran Tarkenton sucked so bad, Bradshaws yards per catch and td's. I can still see him firing the ball down field. Or that Ben's stats suck, they are fresh in my mind.

As for the HOF, Brady is in for sure I think Ben still has to win another before he is a lock, and Warner won't get in.

[DBR96A]

Kurt Warner will get in when he's older. His career reminds me a bit of Jim Plunkett's in that he had some teams give up on him, but his career stats are better than Plunkett's, which will be enough to get him in at some point.

[bensshoes]

Warner will get in eventhough they aren't supposed too look at off the field stuff Warner is squeeky clean and in general a good guy with the league problems they are going to want a good role model too parade up there and he fits the bill.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

Ben will always be middle of the pack when it comes to stats; he's never going to win any passing titles or be a Fantasy top pick. He just wins games and wins a lot of them. With a team like ours that plays in so many tight games I'm glad we have a guy like him, who played just like Elway did. A never say die attitude, a gun slinger, and not afraid to take chances to make the play.

[Rampage]

I'll pour the gas on the fire. Game manager who relies on his defense. Discuss.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

I'll pour the gas on the fire. Game manager who relies on his defense. Discuss.

How can that not be Ben???? Although, managing the game is a bit of a tough thing to determine some times. Normally game managers are guys who either can't handle their own so they do just enough to not "lose" the game, or they are guys who are trained to do just enough to get the win and rely on the defense.

I would say Ben is in the latter, by design of the Arians offense. As soon as we get a lead the foot goes off the gas and it's back to clock management and good defense. Occasionally we get tossed a bone where he'll pour it on, like the Carolina game last year for example but beyond that it's a "get the lead and then run the clock out" mind set.

[LarryNJ]

These stats don't lie. They prove who the best of the best are when all the chips are on the line. Montana, Bradshaw & Aikman did everything that they needed to to win. Tarkenton and Kelly simply didn't get it done and the stats show that. Of course football is a team sport and the defense, running game and special teams play a big part in the final outcome.

As for Ben we all love him but he's more towards the bottom of the pack than the middle. Especially in int's which we all know are killer in any game but worse in the the big games.

[DBR96A]

These stats don't lie. They prove who the best of the best are when all the chips are on the line. Montana, Bradshaw & Aikman did everything that they needed to to win. Tarkenton and Kelly simply didn't get it done and the stats show that. Of course football is a team sport and the defense, running game and special teams play a big part in the final outcome.

As for Ben we all love him but he's more towards the bottom of the pack than the middle. Especially in int's which we all know are killer in any game but worse in the the big games.

In fairness to Ben, take a look at the cause of his last three Super Bowl INTs:

1. Tipped pass
2. Hit as he threw
3. Bobbled ball stolen by DB

Those are more stellar defensive plays (and bad luck on Ben's part) than anything else.

[DanRooney]

Well obviously if he wouldn't of raped those women he'd have a perfect passer rating like Peyton Manning! *troll voice*