Andy Dalton or Steve McNair? The NFL Stat Breakdown

The career statistics tell a clear story in this QB comparison. Andy Dalton holds the advantage in 6 of 7 key categories, with Pass Touchdowns representing the most decisive gap — a 46% difference that separates these two NFL players. This is not a close debate on the numbers.

Andy Dalton's Pass Touchdowns of 254 compared to Steve McNair's 174 represents a 46% advantage — significantly better than their counterpart in this critical category. Both players exceed the QB career average of 150 in this category, but Andy Dalton leads by 46%. It is the single most decisive number in this comparison and the clearest statistical argument for Andy Dalton's edge.

The most competitive category in this matchup is Yards Per Attempt, where Andy Dalton posts 7.0 against Steve McNair's 6.9 — a gap of just 1.4%. Steve McNair can point to this as evidence that the overall comparison is closer than the final 6-1 tally suggests. In any debate, Yards Per Attempt is the statistical ammunition for the Steve McNair side.

Quarterback evaluation in the modern NFL weighs passing efficiency heavily alongside raw yardage totals. Passer rating, completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio paint a more complete picture than any single statistic alone.

Andy Dalton wins this head to head comparison decisively — 6 categories to 1. The 46% gap in Pass Touchdowns alone makes a compelling case, but the consistency across multiple categories confirms Andy Dalton's statistical superiority in this NFL career comparison.