King Arthur Movie Tristan

The famed class of 1983 produced seven Hall of Famers, three of them are pictured above (John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino). Between them they have 22 Pro Bowl appearances, but just two Super Bowl wins (Elway owns both of them). Many consider Marino and Kelly two of the greatest QB's not to win a Super Bowl. Elway was considered for that category until a guy named Terrell Davis came along. If you want me to prove that Davis helped Elway's career, then I will do so. Lets look at Elway's career without Davis and with Davis.

The years before the Broncos drafted Davis (1983-1994) in the 1995 draft, Elway lost three Super Bowls and had three different starting RB's. Sammy Winder, Gaston Green, and Rod Bernstine played with Elway before Davis became their workhorse RB. Davis had more Pro Bowls then all of those RB's combined. How did this ineffectiveness at RB effect Elway? Elway averaged a little under 500 attempts a season with no consistent player at RB. After Davis arrived, that changed.

When Davis made the team in his rookie season, Elway finally got something he never had, consistency at RB. Through the last four seasons of his career Elway won back-to-back Super Bowls and only went over 500 attempts twice while Davis was in the backfield. Without Davis who knows, maybe Elway never would of won those big games. Davis has the stats to prove it. Winder, who played with Elway from his rookie season to 1990, only had one 1,000 yard season and no double-digit TD seasons. Green only lasted two seasons in Denver, but did have a 1,000 yard season in 1991. Finally, Bernstine was one of the worst RB's to go through Mile High by only getting into the end zone five times in three years. Davis, on the other hand, went over 1,000 yards four times in his eight year career. Davis took so much pressure off of Elway that it allowed him to be even better then he already was and win two Super Bowls. Now to the other Hall of Fame QBs that did not win a championship.

Since Kelly had a Hall of Fame RB in his backfield for most of his career, the Bills inability to win Super Bowls could be due to the  bad defense. So lets look at Marino. The instability at the RB position for the Dolphins was much worse then Elway's. Through his career Marino played with six different starting RB's, including the Dolphins all-time draft bust Sammie Smith. While Marino was with Miami, none of the RB's went over 1,000 yards in a season. Unlike Elway and Kelly, Marino only had one chance to win a Super Bowl. The Dolphins only ran for 25 yards while Marino attempted 50 passes while forcing the issue by throwing two interceptions. Thanks to the problems at RB Marino retired in 1999 with no rings. Of course, he will go down as one of the greatest QB's of all time. Now lets go to today's NFL with one of the best QB's who have not won a Super Bowl.

Brady. Manning. Rodgers. Brees. Those are some of the best QB's in the NFL today and Philip Rivers should be mentioned in that category because he has the skill be there. Of course, there is one thing those guys have that he doesn't, a Super Bowl ring. Since Rivers did play with a future HOF for the first half of his career, it is more about winning in the playoffs then getting there. From the 2004-2009 season, the Chargers made the playoffs. In the playoffs, Rivers and the Chargers have been 3-4 and have lost twice to the Jets and Patriots. Even though L.T. has played great during the regular season, during that postseason run he had just 327 yards and four touchdowns with just 3.4 yards a carry. Rivers averaged 32 attempts in those playoff games with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. Even though Tomlinson is a future HOF, his inability to preform in the playoffs has kept Rivers from winning a Super Bowl. Thanks for reading folks and remember, just keep running the ball, because if you don't you are going to remain ringless, just like Lebron James.