The Greatest of All-Time does NOT choke in the Super Bowl.
That is an automatic disqualifier.
You can be #2-through-infinity, but, you can not be number one.
I know you said the Super Bowl, but the proclaimed "GOAT" Montana choked against the greatest Super Bowl choker of all time in the AFC Championship Game:
But... he wasn't on those teams. You could say the same thing about Tom Brady too.. and not to sound like a raging Favre lover, but I'm sure Favre would have done pretty damn good with those stacked Niners teams that Montana won on.
If we're doing what-if scenarios, I'm sure Marino would have liked to have a Terrell Davis like Elway did. Or a Marshall Faulk like Warner had. Or the 2000 Ravens D. Etc, etc.
Given what we KNOW.. and given what we have SEEN.. Peyton Manning has 1 championship and Joe Montana has 4.
Until Manning wins another, this cannot even be a realistic discussion right now. Hell Brady was a dropped Asante Samuel pick away from having BOTH 4 rings and a perfect season under his belt. And even then, we can't anoint him the GOAT yet.
That's because Brady isn't really an elite status quarterback. He gets the praise because of his records, not necessarily his ability. Whenever Brady is brought up in discussion, it's always about Super Bowls won and playoff record and now his 18-1 season. Brady never screamed "one of the greatest quarterbacks" to me. It also doesn't help his case that he got injured and Matt Cassel, his backup, essentially had a similar season to him last year. The Patriots could still make runs with Tom Brady and I believe that he's a story that just happened to be in the right place at the right time with Bledsoe's injury. I don't even think many people had him as a Top 5 quarterback for this previous season.
Is that why Manning's losses have mostly been because of the offense scoring much less than expected? They came out against a so-so defense and only were able to put up 17 points, while giving up 7 on an interception. Their defense held the amazing Saints offense to 24, which is by no means bad. Manning should have been able to put on a show, but I guess it was his defense's fault that they could only put up a +10 point differential when the Colts had the ball.
The Colts' defense constantly gets ragged on, but without it, Manning wouldn't have his only ring. The defense got Peyton to the Super Bowl and helped him win it. He was awful that post-season.
As for the 49ers comparison, I would love to see what numbers Montana would be able to put up in Manning's system where players cannot be touched 5 yards past the line and the offense is given nearly every advantage. Montana would have easily put up better post-season numbers than Manning... oh wait... he did that already without all those benefits.
Montana is number 1 and he is by himself.
Manning's performance last night really dropped him down a notch or two in my mind. That pick he threw was just awful. Joe Montana would have never thrown that pass. Not to mention, Manning's playoff record and stats are not that great, either.
He will finish his career as the best regular season QB of all time, but when it comes to the playoffs, he can't hold a candle to Joe.
Joe Montana was so great, San Francisco got rid of him and won another Super Bowl with Steve Young. That team was greater than Montana was. Had Montana reached the Super Bowl with the Chiefs, I'd buy the Super Bowl argument.
People also forget that Garcon dropped a would be first down in their first possession of the second quarter and that the Colts attempted to run out the clock in their last one. Critical drop because the Saints then take control of the entire second quarter afterwards.
Also, the follow performances were by Joe Montana in the playoffs:
9-23, 39.1%, 125 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 39.2 RAT
12-26, 46.2%, 109 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 42.0 RAT
8-15, 53.3%, 98 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 34.2 RAT
I think we can stop with the "Montana wouldn't do that" argument because it's silly. They're both humans. They both make mistakes.