The Super Bowl stage is where legends like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman made their name. Yeah, they had all that incredible regular season success, but fair or not, a QB is always defined by their playoff performances and ring totals.
Several mediocre to average quarterbacks came through when it mattered most – on the Super bowl stage no less. On the flip side, some of the all-time great quarterbacks kept falling short and never broke through when it mattered most.
With that all said, here is a look at the five worst starting quarterbacks that won a Super Bowl ring, and the five greatest that never did.
Worst To Win: Trent Dilfer
Dilfer went 58-55 as a starting quarterback in his career. He completed a mere 55.5 percent of his passes and had 113 touchdowns against 129 interceptions.
He never hit 3,000 passing yards in a season, and he never tossed more than 21 touchdown passes in a season. Quite frankly, it’s no wonder that he wound up being a journeyman signal-caller who suited up for five teams during his playing career.
But Dilfer was a classic case of being in the right place at the right time for the Baltimore Ravens. He joined the organization as a free agent and won the starting job over Tony Banks mid-season.
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Though Dilfer won seven of eight starts, he had just 12 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. Fortunately, the Ravens had two dynamic rushers in Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes, Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe and…a historic defense that allowed just 10.3 points per game.
So Dilfer didn’t have to do a whole lot in the postseason. He completed a laughable 47.9 percent of his passes in four postseason games for 590 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Ray Lewis and Baltimore’s D did the heavy lifting, allowing just 23 total points in the four playoff games. The defense overwhelmed the New York Giants in Super Bowl 35, leading the Ravens to a 34-7 blowout victory.
Dilfer wasn’t re-signed and left for the Seattle Seahawks in 2001. Like we said — right place, right time. That’s how he got his Super Bowl ring with the Ravens despite being a very mediocre quarterback.
Best That Never Won: Dan Marino
Fair or not, Marino would’ve been mentioned a lot more in the “GOAT” discussion if he had won a Super Bowl. It’s impossible to comprehend how he never won the big one despite his longevity, greatness and partnership with Don Shula.
What’s even more difficult to understand: How Marino played in just one Super Bowl contest.
Marino was the NFL’s best pure pocket passer of his era. The 1984 league MVP was named to nine Pro Bowls, plus he led the league in passing yards five times and in passing yards three times.
But Marino and his Dolphins just never got a break in the big game. Joe Montana and the dynastic San Francisco 49ers clobbered MVP Marino and the ‘84 Dolphins 38 to 16 in Super Bowl 19.
Miami would reach two more AFC title games in the Marino era after that, but they lost both of them. The rest of the ‘80s decade and the ‘90s were full of postseason heartbreak, and this all-time legend ultimately retired ring-less after the 1999 season.
It’s unfair that Marino was so freaking good, and yet the first thing people usually think of when they hear his name is “the best QB who never won a Super Bowl”.
Worst To Win: Brad Johnson
Johnson may have won two Super Bowls, but make no mistake: He was a merely average quarterback, whom like Dilfer, was with the right team at the right time.
Johnson went 26-and-23 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ starting quarterback over his four seasons there. He surpassed 4,000 yards once in his career but never threw for more than 26 touchdowns in a season. Johnson was simply a game manager on a star-studded Tampa team.
Consider that the 2002 Buccaneers were 18th in points for, but first in scoring defense. Having Keyshawn Johnson and Keenan McCardell as his go-to receivers made life a lot easier for Johnson, too.
Also consider that in Tampa’s 3 playoff games in that 2002 run, Johnson completed just 54.1 percent of pass attempts for five touchdowns and three picks. But that legendary Bucs defense — which only allowed 12.3 points per game by the way — more than made up for Johnson’s limitations.
Johnson completed just 18 of 34 pass attempts in Super Bowl 37 against the Oakland Raiders, but the Tampa defense sacked Rich Gannon five times and forced five turnovers — including three pick-sixes. The Bucs crushed Oakland 48-21 to secure their first Super Bowl championship in franchise history — not that Johnson had to do a whole lot.
Best That Never Won: Warren Moon
Before starring in the NFL, Warren Moon was the face of the Canadian Football League. Moon led Edmonton’s CFL team to five straight Grey Cup league championships from 1978 to ‘82.
In 1984, he made the jump to the NFL and signed with the Houston Oilers. He made a smooth transition, to say the least. Moon earned nine Pro Bowl nods and twice led the NFL in passing yards, but like Marino, the guy just couldn’t catch a break in the postseason.
Houston reached the postseason seven straight years from 1987 to ‘93, but they won just three total playoff games and never advanced past the Divisional Round. Their choke job to the Buffalo Bills in the ‘92 Wild Card Round — in which Houston blew a 32-point lead — summed up Moon’s playoff shortcomings as an Oiler.
Moon’s last good chance at a Super Bowl came in 1994 when he joined the Minnesota Vikings, but they were humbled by the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card Round. That would be Moon’s final postseason game, and the Hall of Famer with 49,325 career passing yards and 291 passing touchdowns retired without a ring after the 2000 season.
Worst To Win: Jeff Hostetler
Hostetler was primarily Phil Simms’ backup during his seven seasons with the New York Giants. Hostetler won a Super Bowl ring with the Giants in the 1986 season, with Simms serving as the starting quarterback.
Hostetler was unhappy with his lack of playing time during his early years with the Giants. But late in the 1990 season, the Giants lost Simms for the season with a broken foot. That left Bill Parcells and company no choice but to roll with Hostetler the rest of the way.
Hostetler excelled as a game manager for the final two regular season games and the postseason. In Super Bowl 25 against the heavily-favored Buffalo Bills, Hostetler completed 20 pass attempts for 222 yards and a touchdown. The G-Men won a low-scoring affair 20-19 after Scott Norwood’s game-winning field goal attempt for Buffalo sailed wide right.
Hostetler was only a team’s primary starting QB for six seasons — and four of those were with the Raiders. Nonetheless, he won two Super Bowl rings — with the second one coming as the starting QB. No, he’s not a household name, but Hostetler made the most of his brief time in the spotlight.
Best That Never Won: Fran Tarkenton
Tarkenton was one of the NFL’s first true great pocket passers, running a prolific passing game during his two stints with the Minnesota Vikings and in his five-year run with the Giants.
The nine-time Pro Bowler and proud Canton member won 1975 league MVP honors and had seven seasons of 20-plus passing TDS, which was a lot in those days. But as Vikings fans know, this poor man was never immune to playoff heartbreak.
The Bud Grant-coached Vikings reached four Super Bowls from 1969 to ‘76 . Despite the all-world talents of Tarkenton and the “Purple People Eaters” defense, the Vikings never broke through and lost all four Super Bowl games by double-digit points.
A Super Bowl ring is all that’s missing from Tarkenton’s legendary and otherwise flawless career.
Worst To Win: Jim McMahon
Admittedly, McMahon wasn’t a terrible quarterback by any means. It’s just, the vast majority of Super Bowl-winning QBS were either Hall of Fame caliber or very good. McMahon was above average, but never a superstar.
Just consider that McMahon never reached 2,400 passing yards in a season, and that his career-high in passing TDs was 15 — which game in the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl 20 championship season.
But McMahon really didn’t have to do much. Not with Walter Payton manning the offense — and not with the greatest defense in NFL history that allowed just 12.4 points per game in the regular season.
For his career, McMahon had a 58.0 completion percentage and 100 touchdowns against 90 interceptions. That’s certainly pedestrian if you ask us. Side note: He also won a Super Bowl 31 ring as Brett Favre’s backup for the 1996 Green Bay Packers.
Best That Never Won: Dan Fouts
Fouts spent his entire 15-year career with the San Diego Chargers, which spanned from 1973 to ‘87. The Oregon product struggled to put it together in his first five years, but everything changed for the better once the innovative and offensive mastermind Don Coryell took over as head coach in 1978.
Fouts then changed up his game and emerged as one of the great pocket passers in a golden era of QBs that also saw the rises of Joe Montana, John Elway, Warren Moon et al. Fouts would go on to earn six Pro Bowl nods in his Hall of Fame career, and he won four straight passing yards titles from 1979 to ‘82.
Fouts and his Chargers had a couple of close calls, getting to the AFC Championship Game in 1980 and 81, though they lost them both. The Bolts got to the Divisional Round in 1982 but were dispatched by the Miami Dolphins in what turned out to be Fouts’ final playoff game.
Little did Fouts and Charger Land know at the time that this would be his last good shot at a Super Bowl. He retired after the 1987 season, joining the list of all-time great QBs who never won the big one.
Worst To Win: Joe Flacco
Flacco is one of the most frustrating quarterbacks this game has seen. His numbers in the regular season have always been mediocre, but his play in the postseason was always incredible.
Flacco has zero Pro Bowl nods on his resume. His record as a starting QB outside of Baltimore is awful. He has one 4,000-yard season under his belt and has never hit 30 touchdowns in a season, peaking at 27 in the 2014 season.
But credit where it’s due: The man always iced up in big games – leading Baltimore to three AFC Championship games over his first five seasons. As a Raven, Flacco garnered a 10-5 playoff record with 25 touchdowns against 10 picks.
In the Ravens’ magical run to Super Bowl 47, he threw 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. That included upsets on the road over Peyton Manning and the top-seeded Denver Broncos and Tom Brady’s Patriots in Foxborough. Flacco finished the job by leading the Ravens past the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 47 — AKA “The Blackout Bowl.”
Flacco won Super Bowl MVP honors after throwing for 287 passing yards and three touchdowns. Let’s just say he made up for his regular season inconsistency by being ELITE in the postseason.
Best That Never Won: Jim Kelly
No NFL quarterback went through more postseason heartache than Jim Kelly, pure and simple. I mean, call us when another Hall of Fame quarterback loses not one, not two, not three but FOUR straight Super Bowl games!
Kelly, a five-time Pro Bowler, and fellow Hall of Famers in running back Thurman Thomas and wide receiver Andre Reed overwhelmed opponents with their no-huddle offense.
As every Buffalo fan will recall, the franchise lost its first of four Super Bowls to the New York Giants in the 1990 season, when Scott Norwood missed the game-winning field goal. Buffalo would follow that painful loss up with three straight AFC Championship banners, but each of those three Super Bowls ended in a blowout loss.
With the Bills still in playoff contention, Kelly ultimately decided to retire after his age-36 season in ‘96 due to a variety of injuries. It’s unfortunate, because if Buffalo had him for that final stretch run in the late ‘90s, they could’ve broken through with a Lombardi Trophy.
Kelly is truly one of the all-time great NFL quarterbacks, but the bounces just never went the Bills’ way when it came to the Super Bowl stage.
Who do you think is the worst QB to win a Super Bowl, and which other great ones never won it all?
