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Favre lands No. 8 on an all-time QB list

With the book closed on Favre's career (yeah, it's closed), where would you rank him among the all-time greats?

By Mark Craig

January 14, 2011 at 7:25PM

Question of the day: When you heard the Broncos hired John Fox yesterday, did you wonder if it might have been the first time in NFL history that a four-win team hired a two-win coach and was happy about it? ...

FIRST DOWN:

With Tom Brady heading toward what might be a record-tying fourth Super Bowl win, it's time again for people to wonder whether a fourth ring would make Brady the greatest NFL quarterback of all-time.

Gary Myers, the Daily News' NFL columnist, wrote a column about Brady's place among the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He also listed his top 10 quarterbacks of all time.

Myers lists Joe Montana No. 1. I would agree with that, considering Montana won four Super Bowls while throwing 11 touchdowns and no picks. Myers lists Brady No. 2 and says Brady would have to win two more to be moved ahead of Montana. I would agree with that as well. (And, boy, would I hate to say good-bye to Joe Cool as my No. 1 all-time QB).

Here's the rest of Myers' top 10: 3, Johnny Unitas. 4, Dan Marino. 5, John Elway. 6, Peyton Manning. 7, Troy Aikman. 8, Brett Favre. 9, Terry Bradshaw. 10, Otto Graham.

Can't go wrong with 10 like that. But ....

. Manning at No. 6 seems low. But his 9-10 postseason record is hanging freshly over his head right now.

. I'd put Elway ahead of Marino.

. And Bradshaw is too low. I'd definitely put him ahead of Favre and Aikman.

. Without more thought, I don't know where I'd put Graham considering the difference in the eras.

It's interesting. Favre has all the records and a Super Bowl win. But a list like this really illustrates that as good as he was, Favre is toward the bottom of the top 10, and might not even be among the 10 best quarterbacks of all time. But he is, of course, a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

SECOND DOWN:

Brady will win that elusive fourth Super Bowl. I think it'll come this season, but if not, the Patriots definitely are building back toward the level they were at when they won three Super Bowls in Brady's first four years as a starter. Brady, 33, is still young enough to be the leader when the Patriots return to dynasty level.

It's still amazing to look back and see seven QBs were drafted ahead of Brady in 2000. A sixth-round pick, Brady was taken behind Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi of Hofstra, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger and, yes, the punch line that is Spergon Wynn.

Martin (Steelers), Bulgers (Saints) and Wynn (Browns) all were selected in the sixth round before Brady was chosen. And, as Myers points out, even Bill Walsh, who discovered Montana in the third round in 1979, missed on Brady. Working in the 49ers' front office at the time, Walsh selected Carmazzi in the third round.

THIRD DOWN:

I don't think the Jets will beat the Patriots on Sunday. But it's not because the Patriots are this well-oiled postseason machine.

Yes, New England has Bill Belichick and Brady. But there seems to be a misperception that this is your typical Patriots team. It's not. This is a young team that doesn't have a lot of playoff experience overall.

In fact, the Patriots' roster has played in fewer playoff games (101) than the Jets' roster (196). In the past two years, the Patriots have played in one playoff game, a 33-14 loss at home against the Ravens last year. The Jets, meanwhile, have played in four of them, all on the road. They're 3-1 in those games, including last week's win at Indy.

FOURTH DOWN:

After going 2-2 with my picks last week, here's my swings and probable misses for this weekend:

Steelers 14, Ravens 9. Go with Big Ben at home. The Steelers have beaten the Ravens six consecutive times with Roethlisberger at QB.

Packers 23, Falcons 20. One of the No. 1 seeds will choke. I think it will be the Falcons. Plus, I love the way the Packers are playing right now.

Bears 27, Seahawks 21. In Jay I DO NOT trust, at all. But I can't see the Seahawks shocking the world two weeks in a row.

Patriots 35, Jets 17. If Mark Sanchez starts as slowly this week as he did last week, the Patriots will put the game away by halftime.

And finally, thanks to Chicago Tribune NFL columnist Dan Pompei for helping to further explain why people like me can't seem to develop any confidence in Jay Cutler, particularly with the pressure squarely on his shoulders.

In Cutler's two years with the Bears, he's been faced with eight situations in which the Bears have had the ball trailing by eight points or fewer with five minutes or less left in the game. Cutler led the Bears to victory once in those eight games.

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).