Quarterback	Record	TD/INT	Passer Rating
Phil Simms	14-2	21-22	74.6
Rex Grossman	13-3	23-20	73.9

 

But Simms came through when it counted – big-time. He was nearly perfect in a 39-20 win over Denver in Super Bowl XXI. He went 22 of 25 (with two dropped passes) for 268 yards, 3 TDs, 0 TDs and a 150.9 passer rating. 

 

It cemented his worth as an NFL starting quarterback, and that performance is probably one of the reasons he's such an accomplished broadcaster today. It was his career-making moment, and nobody saw it coming.

 

Simms wasn't the only QB to get to the big game in a season when he was the target of intense skepticism. We're not talking about greats like John Elway or Steve Young, who were snakebitten in the playoffs. We're talking about guys who were second-guessed and doubted all the way.

 

The difference is this: The question surrounding guys like Elway and Young was "can he win the big game?" The question surrounding guys like Simms and Grossman was "will he blow the big game?"

 

But Simms and Grossman aren't the only two quarterbacks in this second category. We break it down for you here in two ways: the guys who came through ... and the guys who didn't.

 

Super Bowl IV: Len Dawson, Kansas City (12 for 17, 142 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT)

Dawson is a Hall of Famer, so you'd assume he was a golden boy in Kansas City.

 

Nope.

 

Dawson had been an NFL also-ran whose career was reborn in the AFL, but he had a rough 1969 season. He was injured for much of the year, and when he was in, he was average. He only threw nine touchdowns in nine games, and his passer rating of 69.9 was way below his lifetime mark of 82.6.

 

Making matters worse, his name was rumored to be linked to a gambling scandal at the time (think steroids in baseball today). This would have been a distraction at any time – but in this case, it emerged just days before Kansas City's game with Minnesota.

 

Dawson led the 13-point underdog Chiefs to a 23-7 win over the Vikings, cementing the AFL as the NFL's equal with its second straight Super Bowl victory. His numbers were not great, but in a game dominated by defense, Dawson won MVP honors.

 

Bradshaw was a similar quarterback to Grossman: a big-armed guy who could throw a good long ball but was known for his boneheaded mistakes. He wasn't even named starter until midway through the 1974 season, and his lackluster numbers for the year didn't inspire much confidence: 67 for 148 (45.3%), 785 yards, 7 TDs, 8 INTs.

 

But Bradshaw came through when it counted, which is probably what they should put on his tombstone. He threw just one pick in three playoff games in 1974, completed 58 percent of his passes and stayed out of the way of defensive greatness in the Super Bowl: The Steelers held Minnesota to 119 yards of total offense in a 16-6 victory. From there, Bradshaw grew into one of the best QBs in football, earning three more titles and a Hall of Fame induction.

 

He proved to be brilliant in his Super Bowl career, even if his regular-season numbers rarely impressed.

 

Baltimore football fans during the 2000 season hadn't cheered a winner since the days of Johnny U. Dilfer didn't exactly get them to jump out of their seats. Their confidence came instead from a defense that was probably the best of all time, and certainly the best of the Live Ball Era.

 

Start with the fact that Dilfer sat behind the uninspiring Tony Banks for half a season, only emerging as a starter Week 9 vs. the Steelers. The Ravens lost that game, thanks in large part to Dilfer's miniscule 49.3 passer rating.

 

But he didn't lose again. Sure, this had more to do with Baltimore surrendering a total of 90 points over its last 11 games (including playoffs), but 11-0 is 11-0.

 

In the Super Bowl, he threw no picks (the key to any victory), while Kerry Collins of the N.Y. Giants threw three. Dilfer's 38-yard TD pass to Brandon Stokley made it 7-0, and the Ravens never trailed.

 

The next year, he was gone in favor of Elvis Grbac; the Ravens have won just one playoff game since. And every year, teams are still said to be looking for "a Trent Dilfer type."

 

The 1982 season was all f'ed up. A strike limited the season to nine games, and somehow Redskins kicker Mark Moseley was voted the NFL MVP.

 

Miami emerged from the muck as AFC champions despite the play of Woodley, who at the time was the youngest quarterback to appear in a Super Bowl (24 years, 3 months old).

 

Woodley, in his third year as a starter, had two borderline brilliant games in the extended 16-team playoff tournament (a combined 33 of 41 for 441 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) before falling apart in the AFC title game – he threw three picks against the Jets and had a passer rating of 15.5.

 

Yet the Dolphins still won, 14-0, and emerged as a 3-point favorite over the Redskins in the Super Bowl.

 

Gulp.

 

Woodley came out firing and connected with Jimmy Cefalo for an early 76-yard TD that gave Miami a 7-0 lead. But that was it. He completed just three other passes all day, and the Dolphins fell to the Redskins 27-17. Dan Marino would take Woodley's job after the first month of the 1983 season.

 

Woodley died of kidney and liver failure in May, 2003, at the age of 44.

 

Wow. Patriots fans never took to Eason, who had the personality of a wounded raccoon and had supplanted the beloved Steve Grogan. Despite a breakout year in 1984 (23 TDs to 8 INTS), New England fans weren't too upset when the struggling Eason went down with an injury in the early stages of 1985. In came Grogan, who led the Patriots to six straight wins before breaking his leg. 

 

Eason was a model of efficiency when he returned to the lineup. New England was a run-first team, but Eason did his part in three straight road playoff wins on the way to the Super Bowl, completing 29 of 42 passes for 5 TDs. But New England fans still yearned for Grogan – and they got him when Eason started 0-for-6 against the Bears and got benched for a gutty Groggs. The end result was the epic 46-10 Bears' win.

 

Eason would return and lead the Patriots back to the playoffs in 1986, but lost his job in 1987 and ended up as a backup with the Jets. He became a pariah around New England, where he continues to have a reputation as a "soft" quarterback who withered under fire. Hall of Fame lineman John Hannah has essentially spent his retirement years calling Eason a pussy whenever possible.

 

Like Eason, Neil O'Donnell didn't do much for Steelers fans who still wore their No. 12 Bradshaw jerseys on Sundays. O'Donnell was accurate, never throwing more than nine picks in any of his five seasons starting for Pittsburgh. And he still holds the all-time NFL record for lowest career INT rate (2.11 percent).

 

But his play in the AFC title game (41 attempts for 205 yards in a near-loss to a poor Indianapolis team) turned Terrible Towels into emergency vomit mops.

 

Pittsburgh fans were nervous heading into the Super Bowl showdown with Dallas – and they should have been. O'Donnell averaged a paltry 4.9 yards per pass in the big game and threw three picks, including two terrible throws that ended up in the hands of Dallas cornerback Larry "Who the Hell is He?" Brown, who earned MVP honors thanks to O'Donnell's largesse. The Cowboys won, 27-17.

 

His INT tosses were so bad, especially the two to Brown, one can't help but wonder if he was on the take that day.

 

Whatever the case, Super Bowl XXX was O'Donnell's last game in Pittsburgh. He went to the Jets as a free agent, moved on to Cincinnati and ended his career spending five years as a backup to Steve McNair in Tennessee.