Why 2009? It was a remarkably transitional year for quarterbacks. Eight primary starters either began their career, or played their first game for a new franchise. Another seven quarterbacks threw their final pass for their team, if not for their pro career. It was also the first time that five QBs finished the season with a passer rating above 100.0. And yet, none of them won league MVP. Instead, it was Peyton Manning (who fell just short with a passer rating of 99.9) who took home his second straight MVP, and record-setting fourth overall.
Coming off the first 0-16 record in NFL history, the Detroit Lions rebuilt around #1 overall draft pick Matthew Stafford, who would go on to be the team’s main man under Center for the next 12 seasons. But perhaps the biggest highlight came at the very end of the season. Super Bowl XLIV featured perhaps the greatest quarterback match-up in the history of the Big Game: Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts vs. Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
So in a year in which the best signal callers in the league reached new levels of excellence, and in which two of the greatest ever lined up under Center in the Super Bowl, who were the best of 2009?
Note: Index Score accounts for both regular season and, if applicable, playoff numbers. To qualify, the quarterback must have started at least half of his team’s games.
A Season to Forget…
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | Index Score |
| 32 | JaMarcus Russell | Oakland Raiders | -10.249 |
| 31 | Josh Freeman | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | -7.550 |
| 30 | Jake Delhomme | Carolina Panthers | -7.364 |
| 29 | Marc Bulger | St. Louis Rams | -5.705 |
| 28 | Matthew Stafford | Detroit Lions | -5.703 |
| 27 | Brady Quinn | Cleveland Browns | -4.719 |
| 26 | Mark Sanchez | New York Jets | -4.369 |
| 25 | Matt Cassel | Kansas City Chiefs | -3.811 |
| 24 | Matt Hasselbeck | Seattle Seahawks | -3.283 |
| 23 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | Buffalo Bills | -3.069 |
| 22 | Chad Henne | Miami Dolphins | -2.243 |
Once-promising star JaMarcus Russell finished his career with a whimper. The #1 overall pick just two year prior was awful, throwing three TDs to 11 INTs and completing less than 50% of his passes. Russell never threw another NFL pass after 2009. In his first career start, in Week 9, Josh Freeman upset the Packers to garner the Bucs’ first win of the season. He finished the year with ten TDs in as many games, but also a whopping 18 picks. He would improve dramatically the next season, but a host of personal issues saw Freeman out of the league after 2015. The Jake Delhomme era in Carolina came to an end in 2009 as he went just 4-7 as starter with a 59.4 passer rating. Delhomme had unexpectedly led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in ’03, and made the Pro Bowl in ’05. He would start four games for Cleveland in 2010, and finish his career as a back-up in Houston in 2011.
(Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
After replacing Kurt Warner as starter in 2002, Marc Bulger would go on to lead the St. Louis Rams to two postseasons and become the fastest player in NFL history to 1,000 completions. He struggled mightily in 2009 though, his final year as a starter, throwing just five touchdown passes and winning one of eight starts. Bulger finished his career one year later as a back-up in Baltimore. The #1 overall pick in the 2009 Draft, Matthew Stafford had to lead a Detroit Lions team coming off an 0-16 season back to respectability. While he understandably struggled (20 INTs), Stafford also won two of ten starts before falling to a season-ending injury. He survived another season-ending injury the following year to lead the Lions through the next decade, including three playoff berths.
(Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The 2009 season would be the third and final for Brady Quinn in Cleveland. While limiting his interception total to just seven, Quinn also scored just nine TDs in ten games and won only two starts. He would go 1-7 in Kansas City in 2012, his only other year as a primary starter in the NFL. In his rookie year, Mark Sanchez (the draft’s #5 overall pick) inspired a Jets team despite his 20 interceptions and 63.0 QB rating. Still, “The Sanchize” surprised in the playoffs, taking New York to the AFC Championship Game while accumulating four postseason touchdowns. He would take the Jets back to the AFC Championship Game the following year, but it was mostly downhill after that as Sanchez would win only four games after the 2012 season.
Matt Cassel replaced an injured Tom Brady in New England in ’08, nearly leading the Pats to the postseason at 11-5. But he struggled in his first year in Kansas City in ’09 with a 4-11 record and a league-most 14 fumbles. He bounced back in 2010 to make the Pro Bowl and guide K.C. to the postseason, but never started more than nine games in a season thereafter. Former Super Bowl starter Matt Hasselbeck was up-and-down in 2009, throwing 17 TDs and 17 INTs in 14 games for the 5-11 Seahawks. The next year would be his last in Seattle, where he’d lead the Seahawks to a Wild Card victory over New Orleans. Hasselbeck would see some success in Tennessee in 2011, and remained in the league until 2015.
The Buffalo Bills were the third team in five years for Ryan Fitzpatrick. He would win half of his eight starts, scoring ten TDs while throwing the same number of picks. He spent the ensuing three seasons in Buffalo, without a playoff appearance, and continued his career into the 2020s on Miami (his eighth pro team). In his second season, Chad Henne took over starting duties for Miami. He went 7-6, scoring 13 TDs while throwing 14 picks. A journeyman, Henne relieved an injured Patrick Mahomes during the Chiefs’ 2020 postseason run.
Respectable, Solid, Competent
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | Index Score |
| 21 | Jay Cutler | Chicago Bears | -1.911 |
| 20 | Jason Campbell | Washington Redskins | -1.133 |
| 19 | David Garrard | Jacksonville Jaguars | -0.433 |
| 18 | Joe Flacco | Baltimore Ravens | -0.424 |
| 17 | Carson Palmer | Cincinnati Bengals | -0.030 |
(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
In his first season in Chicago, Jay Cutler threw 27 TD passes, but also a league-most 26 interceptions. He had a strong 2010, taking the Bears to the NFC Championship Game, his lone playoff appearance. He was Chicago’s primary starter through 2016, and retired in 2017 after one year in Miami. After posting and NFL-best 1.2% interception rate in ’08, Jason Campbell threw more than twice as many picks for Washington in ’09. He did manage to air it out for more than 3,600 yards and 20 TDs, but went just 4-12 as starter. Campbell spent the next five years on four different teams before retiring after 2014.
Although he had an NFL-most 14 fumbles, David Garrard made his lone Pro Bowl team after throwing for 3,597 yards and scoring 18 TDs. He also was in the Top 5 for lowest interception rate (1.9%). Garrard’s last season would be an 8-8 year for the Jags in 2010. In his second pro season, Joe Flacco led the Ravens to the playoffs for the second straight year. Following a Wild Card win over Tom Brady and the Patriots (in which Flacco completed just four passes for 34 yards), Baltimore fell the following week to Peyton Manning and the eventual AFC Champion Colts. Flacco would lead Baltimore to the postseason the next three years as well, culminating in victory in Super Bowl XLVII.
(Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Carson Palmer returned in 2009 following a season-ending elbow injury the previous year. He would get the Bengals into the postseason for the first time in four years, but succumb to the Jets’ NFL-best defense in the Wild Card round. The 2010 season would be Palmer’s last in Cincy, and he would retire in 2017 after nearly leading the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl two years earlier.
A Great, if not Transcendent, Season
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | Index Score |
| 16 | Alex Smith | San Francisco 49ers | 0.070 |
| 15 | Matt Ryan | Atlanta Falcons | 0.555 |
| 14 | Vince Young | Tennessee Titans | 0.949 |
| 13 | Kyle Orton | Denver Broncos | 1.400 |
Following a missed 2008 campaign with a broken shoulder, Alex Smith emerged from the shadows in ’09 to win five of ten starts in relief of Shaun Hill. He would get the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in 2011, before losing the starting gig due to injury in 2012 to Colin Kaepernick. After nearly dying from complications due to a compound fracture in 2018, Smith miraculously returned for a curtain call for Washington two years later and went 5-1 in his final six career starts.
In his second season, Matt Ryan averaged the lowest per-game passing average of his career (208.3). Still, he managed to score 23 TDs in 14 games, nearly leading Atlanta to the playoffs by going 9-5 in his starts (they went 0-2 without him). Ryan would be named league MVP in 2016, and get the Falcons painfully close to a Lombardi Trophy that year.
When Vince Young relieved Kerry Collins for the 0-6 Titans in ’09, it looked like he was still a superstar-in-the-waiting when he rallied the team to an 8-2 record in the final ten games. His NFL-best 80% win percentage as starter, and just seven picks in 12 appearances, earned him a Pro Bowl spot. But burdened by off-field troubles and psychological struggles, Young would only start 11 games the next two seasons and none after 2011.
(Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
After being traded from Chicago to Denver for the 2009 season, it looked like Kyle Orton was about to become one of the game’s best signal callers. With him under Center, the Broncos started 6-0 as he threw nine TDs to just one INT during that time. But Denver fell back to earth on both offense and defense, as Orton finished with 21 touchdowns and 12 picks for an 8-8 Broncos team, although his 1.0 turnovers per game was Top 5 in the league. Orton retired after the 2014 season having made 82 regular season starts but not any in the postseason.
The Cream of the Crop
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | Index Score |
| 12 | Eli Manning | New York Giants | 2.264 |
| 11 | Kurt Warner | Arizona Cardinals | 2.912 |
| 10 | Donovan McNabb | Philadelphia Eagles | 3.162 |
| 9 | Tom Brady | New England Patriots | 3.267 |
| 8 | Tony Romo | Dallas Cowboys | 4.542 |
| 7 | Matt Schaub | Houston Texans | 4.709 |
| 6 | Ben Roethlisberger | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5.109 |
| 5 | Peyton Manning | Indianapolis Colts | 5.712 |
| 4 | Philip Rivers | San Diego Chargers | 6.020 |
| 3 | Brett Favre | Minnesota Vikings | 7.018 |
| 2 | Aaron Rodgers | Green Bay Packers | 7.190 |
| 1 | Drew Brees | New Orleans Saints | 8.075 |
For the first time in his five-year career, Eli Manning would fail to get his team to the postseason. It wasn’t his fault though as the Giants had a Top 10 scoring offense, but a Bottom 3 defense. Still, in one of his best individual seasons, Manning would throw for 4,021 and 27 TDs. He would lead the G-Men to another Super Bowl title just two years later.
(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
In the final season of one of the NFL’s most improbable careers, Kurt Warner went out on a high note, averaging over 250 yards a game and scoring 26 TDs. In a legendary Wild Card showdown against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, Warner would amass 379 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 51-45 overtime shootout win. The following week though, the Saints D would limit him to just 205 yards and a pick. Warner would get his bust in Canton in 2017.
The perpetually underappreciated Donovan McNabb was a Pro Bowler in 2009, his sixth such accolade and first in five years. He was third in the NFL in YCYA (10.7), and would total nearly 3,700 total yards in just 14 games. In a Wild Card loss to Dallas he would put up 243 yards of offense and a TD, but also two turnovers. It would be his final game for Philly, and he would retire two years later after single-season stops in Washington and Minnesota.
(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Back from a season-ending injury the previous year, Tom Brady would have a vintage, if not exemplary, 2009 season. He would throw for nearly 4,400 yards and score 28 touchdowns. But Brady would be shut down by a menacing Baltimore Ravens D in the Wild Card round, his two TD passes overshadowed by just 154 yards passing and four turnovers. Don’t shed a tear for Tom Terrific though, he had a pretty solid career both before and after the 2009 campaign.
(Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
In his third Pro Bowl season in four years, Tony Romo would finish in the Top 5 in yards per game (286.8), turnovers per game (0.9), YCYA (10.5), and INT rate (1.6%). He would also win his first playoff game, 34-14 over Philly, with 260 total yards and two TD passes. He would be humbled by Minnesota a week later though, held to under 200 yards and forced into three turnovers. Romo would win another playoff game in 2014 and retire following the 2016 season.
Matt Schaub had a career year in ’09, leading the NFL with an awesome 301.7 yards per game while scoring 29 touchdowns. Yet it wasn’t enough to get the 9-7 Houston Texans into the postseason. He would finally manage to do it in 2012, defeating Cincinnati in the Wild Card round before falling to New England. Schaub would only win three more regular season starts after that, although in a spot start for Matt Ryan in Atlanta in 2019 he would turn back the clock and throw for 460 yards in a losing effort.
Coming off his second Super Bowl title, Ben Roethlisberger had another terrific season in 2009. He finished in the Top 5 in yards per game (294.0), TDs per game (1.9), YCYA (10.7), and completion rate (66.6%). Still, he couldn’t get Pittsburgh into the playoffs with a 9-7 disappointment. “Big Ben” would get back to the Super Bowl the following year, a loss to Green Bay.
(Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
It was debatable whether or not Peyton Manning was most deserving of his fourth MVP in ’09, but he was certainly worthy thanks to a 14-0 start (he only played portions of the final two regular season contests). He would also finish in the Top 3 in TDs per game (2.1), completion rate (68.8%), and touchdowns per attempt (5.8%). Manning lit it up in the first two rounds of the postseason, averaging 311.5 passing yards and scoring five touchdowns. And while he turned in a good showing in Super Bowl XLIV (333 yards passing, one TD, one INT), it wasn’t enough as the underdog New Orleans Saints scored 15 points in the final period to upset Indy 31-17. Peyton would win one more MVP award four years later, for Denver, and retire following victory in Super Bowl 50.
Continuing a sensational start to his young career, Philip Rivers was a machine in 2009. He was tops among QBs in YCYA at 11.1 for the 13-3 Chargers. He was also Top 5 in fewest turnovers per game (0.9), TD rate (5.8%), and INT rate (1.9%). But when it mattered most, he faltered in the playoffs, turning the ball over twice (despite two touchdowns) in a 17-14 loss to the Jets. Rivers still had a brilliant career, even leading the NFL in passing yards in 2010, before retiring after a one-year stint with the Colts in 2020.
Lots of mileage, but plenty of gas left for Brett Favre who had the NFL’s best regular season for a quarterback. In his first year with the Vikings, the typically interception-prone Favre led the NFL in fewest turnovers per game (0.6), and had Top 3 showings in completion rate (68.4%), TDs per attempt (6.2%), and INT rate (1.3%). In Divisional Round, Favre threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-3 thumping of Dallas. But when it looked like he would be headed for his third Super Bowl appearance, Favre threw a devastating interception that led to New Orleans reaching their first Big Game. His final season in Minnesota would be less memorable (11 TDs to 19 INTs), and Favre would retire following the 2010 season at age 41.
(Tom Dahlin/Getty Images)
Aaron Rodgers only went 6-10 in his first full year as starter for Green Bay in ’08. But he flourished in 2009, leading the NFL in INT rate at 1.3%. Rodgers also boasted Top 3 finishes in yards per game (296.9) and touchdowns per game (2.2), all while being sacked an NFL-most 50 times. He was astounding in his first postseason game, throwing for 423 yards and four TDs, but also had two costly turnovers in a 51-45 loss to Arizona. Rodgers would come back though to lead the Pack to a Super Bowl championship just a year later.
(Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Although it wasn’t one of the five seasons that Drew Brees passed for more than 5,000 yards, the 2009 campaign might have been his most deserving for MVP. He was tops among his counterparts in TDs per game (2.4), touchdown rate (6.6%), and he tied an NFL record for completion percentage (70.6%). In three playoff games, Brees scored eight touchdowns, without a single turnover. And he rightfully earned Super Bowl MVP by completing 32 of 39 pass attempts for 288 yards and two TDs. Although he never returned to the Super Bowl, Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season as one of the very best ever to take a snap in the NFL.
The Postgame Show
So did Peyton Manning deserve MVP? Well, he certainly wasn’t undeserving. But if you go by just regular season performance, as the Associated Press MVP award does, Brett Favre had the best first 16 games of any quarterback. And if you take into account the postseason as well, Drew Brees had the best total index score for 2009 at 0.88 compared to Favre’s 0.70 and Manning’s 0.57. At the end of the day, it’s hard for Drew Brees to feel bad about losing the AP MVP award, when he was the one with the Super Bowl MVP award at the end of the season.
Note: The index scores reflect both regular season and postseason performance. No bonus points were awarded for number of starts, nor for winning the Super Bowl. To qualify, the player must have started at least half of his team’s regular season + playoff games. The index score is a compilation of the following eight categories:
- Win-loss percentage (40% of value of the other seven categories)
- Total yards per game
- Total touchdowns per game
- Total turnovers per game (interceptions + fumbles)
- Completion percentage
- Average of yards per completion + yards per pass attempt
- Touchdowns per pass attempt
- Interceptions per pass attempt
The Quarterback Project 