Vote up the best quarterbacks who took over the reigns midseason and led their teams to the Super Bowl.
The quarterback is the heart and soul of a football team, and it's nearly impossible to win a Super Bowl without one. Unfortunately for some NFL teams, their quarterback goes down at an inopportune time during a quest to win the Super Bowl. This is when it's pivotal to have a backup ready to grab the wheel and keep the car on the tracks. This list of the best backup quarterbacks to reach and win a Super Bowl will give you insight into qbs who did exactly that.
While not ideal, quarterback injuries do occur, albeit less often than other positions. It's rare for a backup quarterback to step in and not miss a beat, but on the rare occasion that it does happen, the result is glorious. On this list, you'll find Super Bowl winning quarterbacks such as Nick Foles, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Roger Staubach, and other NFL greats.
Go ahead and vote up the best backup quarterbacks to reach a Super Bowl, and when you are finished, head on over and vote on the greatest moments in Super Bowl history.
Warner took a circuitous route to the NFL via the Arena Football league. After Trent Green went down with a torn ACL in the 1999 preseason, Warner took over and set the league on fire. The Rams went 13-3, Warner won MVP, and they rode the momentum all the way to a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.
NFL legend Roger Staubach was once a backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. The Heisman winner took over for Craig Morton, who is also on this list, during the 1971 season and smoothly led his team to a great season that culminated in a victory at Super Bowl VI.
Jim Plunkett got the opportunity to shake his bust narrative when he replaced Dan Pastorini of the Oakland Raiders, who broke his leg during the 1980 season. After shaking off a 2-3 start, Plunkett caught fire and led the Raiders all the way to a victory in Super Bowl XV.
In 2017, Foles took over for sophomore sensation Carson Wentz, who tore his ACL in Week 14. Losing their league MVP front-runner forced the first-place Philadelphia Eagles to turn to the strong-armed Foles in his second tenure with the team.
Things started slow, but once the NFL championship game came around, Foles was on another level. After thrashing the Minnesota Vikings, Foles led his Eagles to Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots, where he took home Super Bowl MVP honors behind a 373-yard, 3-TD performance to bring Philadelphia its first Super Bowl.
Before he was arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, the venerable Tom Brady was just a Padawan. The unheralded second-year signal caller was thrust into the spotlight in 2001, when Patriots' franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury.
New England never looked back.
Brady grew up quickly and led his Patriots to a win in Super Bowl XXXVI, bringing home MVP honors in the process. It was the first title in Patriots history, and the first of five Super Bowls Brady won in New England.
Morrall ultimately wound up having an impressive NFL career, but his breakout season was brought to a halt in Super Bowl III following the 1968-69 season. After replacing Hall-of-Famer Johnny Unitas due to injury, Morrall led the Colts to the title game, but was unable to overcome another future Hall-of-Famer in Joe Namath, who quarterbacked the New York Jets to a Super Bowl victory.