John Elway vs Phil Simms

John Elway Phil Simms

John Elway and Phil Simms compared on their NFL careers: John Elway played 16 seasons, 1983 to 1998, Phil Simms 14 seasons, 1979 to 1993. John Elway has 51,475 passing yards to Phil Simms's 33,462. John Elway won 2 titles, Phil Simms won 2 titles.

Who has the better career numbers?

John Elway and Phil Simms career totals

234	GP	164
51,475	YDS	33,462
300	TD	199
7.1	AVG	7.2

How do they compare in the playoffs?

John Elway and Phil Simms postseason

22	GP	10
4,964	YDS	1,679
27	TD	10
7.6	AVG	6

Where each stands all time

John Elway and Phil Simms all-time places

12th (51,475)	Passing yards	39th (33,462)
14th (300)	Passing touchdowns	41st (199)

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

John Elway: 2 championships; MVP, Super Bowl MVP
Phil Simms: 2 championships; Super Bowl MVP

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.

John Elway and Phil Simms season by season

1st	1983	1,663	7	14	1979	1,743	13	14
2nd	1984	2,598	18	15	1980	2,321	15	19
3rd	1985	3,891	22	23	1981	2,031	11	9
4th	1986	3,485	19	13	1983	130	0	1
5th	1987	3,198	19	12	1984	4,044	22	18
6th	1988	3,309	17	19	1985	3,829	22	20
7th	1989	3,051	18	18	1986	3,487	21	22
8th	1990	3,526	15	14	1987	2,230	17	9
9th	1991	3,253	13	12	1988	3,359	21	11
10th	1992	2,242	10	17	1989	3,061	14	14
11th	1993	4,030	25	10	1990	2,284	15	4
12th	1994	3,490	16	10	1991	993	8	4
13th	1995	3,970	26	14	1992	912	5	3
14th	1996	3,328	26	14	1993	3,038	15	9
15th	1997	3,635	27	11	—	—	—	—
16th	1998	2,806	22	10	—	—	—	—

What the columns mean: INT