Originally posted by Scotty70
To Manning's credit, he is a true competitor and probably the smartest QB ever to play the game. I would have to see a few more rings to call him the best, but he definitely is the smartest.
The only way to really beat him is to have two defensive schemes...one in the first half and a totally different one in the second.
As a Jet fan, I think Peyton b ...[text shortened]... us in the locker room between halves when he had time to think about what we were trying to do.
Joe Montana did it in college and in the pro ranks, and he was a hugely consistent winner. Montana was very smart. He ran the most difficult offensive scheme when it was first devised by Bill Walsh, and he ran it to perfection. I would have to say he is the best that has ever played.
Dan Marino was the most prolific passer in the game. He was tremedously accurate and he did it while the other teams knew what he was going to do. He was better at picking defenses apart than Manning is, if for no other reason than he did it down field. A tremendous amount of Peyton's success comes form dump passes and screens where his players make the yardage for him. Marino would split the seam and coverages repeatedly, and was very accurate doing so. His only real negative is the lack of a ring.
John Elway is the greatest in history at running the two minute offense. He was a winner and he carried the Broncos most of his career. He had a tremendous will to win, the greatest arm ever in the game (including Marino), and he was a tremendous athlete.
Johnny Unitas was a true general on the field. He was not only a tough runner, but a very good passer as well. He was the best of his era.
Terry Bradshaw was dumb as a stump, but had a terrific cast assembled around him by one of the greatest coaches ever. He did learn to execute and was able to put it together. he did have a "don't give up" attitude.
Peyton Manning is a great QB no doubt, he takes what the defense gives him, but his specialty is getting rid of the ball quickly and getting short range pass completions and letting the athletes on the team build his numbers for him.
Roger Staubach was a great running QB who became a complete QB under Tom Landry's scheme. He was smart and he distributed the ball well. His greatest asset was his leadership and his iron will to succeed.
Brett Farve has been a gunslinger all his life. He lives and dies by the pass. His ability actually gets him into trouble because he believes he can make every throw, which often times has lead to silly picks. But, he is a gamer and he has longevity.
Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, Y.A. Tittle were stand outs in their era and deserve mention in the discussion as well.