Ian Allan
There's been some talk recently about whether Kurt Warner is a Hall of Fame candidate. I'm not a big fan of the whole Hall of Fame concept -- trying to decide which individuals deserve to have the official "great" label stuck on them. To me, it seems unnecessary. Why not instead just have a museum documenting the history of the game? The great players would still be honored.
Most of that stuff is fact anyway . Which teams and players won the championships. Which players played in the most Pro Bowls. Which players gained the most yards in each era. And which plays, games, stories and moments were the most noteworthy.
But given the system that’s in place, I think you have to consider Warner. He’s a shoo-in, in my opinion, if at Tampa he becomes the first quarterback to win Super Bowls with two teams. And Warner right now, has a body of work that is more impressive than some of the men who’ve already been enshrined.
Warner has put together a few outstanding regular seasons, but I was looking at his work in the postseason, and it’s surprisingly good – historically good. He’s 3-0 in NFC Championship games, and only Bart Starr has a better postseason passer rating.
Below, see how Warner stacks up against the other quarterbacks we’ve seen regularly in the playoffs in recent history. I believe I’ve listed all quarterbacks who’ve started at least 10 playoff games in the last 30 years – since the NFL went to the 16-game schedule in 1978.
PASSER RATING
Rating
97.3 Kurt Warner
96.2 Joe Montana
89.0 Troy Aikman
88.0 Tom Brady
85.8 Steve Young
85.2 Brett Favre
84.9 Peyton Manning
84.5 Warren Moon
80.8 Donovan McNabb
80.7 Jim Plunkett
79.8 John Elway
77.1 Dan Marino
77.0 Phil Simms
74.3 Randall Cunningham
71.8 Danny White
71.7 Jim Kelly
67.0 Steve McNair
66.3 Mark Brunell
WINNING PERCENTAGE
(in games started)
W L Pct.
14 3 .824 Tom Brady
8 2 .800 Kurt Warner
8 2 .800 Jim Plunkett
11 4 .733 Troy Aikman
16 7 .696 Joe Montana
14 8 .636 John Elway
7 4 .636 Danny White
9 6 .600 Donovan McNabb
6 4 .600 Phil Simms
8 6 .571 Steve Young
12 10 .545 Brett Favre
9 8 .529 Jim Kelly
5 5 .500 Steve McNair
7 8 .467 Peyton Manning
5 6 .455 Mark Brunell
8 10 .444 Dan Marino
3 7 .300 Warren Moon
3 7 .300 Randall Cunningham
COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
Pct.
64.3 Warren Moon
63.9 Kurt Warner
63.7 Troy Aikman
63.3 Joe Montana
62.5 Tom Brady
62.0 Steve Young
61.6 Peyton Manning
60.7 Brett Favre
59.6 Donovan McNabb
59.6 Jim Plunkett
59.5 Steve McNair
59.1 Jim Kelly
57.4 Danny White
56.3 Phil Simms
56.0 Dan Marino
54.6 John Elway
52.6 Randall Cunningham
50.8 Mark Brunell
PASSING YARDS
(average yards in games started)
YPG
299 Kurt Warner
283 Warren Moon
280 Peyton Manning
257 Troy Aikman
251 Joe Montana
251 Dan Marino
243 Randall Cunningham
241 Brett Favre
235 Donovan McNabb
233 Tom Brady
229 Jim Plunkett
227 Jim Kelly
226 John Elway
223 Steve Young
208 Danny White
176 Steve McNair
168 Phil Simms
167 Mark Brunell
TD-INT RATIO
(TD passes divided by interceptions)
TD Int
26 12 Tom Brady
45 21 Joe Montana
23 12 Kurt Warner
10 6 Phil Simms
20 13 Steve Young
23 16 Donovan McNabb
24 17 Troy Aikman
39 28 Brett Favre
32 24 Dan Marino
12 9 Randall Cunningham
22 17 Peyton Manning
27 21 John Elway
17 14 Warren Moon
11 11 Mark Brunell
15 16 Danny White
10 12 Jim Plunkett
20 28 Jim Kelly
6 11 Steve McNair
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