What makes a Super Bowl winning quarterback?

The Winning Quarterbacks

Name	Team	Opp.	Att.	Comp.	Comp. %	Yards	Y/A	TD	INT	Rating
Phil Simms	NYG	Den	25	22	88.0%	268	10.7	3	0	150.9
Joe Montana	SF	Den	29	22	75.9%	297	10.2	5	0	147.6
Jim Plunkett	Oak	Phi	21	13	61.9%	261	12.4	3	0	145.0
Troy Aikman	Dal	Buf	30	22	73.3%	273	9.1	4	0	140.7
Steve Young	SF	SD	36	24	66.7%	325	9.0	6	0	134.8
Doug Williams	Wash	Den	29	18	62.1%	340	11.7	4	1	127.9
Joe Montana	SF	Mia	35	24	68.6%	331	9.5	3	0	127.2
Joe Flacco	Bal	SF	33	22	66.7%	287	8.7	3	0	124.2
Russell Wilson	Sea	Den	25	18	72.0%	206	8.2	2	0	123.1
Terry Bradshaw	Pit	Dal	19	9	47.4%	209	11.0	2	0	122.5
Terry Bradshaw	Pit	Dal	30	17	56.7%	318	11.6	4	1	119.2
Bart Starr	GB	KC	23	16	69.6%	250	10.9	2	1	116.2
Roger Staubach	Dal	Mia	19	12	63.2%	119	6.3	2	0	115.9
Joe Montana	SF	Cin	36	23	63.9%	357	9.9	2	0	115.2
Drew Brees	NO	Indy	39	32	82.1%	288	7.4	2	0	114.5
Ken Stabler	Oak	Min	19	12	63.2%	180	9.5	1	0	111.7
Aaron Rodgers	GB	Pit	39	24	61.5%	304	7.8	3	0	111.5
Tom Brady	NE	Phi	33	23	69.7%	236	7.2	2	0	110.2
Bob Griese	Mia	Min	7	6	85.7%	73	10.4	0	0	110.1
Troy Aikman	Dal	Pit	23	15	65.2%	209	9.1	1	0	108.8
Terry Bradshaw	Pit	Min	14	9	64.3%	96	8.9	1	0	108.0
Brett Favre	GB	NE	27	14	51.9%	246	9.1	2	0	107.9
Jim McMahon	Chi	NE	20	12	60.0%	256	12.8	0	0	104.2
Eli Manning	NYG	NE	40	30	75.0%	296	7.4	1	0	103.7
Roger Staubach	Dal	Den	25	17	68.0%	183	7.3	1	0	102.6
Terry Bradhsaw	Pit	Ram	21	14	66.7%	309	14.7	2	3	101.9
Tom Brady	NE	Car	48	32	66.7%	354	7.4	3	1	100.5
Joe Montana	SF	Cin	22	14	63.6%	157	7.1	1	0	100.0
Kurt Warner	St. L	Ten	45	24	53.3%	414	9.2	2	0	99.7
John Elway	Den	Atl	29	18	62.1%	336	11.6	1	1	99.2
Jim Plunkett	Rai	Wash	25	16	64.0%	172	6.9	1	0	97.4
Bart Starr	GB	Oak	24	13	54.2%	202	8.4	1	0	96.2
Jeff Hostetler	NYG	Buf	32	20	62.5%	222	6.9	1	0	93.5
Ben Roethlisberger	Pit	Ari	30	21	70.0%	256	8.5	1	1	93.2
Mark Rypien	Wash	Buf	33	18	54.6%	292	8.9	2	1	92.0
Len Dawson	Wash	Buf	17	12	70.6%	142	8.4	1	1	90.8
Bob Griese	Mia	Wash	11	8	72.7%	88	8.0	1	1	88.4
Eli Manning	NYG	NE	34	19	55.9%	255	7.5	2	1	87.3
Tom Brady	NE	St. L	27	16	59.3%	145	5.4	1	0	86.2
Joe Namath	NYJ	Bal	28	17	60.7%	206	7.4	0	0	83.3
Peyton Manning	Indy	Chi	38	25	65.8%	247	6.5	1	1	81.8
Trent Dilfer	Bal	NYG	25	12	48.0%	153	6.1	1	0	80.9
Brad Johnson	TB	Oak	34	18	52.9%	215	6.3	2	1	79.9
Troy Aikman	Dal	Buf	27	19	70.4%	207	7.7	0	1	77.2
Joe Theismann	Wash	Mia	23	15	65.2%	143	6.2	2	2	75.1
Johnny Unitas	Bal	Dal	9	3	33.3%	88	9.8	1	2	68.1
Earl Morrall	Bal	Dal	15	7	46.7%	147	9.8	0	1	54.0
John Elway	Den	GB	22	12	54.6%	123	5.6	0	1	51.9
Ben Roethlisberger	Pit	Sea	21	9	42.9%	123	5.9	0	2	22.6

*This table is sortable.  Thanks to Topher Doll for taking the time not only to format the table, but to compile the stats as well!

Yes Broncos fans, take this time to bury your head in shame at the fact that the two best performances in Super Bowl history came against your Denver Broncos.  I'm not going to count Russell Wilson's performance because his defense and special teams set him up all game.

Now that you're done weeping, take a look at the rest of the list.  As you can see, from top to bottom, what it takes to win a Super Bowl varies by case.

Do you have to be a 300-yard passer?

No.  In fact, out of the 48 winning performances, only 10 have eclipsed 300 yards passing.

Do you have to throw 3 or more TD passes?

No.  Only 11 of 48 performances have featured a performance with 3 or more TD passes.

What about interceptions?

Well, here we see a larger correlation.  Only Terry Bradshaw--you know the same Terry Bradshaw that trashed Peyton Manning's postseason record, has thrown 3 interceptions and won the game.  This was also in a game where he threw for 309 yards on only 14 completions.  Think Tim Tebow v. the Steelers.

30 Super Bowl winning quarterbacks or 62.5% of them did not throw an interception.

When you include QB's that threw only one pick, it accounts for 44/48 or a staggering 91.7% of the performances.  Remember Peyton Manning's 2 INT's against Seattle?  Only Joe Theismann, Ben Roethlisberger, and Johnny Unitas managed to win games when throwing 2 interceptions.

Other fun facts

- 62.5% of all winning QB's attempted less than 30 passes

- 77.2% of all winning QB's completed at least 60% of their passes

- 2 QB's have won Super Bowls when attempting less than 10 passes (Bob Griese, Johnny Unitas)

- 3 QB's have won Super Bowls when attempting more than 40 passes (Eli Manning, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady)

So what does it take?

Of course it varies by team, but if I had to craft a winning stat-line, it would look something like this:

19-29 (65.5%), 240 yards (8.3 YPA), 2 TD, 0 INT

The keys here are balance, effectiveness (higher yards per attempt) and most importantly no turnovers.

The Best of the Best

5. Jim Plunkett 13-21 (61.9%), 261 yards (12.4 YPA), 3 TD 0 INT, 145.0 Rating

4. Troy Aikman 22-30 (73.3%), 273 yards (9.1 YPA), 4 TD 0 INT, 140.7 Rating

3. Steve Young 24-36 (66.7%), 325 yards (9.0 YPA), 6 TD 0 INT, 134.8 Rating

2. Phil Simms 22-25 (88.0%), 268 yards (10.7 YPA), 3 TD 0 INT, 150.9 Rating

1. Joe Montana 22-29 (75.9%), 297 yards (10.2 YPA), 5 TD 0 INT, 147.6 Rating

It was a tough one deciding which Bronco slayer was topps, but you can't give me a better mastery performance than Joe Montana.  Steve Young's Rating gets dinged by his lower completion percentage.  Passer Rating puts a premium on higher percentages.

The Worst of the Worst

5.Tom Brady 16-27 (59.3%), 145 yards (5.4 YPA), 1 TD 0 INT, 86.2 Rating

4. Trent Dilfer 12-25 (48.0%), 153 yards (6.1 YPA), 1 TD 0 INT, 80.9 Rating

3. Johnny Unitas 3-9 (33.3%), 88 yards (9.8 YPA), 1 TD 2 INT,  68.1 Rating

2. John Elway 12-22 (54.6%), 123 yards (5.6 YPA), 0 TD 1 INT, 51.9 Rating

1. Ben Roethlisberger 9-21 (42.9%), 123 yards (5.9 YPA), 0 TD 2 INT, 22.6 Rating

Each of these games save for the Denver/GB featured some smashmouth, shutdown, defensive performances.  But no one will remember that Elway played a sub-par game, they will remember "The Helicopter."  No one will remember that Tom Brady was willed to the finish line by his defense and kicker, they will remember that he dinked and dunked his way downfield against prevent defense to set up the winning score.

To the victor belong the spoils...unless you're Trent Dilfer, Johnny Unitas, and Ben Roethlisberger.

Elway and Manning Wins

How did John and Peyton fare in their Super Bowl victories?

Player	Game	Opp	Com	Att	%	Yards	YPA	TD	INT	Rate
Elway	SB 32	GB	12	22	54.5	123	5.6	0	1	51.9
Elway	SB 33	ATL	19	29	62.1	336	10.7	1	1	99.2
Manning	SB 41	CHI	25	38	65.8	247	6.5	1	1	81.8
Totals	---	---	56	89	62.9	706	7.9	2	3	81.0

Nothing really flashy.  In SB 32 the workhorse was Terrell Davis.  John's only interception was with a 7-point lead the play after GB had turned the ball over.  Like I said, people only remember the helicopter from that game.

The 2nd time around, his numbers do not do him justice.  His lone interception was a deflection off the hands of Shannon Sharpe.

Manning on the other hand was efficient and moved the ball against the NFL's top rated defense.  For all the talk about his deficiencies in the elements, no one ever mentions the fact that he won this game in a torrential downpour.

Elway and Manning Losses

Player	Game	Opp	Com	Att	%	Yards	YPA	TD	INT	Rate
Elway	SB 21	NYG	22	37	59.5	304	8.2	1	1	83.6
Elway	SB 22	WAS	14	38	36.8	257	6.7	1	3	36.8
Elway	SB 24	SF	10	26	38.5	108	4.2	0	2	19.4
Manning	SB 44	HO	31	45	68.9	333	7.4	1	1	88.5
Manning	SB 48	SEA	34	49	69.4	280	5.7	1	2	73.5
Totals	---	---	111	195	56.9	1282	6.6	4	9	64.5

FOR THE LOVE OF FOOTBALL IT BURNS MY EYES.....IT BURNS!!!

What does this mean for Peyton?

First and foremost Peyton has to play mistake free ball.  With him, it seems as if turnovers come in bunches.  Can't have that.

You can count on him being efficient no matter the outcome, but if the offense isn't working the ball downfield with at least some success, you are going to see a lot of long drives where opportunities to fail abound.

The Perfect Manning game in my estimation will feature less than 35 attempts with no turnovers.

If we get into the position to play in the big game this year, we will revisit this post, until then...

GO BRONCOS!!!