Montana played in an era when no one passed on first down. Since Walsh’s offense was the first to do so, there were no defenses set up for this. That was a tremendous help. When Bart Starr was coach of the Packers, he begged the GM to draft Montana, but I think the GM went with Rich Campbell. He also begged the GM to draft Ronnie Lott when he was coming out of college, but they went with someone else.
Staubach was also a great QB, but again, played in the era that Starr played in, when you established the run.
Both Staubach and Montana had great supporting casts at all times.
Favre played in an era when teams knew you could throw on first down. He was hampered by horrible offensive coordinators, changing receivers, and not having the great supporting cast at all times. He was asked to be more responsible for wins than the others, in my opinion.
Favre had a 3.3 pass-interception percentage. Montana had a 2.6 pass-interception percentage, and Staubach had a 3.7 pass-interception percentage. So, Staubach’s was worse than Favre’s, and there wasn’t that much difference between Favre and Montana (less than 1 more pass in 100 was intercepted). Yes, Favre’s interceptions could be ill-advised sometimes, but an interception is an interception. I would have to think Favre made more dramatic plays to help his team win than did the others.
I will repeat this, because it is a key point. Montana benefited from a great offensive gameplan. I’m sure Staubach was happy with his team’s gameplan. Favre was handcuffed by his teams’ gameplans for much of his career.
Brady is being considered one of the best QBs, but until he got Moss, his stats were well below what they are this year. This goes back to my preseason statement that if Favre had Moss, he’d be the MVP and throw for 50-60 TDs. If Brady, who never threw for more than 28, had 50, what would Favre have had?
One more point. With less than 2:00 to go in the first half of the Rose Bowl, every Illinois play was a run or a pass that was within a yard of the line of scrimmage. Of course, they had no offense. They interviewed Rick Neuheisel, the new UCLA coach, in the stands, and asked him what advice he’d give to Illinois. His answer: Pass on first down.