"We're still here!" Tom Brady chanted at a pep rally this weekend before the Patriots' flight to Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII.
Well, yeah. They're always here.
Sunday will mark the Patriots' ninth Super Bowl appearance in 18 seasons. They've won five times and are favorites to win again.
No matter the outcome, Brady's GOAT status is secure. He is a four-time MVP and has led three fourth-quarter comebacks. As outstanding as he has been, there have been, believe it or not, better single-game performances. You might be wondering, "If not Brady, then who?"
To find out, I consulted a statistic called adjusted net yards per pass attempt, or ANY/A, which isn't as convoluted as it sounds. In short, it's a measure of a quarterback's efficiency and is strongly correlated to wins. It's basically a souped-up version of yards per attempt that rewards quarterbacks for touchdown passes and penalizes them for interceptions and sacks.
Here's the formula: (passing yards + 20(ASTERISK)(passing touchdowns) - 45(ASTERISK)(interceptions thrown) - sack yards) / (pass attempts + sacks). For reference, Patrick Mahomes' 8.89 ANY/A led the NFL this season.
In the rankings below, I considered only Super Bowl performances. Regular-season statistics were not a factor. For a quarterback to qualify as one of the best, he had to throw multiple touchdown passes.
As it turns out, Joe Montana was pretty decent. So, too, was Terry Bradshaw.
