[DC 86]

Well, I disagree.
In my mind Bill Walsh could have, and would have, won Super Bowls with any number of reasonably competent QB's. Walsh consistently produced a true team effort which was not especially dependent on any one player or position. If one had to single out a position crucial to the success of a Bill Walsh team I would consider the entire offensive line to be that "position" (even though it's a unit of 5 guys rather than a single position).

For the first half of his pro career John Elway's performance did not produce many wins. Once Dan Reeves was fired Shannahan came in and got the Broncos playing well as a team.

No doubt Walsh could have won Super Bowls with someone like Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson or Jeff Hostetler (who nevertheless were all Pro Bowlers) but not with the examples that you cited (Bono, Kemp or Cavanaugh).

During the first part of John Elway's career (the period when Dan Reeves was head coach) his regular season record as a starter was 89-52-1 (over 63%) with three AFC championships. It's unfortunate that three Super Bowl losses leave the impression that he "did not produce many wins" but that's simply not the case, he produced a lot of wins even though he didn't have a single Pro Bowl WR during that time, and only one Pro Bowl OL (Keith Bishop). He demonstrates how a great QB can manufacture wins absent talent around him, whereas even an all time great OL (e.g. Joe Thomas), WR (e.g. Larry Fitzgerald) or RB (e.g. Barry Sanders) can't carry their teams when QB play is subpar.

Quarterback surely get too much credit and too much blame, but the fact remains that a team can win even if it is below average at certain positions, but not if one of those positions is quarterback. History tells us that QB play needs to be at least above average for a team to be a championship contender.

[DC 86]

Well, I disagree.
In my mind Bill Walsh could have, and would have, won Super Bowls with any number of reasonably competent QB's. Walsh consistently produced a true team effort which was not especially dependent on any one player or position. If one had to single out a position crucial to the success of a Bill Walsh team I would consider the entire offensive line to be that "position" (even though it's a unit of 5 guys rather than a single position).

For the first half of his pro career John Elway's performance did not produce many wins. Once Dan Reeves was fired Shannahan came in and got the Broncos playing well as a team.

No doubt Walsh could have won Super Bowls with someone like Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson or Jeff Hostetler (who nevertheless were all Pro Bowlers) but not with the examples that you cited (Bono, Kemp or Cavanaugh).

During the first part of John Elway's career (the period when Dan Reeves was head coach) his regular season record as a starter was 89-52-1 (over 63%) with three AFC championships. It's unfortunate that three Super Bowl losses leave the impression that he "did not produce many wins" but that's simply not the case, he produced a lot of wins even though he didn't have a single Pro Bowl WR during that time, and only one Pro Bowl OL (Keith Bishop). He demonstrates how a great QB can manufacture wins absent talent around him, whereas even an all time great OL (e.g. Joe Thomas), WR (e.g. Larry Fitzgerald) or RB (e.g. Barry Sanders) can't carry their teams when QB play is subpar.

Quarterback surely get too much credit and too much blame, but the fact remains that a team can win even if it is below average at certain positions, but not if one of those positions is quarterback. History tells us that QB play needs to be at least above average for a team to be a championship contender.