Kudos to BigBlue21 for getting an impressive 9/10 correct on his initial guess, and trueblue63 for being the first to get it right.
Final notes added at the bottom.
How about a game? The following table shows various statistics for the first seven years of the careers of ten quarterbacks who have made there mark in the NFL in some way or another. They are ranked in order of their respective playoff winning percentages. Some of these men are currently playing, some have already retired. All stats were compiled from the very beginning of each quarterbacks career with some exceptions. Winning % (W%), and Playoff Winning % (PW%) are calculated only against games when a start was credited to that quarterback. With at least one quarterback I chose to add rushing yards to yards column (YDS) and touchdowns to his touchdown column (TD) to make the numbers more level with the rest. Each bold number represents the best stat compared to the other quarterbacks in that column, each italicized number represents the worst. Pro Bowl appearances, and Super Bowl wins during the first seven years of someones career might make it too easy to determine who is who, so I simply added if they had one, and made bold who had the most.
Now, onto the game.
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Take a Look at the Table - I just figured out how to do this so please, enjoy my fine work. Allow the numbers to take over your body and mind.
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Don't Go Looking Stats Up - Just play the game, it will be interesting to see how this turns out if we can keep it objective. People looking up numbers to see who is who, kind of ruins that.
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Who Doesn't Belong? - After reviewing the table, which numbers are standing out to you as awful? Based on these numbers alone, who do you think does not belong on this table?
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Who is the Best? - After reviewing the table, and based on these numbers alone, who do you see as the top dog?
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Rank Them - Rank the 10 quarterbacks from best to worst.
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Who is Who? - Lastly, take a look at the fifteen quarterbacks I've listed below. Which of these fifteen are in this table of ten, and who is who?
Eli Manning
Peyton Manning
Donovan McNabb
Steve Young
Philip Rivers
Drew Brees
Michael Vick
Brett Favre
Tom Brady
Tony Romo
Dan Marino
John Elway
Ben Roethlisberger
Warren Moon
Troy Aikman
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What did you come up with? - Share your results in the comment section, and in due time I will reveal the ten quarterbacks.
QB | PW% | W% | TD | YDS | COMP % | INT % | Sack % | Pro Bowl | Super Bowl W | # Losing Seasons |
Alpha - Tom Brady | 85.7% | 74.4% | 147 | 21,564 | 57.9% | 2.2% | 4.9% | YES | YES | 0 |
Bravo - Ben Roethlisberger | 76.9% | 70.4% | 144 | 22,502 | 63.1% | 3.1% | 8.8% | YES | YES | 1 |
Charlie - Brett Favre | 69.2% | 57.7% | 182 | 22,591 | 52.8% | 9.6% | 7.7% | YES | YES | 0 |
Delta - Eli Manning | 57.1% | 57.1% | 156 | 22,646 | 57.1% | 3.5% | 4.9% | YES | YES | 1 |
Echo - Dan Marino | 50% | 61.3% | 220 | 27,853 | 59.5% | 3.3% | 2.3% | YES | NO | 1 |
Foxtrot - Drew Brees | 50% | 52.2% | 134 | 21,189 | 62.3% | 2.4% | 4.5% | YES | NO | 2 |
Golf - Michael Vick | 50% | 55.9% | 95 | 15,545 | 51.4% | 2.6% | 8.9% | YES | NO | 1 |
Hotel - Philip Rivers | 42.8% | 68.7% | 106 | 19,931 | 62.2% | 2.4% | 5.5% | YES | NO | 0 |
India - Peyton Manning | 37.5% | 58.9% | 216 | 29,442 | 63.5 | 3.1% | 3.4% | YES | NO | 2 |
Juliet - Tony Romo | 33.3% | 63.9% | 118 | 16,650 | 64.1% | 3.1% | 4.7% | YES | NO |
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FINAL NOTES:
- trueblue63 inquired about Brett Favres average INT rate, the reason it is ridiculously high compared to the others is because of his two interceptions in four attempts in his first season with the Falcons. His career average is 3.3%, and his second highest season was in 2005, with an interception percentage of 4.8%.
- While both Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning have not had complete losing seasons, they both finished one year with a losing record. Eli went 1-6 his rookie year, and Big Ben finished 7-8 in '06.
- For Michael Vick I included his rushing yards into the YDS column, and his rushing touchdowns into the TDS column. I think it was the fair choice considering what he really brings to the table offensively.
- There has been a lot of talk lately about whether Eli Manning should or should not be considered "elite", and while the consensus may be that he isn't, I think it's fair to say he has had an "elite" start to his career.