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Why do people always compare Brad Johnson to Trent Dilfer?

GhostOfPoverty

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These two guys come up pretty consistently when people talk about bad/below average QB's who managed to win Superbowls. That being said, I think it's pretty ridiculous that people lump them together as if Dilfer was Brad Johnson's equal.


Brad Johnson
Years played - 15
Comp - 2,668
Comp PCT - 61.7
Yards - 29,054
Y/A - 6.7
TD - 166
INT - 122
Rush yards - 657
Rush Avg - 2.4
Rush TD - 8
Other accolades - 1 Superbowl, 2 pro bowls

Trent Dilfer
Years played - 13
Comp - 1,759
Comp PCT - 55.5
Yards - 20,518
Y/A - 6.5
TD - 113
INT - 129
Rush yards - 248
Rush Avg - 3.4
Rush TD - 5
Other accolades - 1 Superbowl, 1 pro bowl

Their postseason success is similar. Both played in the same era. Overall, Johnson has the statistics of legitimate starting QB, albeit an average one. Dilfer on the other hand has the stats of a firmly backup level QB who could play decently at times, but a backup level QB none the less. Johnson has Dilfer handily beaten in every meaningful statistic - most notably, Dilfer's TD/INT ratio is also not only negative, but he literally threw 7 more INT's in 13 years than Johnson did in 15. Meanwhile, Johnson's TD's outnumbered his own INT's by 44. I'm not arguing that Johnson was a great QB, but let's stop acting like he was worse than he really was when he had a reasonably solid career in reality.
 

eaglesnut

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Because people are lazy and yes it is ridiculous.

Brad Johnson was solid, dependable.
Dilfer made a big time throw in the Super Bowl.
Donovan McNabb did neither.

All 3 had truly great defenses.
Only one of those QBs held their great defense back.
 

GhostOfPoverty

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Because people are lazy and yes it is ridiculous.

Brad Johnson was solid, dependable.
Dilfer made a big time throw in the Super Bowl.
Donovan McNabb did neither.

All 3 had truly great defenses.
Only one of those QBs held their great defense back.

That McNabb bit coming from an Eagles fan made me legitimately chuckle out loud. Nicely done.
 

RobBase

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Jon Jansen said yesterday that Brad Johnson was the best QB he played for, and most motivating.

Very underrated QB.
 

Rock Strongo

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These two guys come up pretty consistently when people talk about bad/below average QB's who managed to win Superbowls. That being said, I think it's pretty ridiculous that people lump them together as if Dilfer was Brad Johnson's equal.


Brad Johnson
Years played - 15
Comp - 2,668
Comp PCT - 61.7
Yards - 29,054
Y/A - 6.7
TD - 166
INT - 122
Rush yards - 657
Rush Avg - 2.4
Rush TD - 8
Other accolades - 1 Superbowl, 2 pro bowls

Trent Dilfer
Years played - 13
Comp - 1,759
Comp PCT - 55.5
Yards - 20,518
Y/A - 6.5
TD - 113
INT - 129
Rush yards - 248
Rush Avg - 3.4
Rush TD - 5
Other accolades - 1 Superbowl, 1 pro bowl

Their postseason success is similar. Both played in the same era. Overall, Johnson has the statistics of legitimate starting QB, albeit an average one. Dilfer on the other hand has the stats of a firmly backup level QB who could play decently at times, but a backup level QB none the less. Johnson has Dilfer handily beaten in every meaningful statistic - most notably, Dilfer's TD/INT ratio is also not only negative, but he literally threw 7 more INT's in 13 years than Johnson did in 15. Meanwhile, Johnson's TD's outnumbered his own INT's by 44. I'm not arguing that Johnson was a great QB, but let's stop acting like he was worse than he really was when he had a reasonably solid career in reality.


dilfer started 16 games 4 times

johnson did it twice

johnson also started 125 games. dilfer? 113. closer than i thought.

dilfer was a backup by 1999, age 27.
johnson started 14 games as old as 38.
 

SU Nittany Tide

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That McNabb bit coming from an Eagles fan made me legitimately chuckle out loud. Nicely done.
An Eagles fan who slobs Elis knob one day and bashes the best all time Eagles qb for no reason the next.
 

VikingFan2k2

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Brad was a decent QB in his prime, not much more than that. He was an aging veteran with very little arm strength left in Tampa. That being said, he was much better than Dilfer.

I think the idea that elite defenses carried both to SB wins is why they are lumped together.
 

VikingFan2k2

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An Eagles fan who slobs Elis knob one day and bashes the best all time Eagles qb for no reason the next.

Vikings fans have a bit of a complex with McNabb as well when we had him at the very end and he was just fat and useless. Hence the chuckle.
 

Iggloo

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Brad Johnson in his prime was way better than Trent Dilfer in his, and he was decent for way longer. Definitely a wack comparison, but I see why lazy reporters compare then when talking about teams that won in spite of mediocre QB play.
 

Manster7588

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Brad Johnson in his prime was way better than Trent Dilfer in his, and he was decent for way longer. Definitely a wack comparison, but I see why lazy reporters compare then when talking about teams that won in spite of mediocre QB play.
I'll say Brad was better, but that's about it. If someone said Horse shit is better than Cow shit, I still won't eat it.
 

SU Nittany Tide

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Vikings fans have a bit of a complex with McNabb as well when we had him at the very end and he was just fat and useless. Hence the chuckle.
The Minnesota trip did not go well.
 

GhostOfPoverty

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Brad was a decent QB in his prime, not much more than that. He was an aging veteran with very little arm strength left in Tampa. That being said, he was much better than Dilfer.

I think the idea that elite defenses carried both to SB wins is why they are lumped together.

I get it, but I'm saying that I think the narrative that Johnson was purely carried by that Bucs defense is just wrong. Don't get me wrong, Johnson didn't march that team to the Superbowl on his own, but bear in mind that the Bucs had a great defense that was held back by bad offenses for several years in the 90's/early 2000's. Johnson was a high enough quality QB to help them turn the corner and get them to a title.

I remember that 2002 season quite well. Johnson was banged up for some of it, missed 3 games. The defense had to seriously pick up the slack in his absence, because the backups couldn't get anything going with the offense. While that Bucs defense had a widely recognized legendary year (and they did, it was one of the best defenses ever), Brad Johnson quietly had a very solid year himself - 13 games, 62.3 Comp %, 3,049 yards, 6.8 yrds average, 22 TDs/6 INTs. Those aren't the stats of a QB who was simply carried by the defense entirely. Case Keenum posted very similar stats in the more pass friendly 2017 season, and he's given a lot more credit for the success of that Vikings team than Johnson is for that Bucs team despite both teams being defense first.

Now compare that to Dilfer's Superbowl season with the Ravens in 2000. Played 11 games 8 starts, 59.3 Comp %, 1,502 yards, 6.6 yrds average, 12 TDs/11 INT. Dilfer threw 5 more INT's in his 2000 title season than Johnson's 2002 season despite Johnson starting in 5 more games/playing in 2 more. Dilfer only put up half the TD passes too, despite not being close to 50% behind Johnson in total playing time in those given years. Not to mention only half the yards of Johnson. Dilfer was the epitome of a guy who did just enough to not screw up his defense's run, where as Johnson actually played a role in boosting his offense a bit to take stress off of the defense.


So even in their title seasons alone, Johnson's run was far more successful than Dilfer's. Furthermore for their careers, Johnson had 8 sesons in which he threw more TD's than INT's, whereas Dilfer did that just 4 times. Johnson was a quality player that deserves to be remembered for his role in supporting his defense, not just barely doing enough not to ruin the season. Dilfer isn't even in the same league as Brad Johnson IMO. Johnson has always been unfairly crapped on over his last few seasons where he was old and washed up, but let's not forget that he managed to have a pretty successful season with Minnesota as late as 2005 before he totally hit the wall.
 

VikingFan2k2

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I get it, but I'm saying that I think the narrative that Johnson was purely carried by that Bucs defense is just wrong. Don't get me wrong, Johnson didn't march that team to the Superbowl on his own, but bear in mind that the Bucs had a great defense that was held back by bad offenses for several years in the 90's/early 2000's. Johnson was a high enough quality QB to help them turn the corner and get them to a title.

I remember that 2002 season quite well. Johnson was banged up for some of it, missed 3 games. The defense had to seriously pick up the slack in his absence, because the backups couldn't get anything going with the offense. While that Bucs defense had a widely recognized legendary year (and they did, it was one of the best defenses ever), Brad Johnson quietly had a very solid year himself - 13 games, 62.3 Comp %, 3,049 yards, 6.8 yrds average, 22 TDs/6 INTs. Those aren't the stats of a QB who was simply carried by the defense entirely. Case Keenum posted very similar stats in the more pass friendly 2017 season, and he's given a lot more credit for the success of that Vikings team than Johnson is for that Bucs team despite both teams being defense first.

Now compare that to Dilfer's Superbowl season with the Ravens in 2000. Played 11 games 8 starts, 59.3 Comp %, 1,502 yards, 6.6 yrds average, 12 TDs/11 INT. Dilfer threw 5 more INT's in his 2000 title season than Johnson's 2002 season despite Johnson starting in 5 more games/playing in 2 more. Dilfer only put up half the TD passes too, despite not being close to 50% behind Johnson in total playing time in those given years. Not to mention only half the yards of Johnson. Dilfer was the epitome of a guy who did just enough to not screw up his defense's run, where as Johnson actually played a role in boosting his offense a bit to take stress off of the defense.


So even in their title seasons alone, Johnson's run was far more successful than Dilfer's. Furthermore for their careers, Johnson had 8 sesons in which he threw more TD's than INT's, whereas Dilfer did that just 4 times. Johnson was a quality player that deserves to be remembered for his role in supporting his defense, not just barely doing enough not to ruin the season. Dilfer isn't even in the same league as Brad Johnson IMO. Johnson has always been unfairly crapped on over his last few seasons where he was old and washed up, but let's not forget that he managed to have a pretty successful season with Minnesota as late as 2005 before he totally hit the wall.

Yeah, I am definitely guilty of being harder on him than he probably deserved. Both times that he was here.

I do think that Gruden deserves credit for both him and Gannon having late success. Gruden is an easy target and a punching bag on this board, but those two older QBs were perfect for his system.

I think Brad gets lumped in with Dilfer because their wins were surrounded by guys like Elway, Warner, Brady, Big Ben, Peyton and even Eli. All of who are in or going to be in the HOF.
 

Nosferatu

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These two guys come up pretty consistently when people talk about bad/below average QB's who managed to win Superbowls. That being said, I think it's pretty ridiculous that people lump them together as if Dilfer was Brad Johnson's equal.


Brad Johnson
Years played - 15
Comp - 2,668
Comp PCT - 61.7
Yards - 29,054
Y/A - 6.7
TD - 166
INT - 122
Rush yards - 657
Rush Avg - 2.4
Rush TD - 8
Other accolades - 1 Superbowl, 2 pro bowls

Trent Dilfer
Years played - 13
Comp - 1,759
Comp PCT - 55.5
Yards - 20,518
Y/A - 6.5
TD - 113
INT - 129
Rush yards - 248
Rush Avg - 3.4
Rush TD - 5
Other accolades - 1 Superbowl, 1 pro bowl

Their postseason success is similar. Both played in the same era. Overall, Johnson has the statistics of legitimate starting QB, albeit an average one. Dilfer on the other hand has the stats of a firmly backup level QB who could play decently at times, but a backup level QB none the less. Johnson has Dilfer handily beaten in every meaningful statistic - most notably, Dilfer's TD/INT ratio is also not only negative, but he literally threw 7 more INT's in 13 years than Johnson did in 15. Meanwhile, Johnson's TD's outnumbered his own INT's by 44. I'm not arguing that Johnson was a great QB, but let's stop acting like he was worse than he really was when he had a reasonably solid career in reality.



My favorite part is you saying why do people always compare them then after your show some stats you say their post season success is similar and they played in the same era thus answering your own question. lolzzz
 

Nosferatu

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Yeah, I am definitely guilty of being harder on him than he probably deserved. Both times that he was here.

I do think that Gruden deserves credit for both him and Gannon having late success. Gruden is an easy target and a punching bag on this board, but those two older QBs were perfect for his system.

I think Brad gets lumped in with Dilfer because their wins were surrounded by guys like Elway, Warner, Brady, Big Ben, Peyton and even Eli. All of who are in or going to be in the HOF.


I'm not sure Brady makes it in, 9,000 four yard passes does not automatically = HOF....
 

VikingFan2k2

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My favorite part is you saying why do people always compare them then after your show some stats you say their post season success is similar and they played in the same era thus answering your own question. lolzzz

How's your Friday bro? I just worked 11 hours pouring drinks for idiot Zach Brown Band fans that don't know how to follow simple rules.
 

GhostOfPoverty

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Yeah, I am definitely guilty of being harder on him than he probably deserved. Both times that he was here.

I do think that Gruden deserves credit for both him and Gannon having late success. Gruden is an easy target and a punching bag on this board, but those two older QBs were perfect for his system.

I think Brad gets lumped in with Dilfer because their wins were surrounded by guys like Elway, Warner, Brady, Big Ben, Peyton and even Eli. All of who are in or going to be in the HOF.

I was very hard on him his last year here of the second stint when he was legitimately washed up. Called him "Noodle arm" and was begging for T-Jax (lol) as much as anyone else at the time. That being said, it bugs me that they traded him to Washington even though they got a good haul for it, because let's face it, they didn't use those draft picks well and having Johnson would have been nice when Cunningham fizzled out for good. As electrifying as that offense was with Cunningham in '98 a part of me will always wonder if they would have been better off with Johnson at least after the fact instead of the Jeff George/Daunte Culpepper experiments. Johnson had just started hitting his stride when we dumped him. Would have been nice to see how that played out with those offenses from 1999 - 2004. Oh well.


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