This is the most pivotal game in both Brady and Manning's career.

I believe Brady is already the GOAT. There are several that agree with this assessment and several that don't. Many still believe Manning is better than Brady. This is the reason why I believe this next game is the deciding factor which will rest the case in Brady's favor once and for all. However, it could also catapult Manning into the conversation of GOAT by his fans if they don't already think he is. Here are the reasons for each.

1. Brady wins - Goes to his 7th SB defeating and ending the career of his rival Manning and in the process becomes the undisputed GOAT leaving Manning in the dark.

2. Manning wins - Goes to his 4th SB defeating his rival Brady and if if he wins it and retires, would be a feel good story that everyone will cite for his GOAT status.

So this game is pivotal for both QB's.

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SB 49 was the most pivotal game in Bradys career. He could never play another down and still be regarded as the best ever. It cemented his legacy and solidified his position as the #1 QB of all time.

If he lost last years SB, he'd be 3-3 in Superbowls. Just barely ahead of Russel Wilson, Eli Manning, and Ben Rothlisberger. Closing in on Jim Kelly territory for SB losses. That wouldve been the story of Brady's career. 3 SB wins early on, and then 3 SB losses late in his career. We also never wouldve heard the end of "he can't win a Super Bowl with out deflated balls!"

Instead, he's 4-2 now and regarded as the GOAT by almost everyone. Brady himself said there was no game he wanted to win more than SB 49.

MrNathanDrake said:

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SB 49 was the most pivotal game in Bradys career. He could never play another down and still be regarded as the best ever. It cemented his legacy and solidified his position as the #1 QB of all time.

If he lost last years SB, he'd be 3-3 in Superbowls. Just barely ahead of Russel Wilson, Eli Manning, and Ben Rothlisberger. Closing in on Jim Kelly territory for SB losses. That wouldve been the story of Brady's career. 3 SB wins early on, and then 3 SB losses late in his career. We also never wouldve heard the end of "he can't win a Super Bowl with out deflated balls!"

Instead, he's 4-2 now and regarded as the GOAT by almost everyone. Brady himself said there was no game he wanted to win more than SB 49.

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I never said that Brady isn't the GOAT. But you have to agree that every now and then you hear people talking about Manning in the same sentence with Brady which annoys me. What I said is that winning this game would end this conversation once and for all.

patsrulenfl said:

1. Brady wins - Goes to his 7th SB defeating and ending the career of his rival Manning and in the process becomes the undisputed GOAT leaving Manning in the dark.

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This is ********. Brady is already the undisputed GOAT. Definitely better than Manning. Brady has nothing left to prove in the Manning debate. That debate is OVER. If the Broncos win, it will be due to their run game and defense…. NOT because of Manning.

2. Manning wins - Goes to his 4th SB defeating his rival Brady and if if he wins it and retires, would be a feel good story that everyone will cite for his GOAT status.

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No way Manning beats the Panthers or Cardinals. He choked in Superbowls in his HGH-assisted prime. No way he would win a SB now. Brady has a better shot against the Panthers/Cardinals.

patsrulenfl said:

I never said that Brady isn't the GOAT. But you have to agree that every now and then you hear people talking about Manning in the same sentence with Brady which annoys me. What I said is that winning this game would end this conversation once and for all.

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The conversation was over a long time ago.

MrNathanDrake said:

Brady himself said there was no game he wanted to win more than SB 49.

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Am pretty sure he'd say the same thing about the Denver game right now and about SB50 afterwards.

Can you guys think about what I said from a neutral fan's perspective and not as a Pats fan? WE as Pats fans know that Brady is already the GOAT. I want every ****ing football fan to agree that Brady is the GOAT.

patsrulenfl said:

Can you guys think about what I said from a neutral fan's perspective and not as a Pats fan? WE as Pats fans know that Brady is already the GOAT. I want every ****ing football fan to agree that Brady is the GOAT.

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Three wasn't enough, we need four. Four isn't enough. We need five... We're always one more Lombardi away from that happening. It will never happen. It's human nature to have unsolvable debates. The world will never reach full consensus that Brady is better than Manning.

patsrulenfl said:

I never said that Brady isn't the GOAT. But you have to agree that every now and then you hear people talking about Manning in the same sentence with Brady which annoys me. What I said is that winning this game would end this conversation once and for all.

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We've heard that time, and time again. It's never been true yet. It won't be true if Brady wins on Sunday. It'll just lead to "Yeah, but Peyton was a shell of himself" excuses. We're already hearing them.

patsrulenfl said:

Can you guys think about what I said from a neutral fan's perspective and not as a Pats fan? WE as Pats fans know that Brady is already the GOAT. I want every ****ing football fan to agree that Brady is the GOAT.

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It won't happen. It's an impossibility. People will always say Manning was better than Brady.

ESPN backed their horse on this one long, long ago, and that's just the way it's going to be.

Here's a better question. Why does it matter to you, that non-Patriots fans feel a certain way about a certain player? Seriously.

I'll be just fine if the game pivots Tom Brady into another Super Bowl and Manning into retirement...

Super Bowl XLIX was the most important game in his career and he won it in a big way, tossing for 4 TDs and leading a comeback against the league's best defense on the biggest stage. He will be as fired up Sunday as he was last February, and that is the best thing about Tom. But to say Sunday is the most important game in his career is just false. He is already the GOAT until his son comes into the league and breaks all his records.

That being said, Sunday is the most important game of the season to date. Go Pats.

I thinks Superbowl 49 was his biggest game as was said above with slightly more candor. The other three Superbowl wins were so long ago, and SpyGate and DeflateGate both happened after those. Superbowl 49 was critical. It also ended the Brady vs Pink Head discussion, especially given that Denver lost to the same Seattle team in spectacular fashion just a year previous.

If we somehow lose Sunday and Pink Head has a 3-2 advantage in playoff games, that by no means makes him a better QB, but would certainly leave a bad taste in all of our mouths.

The GOAT discussion is between Brady and Montana, but it isn't resolved yet in the eyes of many (of course we will all make a compelling case for Brady, but if he gets to 5 rings, that will immediately be point number one in any GOAT argument).

patsrulenfl said:

I believe Brady is already the GOAT. There are several that agree with this assessment and several that don't. Many still believe Manning is better than Brady. This is the reason why I believe this next game is the deciding factor which will rest the case in Brady's favor once and for all. However, it could also catapult Manning into the conversation of GOAT by his fans if they don't already think he is. Here are the reasons for each.

1. Brady wins - Goes to his 7th SB defeating and ending the career of his rival Manning and in the process becomes the undisputed GOAT leaving Manning in the dark.

2. Manning wins - Goes to his 4th SB defeating his rival Brady and if if he wins it and retires, would be a feel good story that everyone will cite for his GOAT status.

So this game is pivotal for both QB's.

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It's kind of funny how you call this the most pivotal game in Manning's career, and yet in the very same post, you talk about how he would still have to go on and win the next game if he beats Brady and the Patriots this Sunday.

All I know is this: Brady has been in 6 Super Bowls. In all 6 of them, Brady had the ball in the 4th quarter while trailing by 1 score or tied. In 5 of those 6 games, he led the team to a scoring drive to take the lead. In SB38 he did it twice. In SB49, he had to score once in the 4th quarter to cut the lead to a one-score game, and then he scored again. The only game where he failed to score in that situation was in SB46 when he took over the ball with 57 seconds to play needing a touchdown (and when he was asked to do it a 2nd time in SB42, when he had only 35 seconds to work with).

Peyton Manning was in that same situation only 1 time. He had over 5 minutes with which to work. He threw a pick-6.

Oh, and Manning was also on the losing end of a game that is tied for the worst Super Bowl blowout since 1990.

VrabelJr said:

The world will never reach full consensus that Brady is better than Manning.

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Oh, I don't know. I think #5 would certainly do it for most rational people, especially since Manning would still be stuck on #1.

There's also the fact that Brady will have played in more postseason games than any other NFL player, and will also have gone to the SB more than any other player (7 times). Couple that with Manning's potential 12-14 postseason record, and there's really not much of an argument.

People will always have their own opinion (I still believe that Dan Marino was a better QB than Montana in terms of being a pure passer. Obviously that argument loses a lot of weight when the SB enters the equation), but I think a victory by Brady on Sunday goes a long way towards gaining some swing votes, just as last season did too.

There will always be haters. That imbecile Jamie Dukes said after SB 49 that Montana will always be better than Brady because Montana never lost in the SB. Dukes conveniently ignored that Brady has won the same amount of rings while getting his team to the SB more often than Montana did. Sorry Jamie, but 4 Lombardis + 6 conference titles > 4 Lombardis + 4 conference titles.

TommyD4207 said:

It won't happen. It's an impossibility. People will always say Manning was better than Brady.

ESPN backed their horse on this one long, long ago, and that's just the way it's going to be.

Here's a better question. Why does it matter to you, that non-Patriots fans feel a certain way about a certain player? Seriously.

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I would say that at least 80% of the Patriots fanbase feels very strongly the sporting world should accept Brady as the #1 QB of all time. To me it's pretty self-evident why that's the case. It's a natural offshoot of rooting for sports teams in general. We want everyone to regard our team as the best, and that's why they play the games, because the best team can objectively be determined through competition.

But when we get a QB on Brady's level, it goes beyond that. He can potentially be considered the best player in the history of America's favorite sport. That is as important to many people (including me) as which team is the best in any given year. Who would have thought we'd be saying that when Bledsoe went down against the Jets. I live in the Bay Area and you can bet my friends who are 49ers fans are rooting against Brady purely because they still want Montana to be #1. Unfortunately, that can't be determined objectively, so instead we build a case in his favor and back it up with statistics and reasoning. We set set parameters for the discussion, like Superbowl wins being important criteria, and then have to argue about whether those parameters are relevant given that it is a team sport.

There is a reason Patriots fans reacted with such a backlash to DeflateGate, and it wasn't just that we were penalized for it and it hurt our ability to compete on the field. We did all the scientific research and read the appeal transcripts and learned about the legal appeal process because we DeflateGate damaged Brady's legacy and hurt our demand that the world accept him as the greatest ever. Just look at the visceral reactions at everyone on this board on a daily basis to Casserly saying something dumb or someone else praising Aaron Rodgers and it's clear that almost everyone cares about Brady's perception nationally.

It's hard because the sports media, and opinions of uninformed fans, are generally so stupid and unaware of the facts, that you might consider it to be a huge waste of time. I sometimes try to ignore it because it makes me so furious when people are dismissing Brady as the greatest because they still think 11 of 12 balls were 2.0 PSI under. I try to just be happy and grateful that I have been lucky enough to watch this guy for 15 years and experienced the joy that we all felt when he took us to the top of the mountain, and know for myself that he's the greatest ever. That should be enough, along with never letting any hater take that away from me. But to live in that state of zen is exceedingly difficult. If you can listen to some guy at the bar or your friend or whoever disparage Brady for cheating or being a system QB or whatever other reason, and not argue with that person (because who cares what a non-Patriots fan thinks, right?) then you are a better man than I.

So aggravating that he just snuck in the door at the last minute to play in the PO's. I wish he would just go away...

Me...last night....yup..stayed there...

I don't give a rats azz what other fans think about who's the GOAT, he's the best, most clutch QB I've ever seen and have had the privilege to watch and root for for 15 years, that's good enough for me.