I despise win/loss records for QBs, like they were baseball pitchers or something. So that is not a valid stat comparsion, you're right. To a large extent, receivers don't drop so many balls that it would drastically throw off a QB's numbers. It can, however, be argued that inferior receivers don't run proper routes, thus negatively affecting the QB's numbers. With that being said, a QB's numbers would eventually reflect their talent. A great QB, like Peyton Manning, can make medicore receivers look good, thereby improving his numbers despite the modest talents of his receivers. It's because of how well he directs the receivers and how well he throws the ball. A bad QB will throw the ball all over the place, forcing the receiver to make more difficult catches.



True, but there is still some level of control with the goaltender's ability. A hall-of-fame talent goaltender can greatly make up for the deficiencies of his teammates, while a good goaltender can get into the hall of fame because of a stellar defense. Likewise, a good pitcher in baseball might be bailed out by stellar defense, whereas a great pitcher with a poor defense would need to strikeout more batters or induce simple ground or pop outs.