BEST OF THE BEST
Remaining quarterbacks are some of the best to ever play
Four teams left in the NFL playoffs. Four quarterbacks left in the NFL playoffs.
Two all-time greats, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Another a surefire Hall of Famer, Ben Roethlisberger. The other the leading contender for league most valuable player, Matt Ryan.
We’ve been saying it for years. But it’s never been truer. It’s a quarterback’s game. High school, college, pro. Doesn’t matter. If you’ve got a playmaker taking snaps, you’re ahead of the game.
You don’t have to have a world-class quarterback to win. Just last year, a past-his-prime Carson Palmer reached the NFC finals and the ghost of Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl. In this decade, Jay Cutler, Alex Smith and Mark Sanchez have reached conference championship games.
But Rushmore quarterbacks are highly-recommended.
Last Saturday night, New England beat Houston 34-16. Swap the QBs – put Brock Osweiler with the Patriots and make Brady a Texan – and I guarantee the great Bill Belichick would have
gone home a loser.
Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys’ great season ended despite a great performance from both team and rookie quarterback Dak Prescott, all because of a close encounter of the third kind with Rodgers.
Meanwhile, Ryan is quarterbacking an Atlanta Falcons offense that has become the league’s best, and Roethlisberger is one win shy of reaching third place on the all-time playoff victory list for quarterbacks. Brady has 23, Joe Montana had 16 and Big Ben can tie Manning, Terry Bradshaw and John Elway with 14.
This is an historic quarterback final four. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell researched conference title games and figures the only year that can match it is the 1992 season. Troy Aikman in his prime. Dan Marino in his prime. Jim Kelly in his prime. Steve Young in his prime. Four Hall of Fame quarterbacks who combined to reach 10 Super Bowls.
Of course, of the current Fab Four, Rodgers is the best. Brady’s career is unsurpassed, Roethlisberger is a Pittsburgh institution and Ryan is getting there in Atlanta. But Rodgers does things at quarterback never before seen.
I have never heard pro athletes talk about an opponent the way the Cowboys talked about Rodgers after Green Bay’s 34-31 victory Sunday night.
Free safety Byron Jones: “He’s spectacular.”
Cornerback Morris Claiborne: “You always have to be on top of your game.”
Coach Jason Garrett: “This quarterback is able to throw from any body position to anywhere in the field. It becomes more challenging.”
The Packers don’t have the best team in the field. Their running game consists of a Bob Stoops fullback (Aaron Ripkowski) and a converted flanker (Ty Montgomery). In Dallas, the Packers were without their top receiver, Jordy Nelson, and multiple defensive backs.
But just like when Sandy Koufax took the mound for the Dodgers, Rodgers was taking the snaps, so everything else is just details.
Yet Koufax didn’t always win. He pitched against Warren Spahn and Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal. Rodgers is in a final four of similar talent.
These four quarterbacks are yardage producers and touchdown makers. These four quarterbacks put defenses on their heels. These four quarterbacks show the National Football League that without a top-shelf passer in 2017, your chances of victory are very small.