I've been wanting to make this blog for a LONG TIME. So buckle down cause it's gonna be a long one. Get some snacks.
Over the past decade, these two Quarterbacks have excelled and changed the game. These two are arguably the two best Quarterbacks of the decade. It's hard to prepare for both of them, their Football IQ's are second to none, have led their teams to the playoffs on numerous occasions, and won Super Bowl Rings.
But who is the better Quarterback out of the two?
Unlike ESPN, I'm not going to say, "Tom Brady has 3 rings and Peyton Manning has 1. End of argument." No.
I'm also not going to be ridiculous like Skip Bayless and say, "Peyton Manning is the greatest regular season Quarterback, but chokes in the playoffs." No.
Now, before I start, I wanna say, I like Tom Brady. Seriously. He's an amazing QB. Got him in my Top 5 actually with Peyton, Montana, Marino, and Favre/Elway. But for people to say Tom Brady is more clutch, and Peyton chokes? For people to say that Brady won 3 rings on his own? For people to say Tom Brady's stats are better than Manning's? I'm about to lay down some cold hard facts and make a case that Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady.
Football is the ULTIMATE team sport. It's not about one player, it's about how the team as a whole performs. Brady and Manning have faced each other 13 times (regular and postseason play.) Manning has won 5 times. Brady was won 8. They always say Brady played better than Manning, when in reality Brady's defense stepped up and played well against Manning, while Brady's offense dominated Peyton's defense.
I'm gonna start with the stats. And don't worry, Tom Brady fans, I'll be fair and include everything.
Touchdown Passes: Peyton Manning, 458. Tom Brady, 342.
Touchdown Pass Percentage: Peyton Manning, 5.7. Tom Brady, 5.5.
Passing Yards: Peyton Manning - 61, 666. Tom Brady - 46, 286.
Passes Attempted: Peyton Manning - 8, 033. Tom Brady - 6, 386.
Pass Attempts Per Game: Peyton Manning, 34.9. Tom Brady, 33.9.
Passes Completed: Peyton Manning - 5, 260. Tom Brady - 3, 934.
Pass Completions Per Game: Peyton Manning, 22.9. Tom Brady, 21.5.
Pass Completion Percentage: Peyton Manning, 65.5. Tom Brady, 63.5.
Passing Yards Per Game: Peyton Manning, 268.1. Tom Brady, 252.9
Passer Rating: Peyton Manning, 96.7. Tom Brady, 96.0.
Passes Intercepted: Peyton Manning, 211. Tom Brady, 127.
Amount Of Times Sacked: Peyton Manning, 257. Tom Brady, 319.
300 Yard Passing Games: Peyton Manning, 77. Tom Brady, 54.
400 Yard Passing Games: Peyton Manning, 10. Tom Brady, 4.
500 Yard Passing Games: Peyton Manning, 0. Tom Brady, 1.
More Clutch?
Game Winning Drives: Peyton Manning, 50. Tom Brady, 39.
Comebacks: Peyton Manning, (leads in this category overall) with 39. Tom Brady, 28.
How about single season stats?
Touchdown Passes: Peyton Manning, 49. Tom Brady, 50.
Passing Yards: Peyton Manning - 4,700. Tom Brady - 5, 235.
Passing Completions: Peyton Manning, 450. Tom Brady, 401.
Passing Attempts: Peyton Manning, 679. Tom Brady, 637.
Passer Rating: Peyton Manning (leads in this category) with 128.8. Tom Brady - 117.2.
Fourth Quarter Comebacks: Peyton Manning, 7. Tom Brady, 4.
Game Winning Drives: Peyton Manning & Tom Brady are tied at 7.
Playoff Stats:
Peyton Manning in 20 games. Tom Brady in 24 games.
Passing Yards:
Peyton Manning - 5,679
Tom Brady - 5,949
Pass Attempts:
Peyton Manning - 761
Tom Brady - 887
Pass Completions:
Peyton Manning - 481
Tom Brady - 553
Completion Percentage:
Peyton Manning - 63.21%
Tom Brady - 62.34%
300 Yard Passing Games:
Peyton Manning - 6
Tom Brady - 6
400 Yard Passing Games:
Peyton Manning - 2
Tom Brady - 0
Games UNDER 250+ Yards Passing:
Peyton Manning - 9
Tom Brady - 12
Touchdown & Interceptions:
Peyton Manning - 32 TD's, 21 INT's
Tom Brady - 42 TD's, 22 INT's
Quarterback Rating:
Peyton Manning - 88.4
Tom Brady - 87.4
MVP's:
Peyton Manning: 4.
Tom Brady: 2.
Number of the times Leading the League:
Passing Yards: Peyton Manning, 2. Tom Brady, 2.
Touchdowns: Peyton Manning, 3. Tom Brady, 3.
Passer Rating: Peyton Manning, 3. Tom Brady, 2.
Completion%: Peyton Manning, 2. Tom Brady, 1.
How about games against each other in the regular season?
Peyton Manning vs Tom Brady in the Regular Season:
1st Meeting (2001 Season, Week 2, @ Indianapolis): Patriots 44, Colts 13.
Peyton Manning: 20/34, 196 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT's, 58.82 completion%, 48.2 QBR
Tom Brady: 13/23, 168 yards, 0 TD's, 0 INT's, 56.52 completion%, 79.6 QBR
2nd Meeting (2001 Season, Week 6, @ Indianapolis): Patriots 38, Colts 17.
Peyton Manning: 22/34, 335 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 64.71 completion%, 106.9 QBR
Tom Brady: 16/20, 202 yards, 3 TD's, 0 INT's, 80.00 completion%, 148.3 QBR
3rd Meeting (2003 Season, Week 12, @ Indianapolis): Patriots 38, Colts 34.
Peyton Manning: 29/48, 278 yards, 4 TD's, 1 INT, 60.42 completion%, 95.7 QBR
Tom Brady: 26/35, 236 yards, 2 TD's, 2 INT's, 74.29 completion%, 87.3 QBR
4th Meeting (2004 Season, Week 1, @ New England): Patriots 27, Colts 24.
Peyton Manning: 16/29, 256 yards, 2 TD's, 1 INT, 55.17 completion%, 93.5 QBR
Tom Brady: 26/38, 335 yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT, 68.42 completion%, 111.2 QBR
5th Meeting (2005 Season, Week 8, @ New England): Colts 40, Patriots 21.
Peyton Manning: 28/37, 321 yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT, 75.68 completion%, 117.1 QBR
Tom Brady: 22/33, 265 yards, 3 TD's, 0 INT, 66.67 completion%, 121.4 QBR
6th Meeting (2006 Season, Week 8, @ New England): Colts 27, Patriots 20.
Peyton Manning: 20/36, 326 yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT, 55.56 completion%, 93.1 QBR
Tom Brady: 20/35, 201 yards, 0 TD's, 4 INT's, 57.14 completion%, 34.0 QBR
7th Meeting (2007 Season, Week 9, @ Indianapolis): Patriots 24, Colts 20.
Peyton Manning: 16/27, 225 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 59.26 completion%, 83.1 QBR
Tom Brady: 21/32, 255 yards, 3 TD's, 2 INT's, 65.63 completion%, 95.2 QBR
8th Meeting (2009 Season, Week 9, @ Indianapolis): Colts 35, Patriots 34.
Peyton Manning: 28/44, 327 yards, 4 TD's, 2 INT's, 63.64 completion%, 97.4 QBR
Tom Brady: 29/42, 375 yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT, 69.05 completion%, 110.7
9th Meeting (2010 Season, Week 10, @ New England): Patriots 31, Colts 28.
Peyton Manning: 38/52, 396 yards, 4 TD's, 3 INT, 76.03 completion%, 96.3 QBR
Tom Brady: 19/25, 186 yards, 2 TD's, 0 INT's, 76.00 completion%, 123.1 QBR
10th Meeting (2012 Season, Week 5, @ New England): Patriots 31, Broncos 21.
Peyton Manning: 31/44, 337 yards, 3 TD's, 0 INT's, 70.45 completion%, 115.4 QBR
Tom Brady: 22/31, 223 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT's, 74.19 completion%, 104.6 QBR
How about the playoffs?
Peyton Manning vs Tom Brady in the Playoffs:
1st Meeting (January 1st, 2004, @ New England): Patriots 24, Colts 14.
Peyton Manning: 23/47, 237 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT's, 48.94 completion%, 35.5 QBR
Tom Brady: 22/37, 237 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 59.46 completion%, 76.1 QBR
2nd Meeting (January 16th, 2005, @ New England): Patriots 20, Colts 3.
Peyton Manning: 27/42, 238 yards, 0 TD's, 1 INT, 1 Rush TD, 64.29%, 69.3 QBR
Tom Brady: 18/27, 144 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 66.67 completion%, 92.2 QBR
3rd Meeting (January 21st, 2007, @ Indianapolis): Colts 38, Patriots 34.
Peyton Manning: 27/47, 349 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 Rush TD, 57.45 completion%, 79.1 QBR
Tom Brady: 21/34, 232 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 61.76 completion%, 79.5 QBR
Totals:
Peyton Manning: 325/521, 3, 821 yards, 27 TD's,19 INT's, 62.4 completion%, 86.7 QBR
Tom Brady: 276/412, 3,059 yards, 23 TD's, 12 INT's, 66.9 completion%, 95.3 QBR
Peyton Manning literally beats Tom Brady in almost every single category. It's also funny how some of Manning's playoff stats are close, if not better than some of Brady's and he's played in less playoff games. And don't give me, "Peyton's been playing longer." If we're going to compare these two Quarterbacks, we have to take everything into consideration. It's also funny that people say Tom Brady outplays Peyton Manning in the games he wins, when most of the time, even though Brady's team wins, Manning puts up better stats. It's THEN people wanna say, stats don't matter unless you win the game, but they matter when you lose? Huh? Let's not even get into how inferior the Colts defense was compared the strong defenses Brady had behind him.
Now, let's move into the postseason.
There's been a lot of talk, started by ESPN, that Tom Brady is clutch in the playoffs and Peyton Manning chokes. You know the phrase, "Offense scores points, Defense wins Championships." This could not be more true between these two.
During the course of Tom Brady's career when he got those 3 rings, he's had a Top 10 Defense SIX Times (2001, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, . Peyton Manning has only had it THREE times (2004, 2007, 2012.) Peyton Manning's team has let him down in the playoffs SIX Times. The only game I'll give Peyton any guff for is the 2003, 41-0, game against The Jets. What about his other playoff games? How do they stack up against Brady?
Warning: I may repeat a few of the Manning vs Brady games, but I'm going to include the defensive stats as well.
Peyton Manning in the playoffs:
2005 vs The Pittsburgh Steelers (Divisional Round): 22/38, 290 yards, 1 TD, and 0 picks.
- Pittsburgh jumped on Indy to a 21-3 lead. Peyton led the comeback to 21-18. Edgerrin James had 56 yards on the ground. Mike Vanderjagt missed a FG that would've tied the game at 21 a piece and sent it into OT. Jerome Bettis even fumbled on the goal line.
But, Peyton Manning choked?
2007 vs The San Diego Chargers (Divisional Round): 33/48, 402 yards, 3 TD's and 2 INT's.
- The year before, Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl. He came into this game with a high powered offense and the #3 ranked defense. Marvin Harrsion had a fumble, that led to a San Diego TD. Addai had 43 yards rushing. Peyton Manning lead a go ahead drive to put the Colts up 24-21.
- Philip Rivers got injured and left the game in the 4th Quarter. Ladanian Tomlinson also left the game with a bruised knee. All the #3 ranked Colts defense had to do was stop a BACKUP QB and backup running back. But no, Billy Volek and Michael Turner drove 80 yards in 43 seconds and went up 28-24.
But Peyton Manning choked?
2008 vs The San Diego Chargers (Wild Card Weekend): 25/42, 310 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT's.
- The Colts running game struggled again with Addai having 44 yards on the ground. Colts defense had 0 sacks and couldn't stop Darren Sproles who rushed for 105 yards and 2 TD's. The Colts defense had 0 sacks, San Diego had 1. Mike Scifres punting buried the Colts inside their own 10-20 yard line on every punting play.
But again, Peyton Manning choked?
2009 vs The New Orleans Saints (Super Bowl): 31/45, 333 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.
- The Colts came in as the favorite beating the #1 ranked Jets defense. Their defense started strong with Freeney sacking Brees and The Colts getting a 10-6 lead before the half. Pierre Garcon dropped a KEY third down pass that could've blown the game open putting the Colts up 17-6.
- The Saints onside kicked to open the 3rd Quarter. The ball bounces off Hank Baskett and New Orleans scores on the next drive. Dwight Freeney didn't play the ENTIRE 2nd half, which made Indy lack a pass rush. Brees had something like 20 completions in a row and New Orleans outscored Indy 25-7 in the 2nd half.
- The play of the game was the Pick Six. I love how nobody brings up the fact that Reggie Wayne ran the wrong route on that play. The play design was a curl, or button hook. Not too sure. Manning threw the ball where Reggie was supposed to be. Wayne blew the route by pulling a slant and Porter picked off the curl route and ran it back for the TD. But of course, all people will see is the pick. They'll never go deeper than that. I still say the ball should've gone to Collie. He was running across the middle wide open. But I guess, Manning ran with who he trusted.
But after all that, Peyton Manning choked?
2010 vs The New York Jets (Wild Card Weekend): 18/26, 225 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT.
- Peyton threw a 57 yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon and the Colts led 7-0 throughout the 1st half. The 2nd half came and Tomlinson had 82 yards on the ground, while Shonn Greene had 70 yards on the ground. Jets had a 14-13 lead. Peyton Manning led a clutch drive and Adam Vinatieri capped it off with a FG putting the Colts up 16-14 with 53 seconds left. Cromartie ran the kickoff back 44 yards into Colts territory. Sanchez drove down the field and Folk hit the GW FG winning the game 17-16.
But Peyton Manning was the one that choked?
2012 vs The Baltimore Ravens (Divisional Round): 28/43, 290 yards, 3 TD's, 2 INT's.
- Denver had the #2 ranked defense, #3 against the run. Ray Rice had 131 yards rushing. Torrey Smith had 2 TD's burning Champ Bailey. Baltimore had 3 sacks, Denver had 1. Trindon Holliday had a punt and kickoff return for a TD. Peyton had 3 Touchdown passes. He threw a Pick Six on a clear pass interference penalty. Manning had his team in control and put his team up 35-28. What happened next? Flacco throws a 70 yard bomb to Jacoby Jones with Rahim Moore falling down in the process. Moore, for some reason was playing too far up on Jones and when it was his time, Jacoby ran right past him.
But after all that, Peyton Manning is the one who choked? Why? Because he threw 1 interception in OT? That 70 yard bomb should not have happened.
There are more, but these are the key ones. If you go back and watch these games and actually think any of these games were lost solely on Peyton Manning, than I don't know what to say to you. Now, I admit, there a few games where Manning could've played better, but THREE TIMES, Peyton led the go ahead drive to put his team in winning position, but the defense blows the lead and Peyton gets the blame for the entire loss. That's BS.
Peyton is 9-11 in the playoffs and Brady is 17-7. Brady has always had a better running game, better offensive line, and more importantly, a better defense.
But yet, Tom Brady gets all the love for his wins?
How many times has his defense and running game bailed him out?
2001 vs The Oakland Raiders (Divisional Round)
The infamous tuck rule game. A game that Oakland clearly should've won, but that rule came out of nowhere after a clear fumble. The Patriots defense held the Raiders to 64 yards rushing and held Gannon to 159 yards passing. Brady had 312 yards passing, 0 TD's and 1 INT. But that tuck rule came completely out of nowhere. It was clearly a fumble. So, the refs give the ball back to New England and Adam Vinatieri makes a field goal kick in a BLIZZARD to win the game for his team.
2001 vs St. Louis Rams (Super Bowl)
The Patriots #8 ranked defense had 3 sacks and 1 interception against "The Greatest Show On Turf" Tom Brady had 145 yards passing and his running game combined for 129 yards on the ground. Pats won 20-17 with a Vinatieri game winning field goal.
2004 vs Peyton Manning & The Colts (AFC Championship)
- Brady and Manning both had 237 yards passing and 1 TD a piece. What was the difference? Defense.
The Colts defense has 0 sacks. Brady's defense had 4 sacks and picked off Manning 4 times. The Patriots only won 24-14.
2005 vs Peyton Manning & The Colts (Divisional Round)
- Manning had 238 yards and 1 INT. Brady had 144 yards and 1 TD pass. The Patriot defense forced 3 fumbles and Corey Dillon had 144 yards rushing. The Colts defense had 1 sack. Their running game had a combined 40 yards on the ground. Pats won 20-3.
2005 vs McNabb and The Eagles (Super Bowl)
- Brady had 236 yards passing and 2 TD's. His defense had 4 sacks and picked off McNabb 3 times. His TEAM won off an Adam Vinatieri game winning field goal. His running game also had over 100 yards on the ground as well.
2007 vs The San Diego Chargers (AFC Championship)
- Tom Brady had 209 yards, 2 TD's and 3 INT's. Laurence Maroney had 122 yards on the ground and his defense picked off Rivers twice and added a sack.
There are games where Brady has underperformed, but gets all the credit when he wins. There's no talk of how great his defense performed or how his running game was getting 100 yards on the ground like nothing. Take last Sunday's game vs New Orleans for example. Brady mounted a clutch drive, no doubt. But he got all the love and credit for the win. Not one mention of how New England's defense stopped Brees three times, constantly giving Brady and the offense chances to win the game. But if the Pats were to lose that game, it'd be about receivers dropping passes and the defense not playing well, leaving Brady exempt from all blame.
Peyton goes above and beyond, makes ONE mistake and he's a choker. They don't talk about his defense blowing leads, and his running game not showing up and barely even cracking 100 yards in playoff games. When his team loses, Peyton gets buried in the media. When he wins, they act like it's the first time he's ever performed like this in a game.
Ring Counting is becoming to be an annoying thing among sports fans. Because a player has more rings than the other player, he's automatically better. So, by that logic, Mario Chalmers is a better player than John Stockton & Jason Kidd. Pau Gasol is on the same level as Hakeem Olajuwon because they both have 2 rings. Ben Roethlisberger is a better Quarterback than Dan Marino. And Eli Manning & Joe Flacco are better than John Elway & Brett Favre.
You see how ridiculous that sounds? You cannot take rings and simplify them to a single player achievement. You have to factor in everything. Eli Manning wouldn't have two rings if not for his BEAST defensive line. Big Ben wouldn't have his rings if not for Santonio and the Pittsburgh Defense. Joe Flacco wouldn't have his ring if not for that defense and Boldin making clutch grabs in the Super Bowl.
When people say Brady > Manning, more often than not, they talk about rings. They don't compare stats, QB mechanics, leadership, and overall ability. By all means, I'll do that:
Who is tougher for a defense to gameplan for? Peyton Manning. His Football IQ is through the roof.
Who is the better leader? Peyton Manning. When receivers mess up, Brady throws a tantrum and sits on the bench by himself. Manning will talk to his receiver on the bench until he gets it right.
Who has the best throwing mechanics? Peyton Manning. His release on the ball and receiver anticipation is remarkable.
Who is more accurate? Peyton Manning. Look at the stats above. Brady is far more inaccurate.
Who has a better deep ball? I say Peyton Manning, but an argument could be made for Tom Brady.
Who is more mobile? I'm not an idiot. Brady is more mobile in the pocket than Manning is.
Who has better pocket awareness? This could be a tie. Brady can avoid sacks. Manning steps up in the face of a blitz and still completes passes down the field.
Peyton Manning is far and away the better player. You could also make the argument that Brady is a System Quarterback. Meaning he's good because of the system he's in on that team. Look at what that system did for Matt Cassel. He led The Patriots to an 11-5 record. Look at him now. Enough said.
There was no system in Indianapolis. Peyton Manning was the system. The offense ran through Peyton Manning. He went to Denver and turned a run first team into the most dominant passing team in the last 2 seasons.
I'll end it on this note, I won't take Brady's accomplishments away from him. He definitely went off in 2007 and almost went 19-0. Brady is phenomenal, but Peyton is better. Look at the stats, look at mechanics, and look at the STORY behind Brady's 3 rings and Peyton's 1 ring. Don't be a ring counter. That's lazy thinking. Do your research and look at all the facts. Don't let ESPN brainwash you. These are the same people that said Flacco was a Top 5 QB. The same people that said Luck was better than Peyton AFTER ONE SEASON. The same people that compared Kaepernick to Montana last season. The same people that had the audacity to say Eli was better than Peyton. Look at the two this season. You still believe that?
Look the stats, form your own opinion, and don't buy into the media propaganda to make the opinion for you. Tom Brady's TEAMS have performed better in the playoffs better than Peyton's TEAM has. Is Tom Brady a great player and Top 5? Without question, but Peyton Manning is the better player in my eyes.
Rodney Harrison even said it himself:
"I think Peyton has been so unfairly judged because he really didn't have that defense over the years like Tom," Harrison said. Tom had a lot of veteran players, a lot of really good defenses, where if he didn't play particularly well, he knew that he had a defense with a lot of veteran players that could save him. Whereas, Peyton didn't really have that advantage. If Peyton was on our team, I think we could have easily won three Super Bowls, no doubt about it."
There it is in a nutshell. No Quarterback adds as much value to a team than Peyton Manning has over the years.
Peyton Manning > Tom Brady.
Thanks For Reading.
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By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete
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