Betting tips / Romilly Evans / 01 February 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

To stand amongst the likes of Joe Montagna, Romilly Evans sees this as a must-win Super Bowl for Tom Brady.

Like any child of the late 80s who grew up watching the NFL, Tom Brady has been harking back to the good old days of late.

"Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback of all time and he always will be."

Sweet, isn't it?

However, in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl, the legendary status of the storied San Francisco quarterback is more the subject of media scrutiny than boyhood whimsy. Not least because of Brady himself.

For this coming Sabbath offers the New England Patriots' QB a chance to match the career achievements of his hero with a fourth Super Bowl ring. Comparisons between Brady and Montana go far deeper, though, given their respective styles and statistics.

Neither was possessed of a cannon throwing arm (a la Dan Marino or Peyton Manning) and instead proved their efficacy and efficiency by pursuing shorter throwing avenues with a ruthless completion percentage. In short: minimise mistakes and pick teams apart through accuracy and astuteness.

In the category of awards-won, there's also only a wafer between them. Both have twice collected the prestigious title of The League's Most Valuable Player (Montana in the 1989-90 campaigns, Brady in 2007/10), and have been regulars on the All Pro team-sheets (a poll for the season's best players in each position). While Montana edges Brady 3-2 in the latter bracket, there's no doubting Thomas trumps his mentor in one key stat: all-time career passing. Here, Brady is ranked fourth to Montana's 11th. Now throw in the fact that Brady averages 40 more passing yards per game, and suddenly it's Montana who is beginning to look like the Average Joe.

But numbers can prove misleading, particularly at quarterback. This is largely due to the regulation changes governing the protection of QBs (above all, in the pocket), which are now far more stringent and keenly enforced by officials than they ever were during Montana's freestyle-sacking era. Consequently, modern-day quarterbacks are topping most historical charts.

Still, rather than evade a tough decision by refusing to compare generations, I'd point instead to some more tangible facts. Montana never lost back-to-back playoff games at home. Brady did (in 2009-10). And he would have lost another this term, were it not for the Baltimore Ravens failing to secure a last-minute catch inside the end zone.

More specifically with this weekend in mind, Montana never lost a Super Bowl (a perfect 4-0). Furthermore, he never even threw an interception. Brady has on both counts. In fact, his overall post-season record (spanning 21 games) looks a little alarming on the touchdowns-to-interceptions front: 36-19. Six of those TDs coming a fortnight ago against the hapless Broncos, remember.

Of course, evaluating individual performance in a team game is always difficult. And for all Brady's success, perhaps his harshest reality check came when he failed to guide the peerless Pats of 2008 (18-0) to a crowning victory in the Super Bowl. That team was impeccable on both sides of the line of scrimmage (and 14-point favourites for the game), but Brady never got his Ferrari out of neutral. The best drivers aren't ever meant to stall. So he still has a long road to negotiate before he can park his career alongside Montana's.

Even a young Tom Brady wouldn't shrink from telling you that.