Steve Young is a Better Quarterback than Joe Montana

As Pro is making an affirmative statement, the burden of proof for this debate is on him. I affirm that Joe Montana is the better quarterback than Steve Young. Although my opponent is correct in saying Steve Young had a better quarterback rating and was reasonably better in some statistical categories, I think the evidence is clear Joe Montana was better. To begin, let's look at career numbers. Both Joe Montana and Steve Young played 15 seasons in the NFL; each played 13 seasons with the 49ers, and two seasons with a different team.[1][2] However, Joe Montana had significantly more starts (164 as opposed to Steve Young's 143).[1][2] That is 21 more games, or around one and a half more seasons than Young. The career numbers for each are:[1][2] Montana - 63.2% completion percentage, 40,551 passing yards, 273 TDs, 139 INTs, 1,676 rushing yards, 20 TDs Young - 64.3% completion percentage, 33,124 passing yards, 232 TDs, 107 INTs, 4,239 rushing yards, 43 TDs Those numbers are fairly similar. Montana had more yards and touchdowns, but Young had a better completion percentage and less INTs. Even if we include rushing yards and TDs, Montana ends up on top. Montana also finished with more passing yards per game (211.2 as opposed to Young's 196) and was sacked less. From a numbers perspective, the two are about even - with maybe a slight edge for Montana. However, where Montana clearly breaks away from Young is how good he was in the clutch. Joe Montana had a career record of 117-47 (.713 win percentage), while Steve Young was only 94-49 (.657 win percentage). Joe Montana had 31 fourth-quarter comebacks and 33 game-winning drives, while Young only had 14 and 17, respectively. In the playoffs, the numbers are even better: Montana had a record of 16-7 (.696 win percentage), while Young had a record of 8-6 (.571 win percentage).[1][2] Joe Montana won four Super Bowl titles, while Steve Young only won a single title. When we compare their stats, we also see a big disparity: Montana - 62.7% completion, 5,772 passing yards, 45 TDs, 21 INTs, 95.6 quarterback rating Young - 62.0% completion, 3,326 passing yards, 20 TDs, 13 INTs, 85.8 quarterback rating But wait, you might ask - Montana played more games. Shouldn't his stats be better? Good question. Let's see what a typical playoff game would like look for the two: Montana - 20 completions on 32 attempts, 250.9 passing yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT Young - 20 completions on 32 attempts, 222.7 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT You can tell from this, then, that Montana was substantially more efficient in the playoffs than Young.[1][2] Finally, let's look at all-time career rankings. Montana ranks 12th in pass completions, 13th in passing yards, 11th in passing TDs, 10th in passer rating, 34th in passing yards per game, 13th in completion percentage, 10th in game-winning drives, and 5th in comebacks. In those same categories, Young ranks 32nd, 30th, 27th, 4th, 54th, 8th, 66th, and 65th. With the exception of slightly better rankings in passer rating and completion percentage, Montana ranks far higher. In conclusion, I have demonstrated that Montana was at least statistically equal to Young, and likely better. I demonstrated that Montana was far better in clutch, with a better win percentage, more game-winning drives and comebacks, more playoff wins and Super Bowls, and far better statistics. I demonstrated Montana is also far higher in most career-rankings than Young is. References: 1. http://www.pro-football-reference.com... 2. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...