With Super Bowl LIX taking place in one week, the history of the biggest game on the yearly calendar in any sport is always a strong talking point. For the Denver Broncos, who have played in eight Super Bowls, there is more history to discuss than just about any other team.
Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports recently compiled a list of the top 20 quarterbacks to ever play in the Super Bowl. This list considers their performance in the Super Bowls they played in only, so it’s not a career body of work.
Three quarterbacks have played in Super Bowls for the Denver Broncos and two of them come in high on this list. Who would you guess comes in at the higher slot?
John Elway and Peyton Manning are two of the best QBs in Super Bowl history
Both Peyton Manning and John Elway crack the top 10 of DeArdo’s rankings but it is Elway at No. 6 and Manning at No. 7. Both quarterbacks won multiple Super Bowls and lost multiple Super Bowls.
Manning, who had to deal with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to finally reach the big game, was able to defeat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI but lost to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. Both of those came when he was with the Indianapolis Colts.
He came to the Broncos in 2012 and took the team to two Super Bowls in four years. After being completely embarrassed by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII he was able to redeem himself two years later, helping the Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50.
“Win or lose, a Peyton Manning Super Bowl was memorable simply because it was a Peyton Manning Super Bowl. He’s on the Mount Rushmore of any all-time QB list, and for good reason. His participation in those games added even more zest to what is already the world’s most anticipated sporting event”, wrote DeArdo.
DeArdo did write “Honestly, you could put Namath ahead of Manning and you wouldn’t get any argument from me”, early in his write-up. He has Namath at No. 8 and while Namath was hugely instrumental for what he did ahead of and in Super Bowl III, there should be a massive argument with anyone who would place him over Manning on a list like this.
As for Elway, he comes up at No. 6, one slot ahead of Manning. It’s the right call.
Elway was able to take three very average Broncos teams to Super Bowls in 1986, 1987 and 1989. The Broncos were pummeled in all three of those games, but it helped set the stage for Elway, perhaps the greatest QB of his era, to win back-to-back Super Bowls to close out his career once he had a complete team around him.
The only quarterbacks who are listed ahead of Elway on this list are:
5. Troy Aikman
4. Terry Bradshaw
3. Patrick Mahomes
2. Joe Montana
1. Tom Brady
It’s hard to argue with any of those as all five of those quarterbacks have no less than three Super Bowl rings. Aikman, Bradshaw and Montana also never lost a Super Bowl whereas Elway lost three.
Still, it’s a great honor for Elway and Manning to be two of the top seven quarterbacks to ever play in the biggest sporting event in the world.
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