The top six quarterback seasons by Fox Sport’s “top-10 all-time quarterback seasons” failed to do something kind of important. None of them won the Super Bowl that year. You have to get to Kurt Warner and the 1999 St. Louis Rams at spot seven to find that.
Should Warner’s ‘99 season be the best quarterback season of all-time?
Warner’s ‘99 season, which was so fascinating that they made a movie about it, wasn’t just shocking to people at the time and historic in statistical nature, it also ended in a Super Bowl victory for the team. Nobody in the top-six of this list can say that:
#1 Tom Brady, 2007: Undefeated regular season lost in the Super Bowl
#2 Peyton Manning, 2013: Lost to theSeahawks in the Super Bowl
#3 Patrick Mahomes, 2018: Lost to the Patriots in theAFC Championship
#4 Dan Marino, 1984: Lost to the49ers in the Super Bowl
#5 Drew Brees, 2011: Lost in the divisional round to the 49ers
#6 Tom Brady, 2021: Lost to the Rams in the divisional round
Even if Fox Sports was trying to completely ignore the playoffs, it’s too difficult to set aside what those regular seasons even accomplished if not a Super Bowl win — or even a Super Bowl appearance. Half of these quarterbacks didn’t make it that far. Brady and Brees didn’t even reach the NFC Championship game. And by the way, none of the three quarterbacks ranked behind Warner won the Super Bowl either!
Warner was unstoppable in 1999, leading the NFL in touchdowns (41), completion rate (65.1), and passer rating (109.2) en route to winning MVP in his first season as a starter. In the playoffs, Warner had eight more touchdowns in three games and won Super Bowl MVP.
Without Kurt Warner’s 1999 season, do we even have bloated statistical passing seasons like Brady, Manning, and Mahomes? Up until then, nobody was doing what he was doing.
Should Kurt Warner’s 1999 season be widely accepted as the best quarterback season ever?