The NFL could not have asked for a better Super Bowl matchup, and that’s even before taking into consideration the amusing backdrop of Bill Belichick again being painted as Snidely Whiplash, in part because it’s true.
New England and Seattle are the league’s two best teams. The last team the Seahawks lost a playoff game to: the Falcons. (I’ll pause here while you let that sink in.) But now they’re trying to become the first back-to-back champions since the Patriots in 2003-04. It’s a past dynasty vs. a potentially future one.
NFL champions generally are defined by their head coach and their quarterback, notwithstanding the occasional Trent Dilfer aberration. It follows that Belichick and Tom Brady have been shooting up the charts on everybody’s list of greatest coach-QB combinations in history. This will be their sixth Super Bowl together over a 14-year span.
Until this season, I’ve always considered Bill Walsh-Joe Montana at the top of the mountain. I’m not sure anything would settle debate in my mind unless those 49ers and Patriots could play each other in a Fantasyland Super Bowl.
Which quarterback would you bet against?
Which coach would crack first as each looks at the other and simultaneously say, “Your Jedi mind tricks will not work on me”?
“You would certainly get a great audience,” said former Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who played or coached in nine Super Bowls, winning two. “The problem is the rules are so different now than they used to be as far as the passing game goes. Receivers used to get beat to death all over the field. But what you have there are two coaches, Walsh and Belichick, who could always change with the times.”
Who’s best? There’s no wrong answer. But at least until the Patriots win a fourth, here’s my vote:
1. Bill Walsh-Joe Montana: They went to three Super Bowls over eight years and won them all. (Montana won a fourth Super Bowl with coach George Seifert.) Walsh didn't coach in a salary-cap era. But, like Belichick, he knew how to motivate and excelled at personnel decisions, maybe even moreso than in-game coaching. He knew when to cut a player and when to sign a veteran from another team near the end of his career, believing he could fill a role (examples: Fred Dean, Jack Reynolds). Montana simply was the best quarterback I've ever seen, particularly in the postseason.
2. Bill Belichick-Tom Brady: Six Super Bowl appearances in 14 years with changing teams is a remarkable achievement. New England owner Robert Kraft can't be objective on the subject, but he made the strongest point when he referenced free agency and the salary cap, telling the Washington Post, "I think it's harder to do in this environment than it's ever been in the 90-year history of the NFL." But Belichick and Brady haven't been sure things in the postseason since going 9-0 in playoff games in 2001-03-04. They were 9-8 in the years that followed until winning their first two playoff games this year. They twice lost Super Bowls as favorites to the New York Giants, including in 2007 as a 12-point favorite. I just can't imagine Walsh-Montana doing that. But if Belichick-Brady win their fourth, it would difficult to keep them out of the top spot.
3. Paul Brown-Otto Graham: They won seven league championships together over 10 years (1946-55) for Cleveland, quite a ways from Mike Pettine and Johnny Manziel. Walsh gets credit for the West Coast offense, but the scheme's roots actually trace to Brown, his mentor in Cincinnati days. It's difficult to compare teams from different eras, but it would've been nice to see if Brown-Graham could've been as dominant in league of more than a eight-to-12 teams.
4. Vince Lombardi–Bart Starr: Wonder what Lombardi was thinking as he looked down and watched Green Bay blow a 19-7 lead in the final minutes at Seattle? Lombardi and Starr won five league championships in a span of seven seasons and nine overall. After losing his first playoff start in the 1960 title game, Starr went 9-0 in the postseason and threw 10 touchdown passes in Super Bowls I and II.
5. Tom Landry-Roger Staubach: No Dallas opponent ever was going to win a game by out-thinking these two. Staubach was drafted in 1964, but didn't begin his career until 1969 because of his military commitment. He won two Super Bowls, went four and probably would've won more if he hadn't started his career at the age of 27.
Just missed
Chuck Noll-Terry Bradshaw: They won four Super Bowls but mostly because of the defense. Bradshaw completed nine passes in each of the first two championships.
Honorable mention
Weeb Ewbank-Johnny Unitas (two titles), Don Shula-Dan Marino (so many touchdowns, zero titles), Jimmy Johnson-Troy Aikman (three titles), Mike Shanahan-John Elway (two titles), Mike Holmgren-Brett Favre (one title), George Halas-Sid Luckman (four titles).
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