Seeing these historical players in action has immense value in these discussions, because you we are to compare Elway to QBs of his time and those who played before and since. Numbers only tell part of the story, and winning tends to be undervalued. Before Elway, Denver had a short run of success with a defensive-oriented team, Elway was a key reason the Broncos enjoyed considerably more winning for a longer time. And even with the SB losses(when Denver’s defense was overwhelmed), Elway has a strong postseason history. Fourth quarter comebacks matter, because we rarely see average QBs execute in those situations.

Elway’s freakish talent was a danger to defenses, and we saw it too often to in those wins to say it was just luck.

We do have to credit Montana for his role in the 49ers rise to power, by the time Steve Young arrived, SF was already a 2 time SB champ. Montana was better at a younger age, and Young did just win one SB. I have to rate Montana as the superior QB.