Who is better, Unitas or Peterson?
Johnny Unitas leads with a GOAT score of 87.2 against 87.1 for Patrick Peterson — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Unitas vs Peterson
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Johnny Unitas above Patrick Peterson: 87.2 vs 87.1. Johnny Unitas leads on Dominance, Honours. Patrick Peterson leads on Statistics, Peak, Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
UnitasWinner
87.2Unitas wins: Dominance, Honours
Peterson
87.1Peterson wins: Peak, Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/johnny-unitas-vs-patrick-peterson
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Johnny Unitas
87.2
Unitas leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Johnny Unitas
2. Patrick Peterson
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Johnny Unitas5 seasons played · career day 1,826109 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Patrick Peterson5 seasons played · career day 1,82517 touchdowns
-84.4% vs Unitas at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Unitas | 0 | 0 | 9 | 33 | 84 | 187 |
| 🇺🇸 Peterson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 21 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | UnitasRetired | PetersonRetired |
|---|---|---|
| MVP awards | 3 | — |
| NFL championships | 3 | — |
| Super Bowl titles | 1 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 10 | 8 |
| Passing yards | 40,239 | — |
| Touchdown passes | 290 | — |
| First-team All-Pro selections | — | 3 |
| Career interceptions | — | 36 |
| Punt return touchdowns | — | 4 |
| Seasons played | — | 13 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 82 |
| Peak w20% | 90 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 86 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 87 | 84 |
| Statistics w15% | 87 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Unitas87.2
Peterson87.1
FAQ
Where does Peterson beat Unitas?
Peterson scores higher on peak, statistics, longevity. Unitas leads on dominance, honours.
How is the Unitas vs Peterson score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Unitas: 87.2, Peterson: 87.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Unitas vs Peterson. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.