Manning Over Brady

I've had this post sitting in the arsenal for months.  I've wanted to write this piece, but I was waiting on the right opportunity.  As most of you know, NFL Network has been counting down the Top 100 current NFL players.  Media darling Tom Brady beat out Peyton as the number one player.  There isn't a better time than now.

A favorite writer of mine on Twitter just posted this:


"I'm not actually angry, just bitterly amused. Manning can never succeed with the media. Failures more pronounced than success. If this season elevated Brady over Manning, then Rodgers should have been number one."


He nails it.  When ever the Patriots lose, the Patriots lost. When ever the Colts lose, Manning choked.

I'm going to try to format this piece in a way that is somewhat conversational in nature, in that I will make a point, and make a rebuttal to what I think people on the Brady side of the fence would argue with. Therefore to make this easier, Manning will be in BOLD, and Brady in italics.


Manning is clearly the more superior PLAYER because of his individual accolades.  Peyton has 4, count em, 4 MVP trophies.  Brady has only won that trophy twice in his career.  Manning has clearly shouldered the load as the best offensive player four different times in his career.


Yeah, but it doesn't really matter how many MVPs you win, when in reality you play for the championships.  Brady has 3 rings to Manning's one.  Whether you like it or not, the better player is the player with the rings.

Its true that Tom has more rings than Peyton, but let me just throw you out some comparisons on the Super Bowl games themselves. In Brady's first Super Bowl, the Rams put up crazy numbers with 427 total yards, the Patriots defense and the Rams kicker, Jeff Wilkens, bailed out New England multiple times in the first half.  Wilkens missed a 52 yarder in the 2nd quarter, and Ty Law scored on a pick-six.  Also right before halftime Warner completed a pass to Proehl (one time Colt) but a fumble was forced leading to a Patriots touchdown right before half making the score 14-3 (both first half touchdowns were results of defensive plays).  Otis Smith (NE) intercepted a pass intended for Torry Holt, and set up a field goal for NE (17-3). Brady did lead the Patriots on a short drive to set up Vinatieri's 48 yarder for the win.  However Brady was out dueled and bailed out by his defensive. He only passed for 134 yards to Warner's 337. Brady was the game manager and the defense, though allowed many yards, won the game by forcing turnovers. Something the Colts defense rarely does for Manning.


Yeah ok, so Brady's defense helped him in the first game. It was his first year playing full time, you'd expect that from a rookie QB.  Besides, he was still clutch with that final drive.  He started out as the backup quarterback that season.  That's like Curtis Painter doing that for the Colts if Manning gets hurt.  It wouldn't happen!


True, but lets look at the stats from his other two wins. Brady did play better in Super Bowl XXXVIII vs. Carolina throwing for 354 yards, 3 TD and an INT.  Defenses went back and forth on this one between playing solidly and giving open doorways to the endzone. In Super Bowl XXXIX vs. the Eagles Brady had 236 yards passing for 2 TDs. McNabb, on the flip side, threw for 3 TDs but the Patriots picked him off 3 times, again bailing out Brady.  He was clutch, but it helps to have a kicker hit it when it matters, just ask Mike Vanderjagt.


Okay, so the defense was good for Brady, but defense wins championships, we all know that.  He still played well, and he played very well against Carolina and Philadelphia.  Besides in the Colts Super Bowl against the Bears Peyton only threw 247 yards, and the defense intercepted Grossman twice, once for a TD return.  So in that game the defense won it for Manning! And he lost another Super Bowl to the Saints by throwing a pick on the final drive.  Whose more clutch now?!

Yeah, no doubt the 2006 Super Bowl run was a result of better defensive play, and especially the return of Bob Sanders to the lineup.  Had it not been for some strong defense, the Colts would still be ringless.  However, that plays into my argument even more.  All quarterbacks are in need of good defenses to win.  There is no way a team can win 3 or 4 straight games with defenses that can't get off the field.  Manning was able to, and in the Bears game the Colts still gave up over 100 yards on the ground to Thomas Jones, and Manning was still able to help them win.  If you look at the Super Bowl against the Saints.  There was a time period from the middle of the second quarter, after Pierre's infamous drop, to after the Saints scored to go ahead, following the onside kick, in the third quarter that Peyton Manning didn't even attempt a pass.  In the second half the Colts defense forced 1 3rd down, let alone getting off the field.  After the Saints tied the game with the 2 point conversion, there was no way that defense could stop Drew Brees if it came to overtime possession and a coin flip. Terrible defense, and the lack of Manning being able to get pass attempts lost the Colts a golden opportunity at Manning's second ring.  Had Manning's reciever, Garcon held onto that pass, this "ring" argument would be a little less solid.It would give Manning and Brady two solid Super Bowl winning games to compare. 


So maybe the rings have been a result of good defenses and not necessarily quarterback play.  But Tom Brady has the record for most touchdowns in a single season with 50.  That record was previously held by Manning, but the minute the Patriots turned from a Defense first team to a Brady driven team, look at the stats that Brady put up! They were out of this world!  And he's done it with a below average supporting cast.  Can I remind you of this:

Well yes, the 2007 New England Patriots were a fantastic team, a team that, offensively, was very tough to stop.  But in 2004 Peyton set the record for TD passes in a season (49), until it was obviously broken by Brady.  Those seasons are similar, but once again Brady was the product of a good defense and a better system.  In 2007 and 2004 both respective franchises lead the league in scoring.  However Manning was forced to do more with the leagues 19th overall scoring defense compared to Brady in 2007 with the league's 4th best in scoring defense.  Brady also attempted 59 more passes than Manning over the course of the season, which averages out to 4 a game. Not to mention, that was the best year Randy Moss ever played in an NFL uniform.  Don't tell me you don't have talented players.  Wes Welker and Randy Moss are arguably two of the most gifted recievers in the NFL.  And in the final game of the regular season in 2007 the Patriots elected to keep Brady in, and elected to abandon the running game in an attempt to get Brady his record where he attempted 38 passes and threw for 3 touchdowns, this after they already had everything locked up playoff wise.  Unnecessary, just that the team was looking to glorify their quarterback.


All you have is stats.  The bottom line is that the Patriots have more rings than the Colts!  Brady and Manning have almost identical numbers when you stack them up next to each other with their averages.  They have had comparable talent, and the Colts have had probably more hall of famers on offense around Manning than the Patriots have had around Brady offensively.  If you strip away Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, and those guys, I can guarantee you Manning has a drop off!


Well yes, Manning has been very fortunate to have these guys around him.  But averages go like this.
Brady: in 9 seasons- 29 TD, 11.4 INT 521.7 ATT 63.5%
Manning: in 13 seasons- 30.6 TD 15.2 INT 554.6 ATT 64.9%
And Brady and Manning's numbers, you say might be skewed with the 2004 and 2007 seasons.  If you remove those years from the averages the touchdown count goes like this.
Brady: 26.3 TD
Manning 29.1


Manning stayed more consistent.


And as for taking away Clark, Collie, James, Harrison, thankfully the league witnessed that in the 2010 season where the Colts lost all those players, and the starting RB for the majority of the season.  Peyton still put up impressive numbers with 4700 yards passing and 33 TDs.  These numbers were better than 2009, the season in which Manning won the MVP (2010 Brady won it).  He can do it with that supporting cast or not, just ask Blair White, Jacob Tamme, and Donald Brown.  He can put up the numbers offensively.


Conclusion

At the end of the day, NFL Network ranked the top 100 players.  Brady will always win with the media because he's in a bigger market, and has more rings.  When arguing for PLAYERS though, I think Manning wins it every time.

However the margin is razor thin.  If the Colts can pull of another Super Bowl victory or two, I think that it pushes Peyton over the edge as the unanimous number one player in the league.  Until then, we are stuck with this debate.

Ok, I've thrown a lot of information at you.  Let the flood gates open, and the comments pour out.  What do you think?  If you like the discussion, click the "Tweet" button down below.

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