Joe Montana vs John Elway

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Joe Montana and John Elway compared on their NFL careers: Joe Montana played 15 seasons, 1979 to 1994, John Elway 16 seasons, 1983 to 1998. Joe Montana has 40,551 passing yards to John Elway's 51,475. They have faced each other 1 time: Joe Montana's team won 1, John Elway's 0. Joe Montana won 4 titles, John Elway won 2 titles.

Who has the better career numbers?

John Elway leads in 2 of the 3 lines, Joe Montana in 1. Bold marks the better figure; playing time — games, minutes, at-bats, innings — is not scored.

Joe Montana and John Elway career totals

192	GP	234
40,551	YDS	51,475, better
273	TD	300, better
7.5, better	AVG	7.1

Joe Montana vs John Elway head to head

They have faced each other 1 time: Joe Montana's team won 1, John Elway's 0.

Joe Montana and John Elway, record against each other
Games	Played	Joe Montana won	John Elway won
Regular season	1	1, better	0

Joe Montana and John Elway, averages in their games against each other

34.0, better	CMP	18.0
54.0, better	ATT	29.0
393.0, better	YDS	263.0
3.0, better	TD	2.0
1.0	INT	0.0, better

Every game against each other

Joe Montana vs John Elway, every game
Date	Game	Montana's team	Joe Montana	John Elway
Oct 17, 1994	KC at DEN	W 31-28	34 CMP, 54 ATT, 393 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT	18 CMP, 29 ATT, 263 YDS, 2 TD, 0 INT

Games both played on opposite sides, from the game logs on file; the record is their teams’.

How do they compare in the playoffs?

Joe Montana and John Elway postseason

23	GP	22
5,772, better	YDS	4,964
45, better	TD	27
7.9, better	AVG	7.6

Where each stands all time

Joe Montana and John Elway all-time places

25th (40,551)	Passing yards	12th (51,475), better
21st (273)	Passing touchdowns	15th (300), better

Among the NFL players with a career line on file, regular season, counting stats only — the same lists the records pages run on.

Titles and awards

Joe Montana and John Elway titles and awards

4, better	Championships	2
3, better	Super Bowl MVP	1
1, better	Comeback Player of the Year	—
2, better	MVP	1
1, better	Offensive Player of the Year	—

Awards come from the league’s published winner lists; a championship counts a season played for the club that won it.

Season by season

Lined up by career year, not by calendar: each row is the players’ nth season.

Joe Montana and John Elway season by season

1st	1979	96	1	0, better	1983	1,663, better	7, better	14
2nd	1980	1,795	15	9, better	1984	2,598, better	18, better	15
3rd	1981	3,565	19	12, better	1985	3,891, better	22, better	23
4th	1982	2,613	17	11, better	1986	3,485, better	19, better	13
5th	1983	3,910, better	26, better	12	1987	3,198	19	12
6th	1984	3,630, better	28, better	10, better	1988	3,309	17	19
7th	1985	3,653, better	27, better	13, better	1989	3,051	18	18
8th	1986	2,236	8	9, better	1990	3,526, better	15, better	14
9th	1987	3,054	31, better	13	1991	3,253, better	13	12, better
10th	1988	2,981, better	18, better	10, better	1992	2,242	10	17
11th	1989	3,521	26, better	8, better	1993	4,030, better	25	10
12th	1990	3,944, better	26, better	16	1994	3,490	16	10, better
13th	1992	126	2	0, better	1995	3,970, better	26, better	14
14th	1993	2,144	13	7, better	1996	3,328, better	26, better	14
15th	1994	3,283	16	9, better	1997	3,635, better	27, better	11
16th	—	—	—	—	1998	2,806	22	10

What the columns mean: INT