Peyton Manning has been called the greatest regular season quarterback of all time. And though that statement is a back-handed compliment, it is extremely accurate. Peyton has had numerous regular seasons where he has dominated the NFL only to fall off in the post-season. His record after Sunday’s victory brings him up to .500 with an 11-11 record. Tom Brady has been considered the better of the two quarterbacks considering his three Super Bowl titles, two of which he was named MVP, out of five appearances and has the most post-season wins for a quarterback with a record of 18-8. However, if Peyton Manning wins Super Bowl XVIII, he could surpass Brady in greatness.
Though Tom Brady started his career with a championship his sophomore season and two more in a repeat during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, he has become a shadow of his former post-season self. Brady began his playoff career 10-0; not too bad for the Golden Boy, right? But he has since been only as good as Manning winning percentage wise and is 8-8 in his last 16 playoff games. Two of those years, in 2007 and 2011, Brady lost to Peyton’s little brother, Eli, in the Super Bowl, and although Manning lost his second championship game in the worst fashion for a quarterback against the New Orleans Saints, the same team has not beaten him in the biggest game of the season two out of four years.
Manning is tied for the most post-season losses in NFL history, but his troubles with the Patriots are a thing of the past. Brady is considered the better playoff quarterback and is 10-5 all-time against Manning, playoffs included, but Manning has been showing up against the Greatest Looking American. The two have faced off four times in the playoffs, three of which were AFC Championship games. After Sunday’s game, the two are at a stalemate with a record of 2-2 against one another, and the home team has been the victor in each of these four match-ups. Regardless of who was on the field for either team, Manning went off for 400 yards and an NFL record 32 completions in the conference championship. Added to that, he only had nine incompletions. Take away the drops and that number could lower to five or six. Another Manning-sided statistic is that the former Colt is now 2-1 against Brady in conference title games. It seems the four-time MVP is more dependable against Brady than first thought. Also, Manning started his career against the Patriots 2-10 but has been 6-4 since.
Manning could make a HUGE argument for himself with a second Super Bowl title. Six quarterbacks have at least 20 post-season starts, and Manning and Brady are two of them. Manning has the highest completion percentage of any of the six, however, at 64%. If the Broncos quarterback wins in two weeks, he will become the only quarterback to have taken two different teams to the promise land and won. Six others, including Kurt Warner, have tried but failed. Additionally, if Manning wins he will have had the greatest season for a quarterback in NFL history. Not only has he broken a post-season record, in a positive manner, but his record-setting 55 touchdowns and nearly 5,500 passing yards would seem much more impressive if he comes out on top with a win on Feb. 2nd. Add all that up, and it’s hard to say Brady is the better quarterback if Manning finishes this year in winning fashion.
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