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

On a related note, I have no doubt that 15 matchups between QBs not in the same division (yes I said 15, not 17) is a record, but does anyone know who is in 2nd place and by how many?

to OP...this is most pivotal game in brady's career? have you been hanging out with chandler jones?

Quarterback G in the postseason: 22-8 (73.3%)
Quarterback G all-time in the regular season: 172-53 (76.4%)
Quarterback G all-time, all games: 194-61 (76.1%)
Quarterback G vs. Quarterback H all-time: 11-5 (68.8%)
Quarterback G vs. Quarterback H in the playoffs: 2-2 (0.500)
Quarterback G, championships: 4
Quarterback G, conference championships: 6
Quarterback G, conference finals appearances: 10

Quarterback H in the postseason: 12-13 (48.0%)
Quarterback H all-time in the regular season: 187-79 (70.3%)
Quarterback H all-time, all games: 199-92(68.4%)
Quarterback H vs. Quarterback G all-time: 5-11 (31.2%)
Quarterback H vs. Quarterback G in the playoffs: 2-2 (0.500)
Quarterback H, championships: 1
Quarterback H, conference championships: 3
Quarterback H, conference finals appearances: 5

If Quarterback G were to go one-and-done each year for the next 15 years, he would still have a better playoff winning percentage than Quarterback H.

Quarterback G = G.O.A.T. = Brady
Quarterback H = H.G.H. = Manning

I disagree, if the Broncos win the Super Bowl I highly doubt it's because of Peyton. It'd be like when the Steelers won SB XL. Had little to do with Jerome Bettis. On the other hand, this game would bigtime ****ing suck to lose. Peyton would have a winning record vs Brady in the playoffs and we'd hear about it forever because it's highly unlikely they ever meet again. This is a huge MUST win.

I see that the board allows us to write "********" now. Cool!

Manning was carried to one championship, in a postseason in which he had 3 TDs and 7 INTs, compiling a far worse QB rating than either Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson. It was the worst postseason by a Super winning QB this century.

He has some ground to make up, to say the least.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

Manning was carried to one championship, in a postseason in which he had 3 TDs and 7 INTs, compiling a far worse QB rating than either Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson. It was the worst postseason by a Super winning QB this century.

He has some ground to make up, to say the least.

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And no time to do it. "Pivotal" suggests more to come after the fact, and the book already has been written.

Patjew said:

I see that the board allows us to write "********" now. Cool!

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That's utter horseshit.

I think this is how it all came down.

Manning enters the NFL in 98 and is given the reigns of the team from Indy and goes 3-13, same as the year before.

In 1999 and 2000 Manning leads the team into the playoffs and goes one and done each time, once as the #1 seed

In 2001 Brady comes on the scene and wins his first SB, but everyone thinks it's a fluke, especially when the Pats miss the playoffs in 2002, the year the NYJFL decides to realign into the idiotic 4 team divisions and places Manning in an all expansion division.

After the realignment Manning goes to the playoffs 9 straight times. but only has 1 SB win and 5 more one and done playoffs, 3 of them as the top seed.

Meanwhile, Brady comes back in 2003 and 2004 and puts together the longest winning streak in NFL history and adds two more SB trophies, and compiles a 10-0 playoff record before he gets his first loss in 2005.

Brady goes on to add an 18-1 season including 3 more SB appearances and 1 more SB win, surrounding his lost season in 2008.

Manning goes on to add 2 more one and done playoffs and 1 SB failure while jumping teams to one that was good enough to make the playoffs with Tim Tebow as their QB.

The NYJFL has tried their best to thwart the success of Brady by fabricating rule violations leading up to their biggest games and taking away multiple draft picks, while at the same time allowing Manning to be crowned as the NYJFL's poster child of honesty and decency, while ignoring many of his past and present transgressions.

They (and we) never saw Brady coming but this one game won't derail the Brady express even with a loss. And a win would just continue to make the Brady legacy grow.

The pressure is on Manning this game. Not Brady

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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Pivotal? Not really. Brady is 11-5 against Manning. Brady's got 4 SB wins to Manning's one. Even if Manning wins his second SB (which won't happen), he's swimming with the likes of Roger Staubach, Steve Young, Ben Roethlisberger, Jim Plunkett, John Elway, and will still have a worse record than his little brother Eli. He won't be in TFB and Joe Montana's company.

Besides, if the Patriots win and Brady goes to his 7th SB, there's no guarantee that the Pats will beat either Arizona or Carolina. Those are two complete teams with veteran QBs. I'm not saying the Pats wouldn't win one of those match ups, but both of those NFC teams are superior to the Broncos.

It's a big game, for sure, but statistically it won't alter the discussion.

You want to worry about something this week? Worry about how the offensive line will hold up against the Broncos defensive front. I think they'll be fine based on the KC performance. And worry about Hightower, Collins and Mayo. If all three of those guys are a full go, the Broncos will have a difficult time sustaining drives.

This game is going to come down to which defense has the best day, IMHO. If the Pats can win the turnover battle, they win the war.

The Steelers would be in Foxboro if Bradley Roby doesn't get that turnover against Toussant. The Steelers were driving for at least another field goal to extend their lead. The momentum would not have shifted the way it did, and the Steelers would have finished the job.

The other thing about the Steelers game was that Roethlisberger was operating without his top three weapons and still moved the ball against that Wade Phillips prevent zone. Wade's defense worked against a vastly depleted offense. It won't against the Patriots. Brady is going to pick that apart forcing more man coverage which in turn will open up double-move downfield routes and more room for the running backs to operate.

Brady is already the GOAT in many people's minds. But this game is still BIG for TB12. #5 is what it's all about. And if he pulls it off it will involve getting one last chimp off his back with the whole 2-4 in Denver stuff.

Completely disagree with the OP's view:

1) For Brady, this game is icing on the cake. With four rings, six SB appearances, and ten AFCCG appearances, all in the Cap and Free Agency era, his legacy as the GOAT is sealed. Even Gary Myers has conceded that.

2) For Manning, it's a last gasp as a shadow of his former self, at enhancing his legacy as a Post Season QB, but his legacy as one of the greatest QB's ever and probably the best Regular Season QB ever is also sealed.

3) Brady's detractors will find a reason to say negative things about him whether he wins ("Peyton wasn't himself") or loses ("He still cheated"). Just do what I do with annoying posters out here...put them on Ignore.

Tunescribe said:

And no time to do it. "Pivotal" suggests more to come after the fact, and the book already has been written.

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Exactly. That horseface has left the barn.

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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No way.

I don't think this game is nearly as pivotal for Brady's legacy as 2/1/2015 was.

Think about it.

....and Brady is not in competition with Peyton Manning in the legacy game. He is with Joe Montana and Otto Graham.

.

This thread is silly. You are implying that this game is bigger for Brady than last year's super bowl. Don't hit reply right away. Sit on your hands, and just think about that for a minute. Do you really believe that? If you do, you shouldn't.

It isn't even Manning's biggest game: every Super Bowl either player has ever played in is more important than this game.

Bledsoehasaring said:

The only way tom brady gets considered the goat Unanimously or nearly so is by winning 5 superbowls.. I hate to say it but people are stupid. And all they understand is this guy won more superbowls than this guy. Before you jump down my throat this is not my opinion. Brady for me is the goat by a fairly large margin after last years superbowl. I thought you could make a strong case before it but now its pretty open and shut given case given the same amount of sb victories and same sb mvps as montana. The only guy brady is competing with in everyones mind is montana. No one thinks peyton is better than brady anymore. If brady win a superbowls this year no one with an opinion that matter will think he isnt the goat.

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When Gary Myers of the NY Daily News (no friend of the Patriots!!!) spends two years writing a book on "Brady vs. Manning" and unequivocally states in the book and in his columns that Brady is the GOAT, I think it's clear that, in the eyes of history Brady will be viewed as the Greatest of all Time. The debate is over outside of the haters, who won't be convinced even if Brady wins every SB between now and when he is 45, and of Montana die-hards in the Bay Area.

Patjew said:

I see that the board allows us to write "********" now. Cool!

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"now?"

The only fans of a player that have a case left are those of Joe Montana. The Montana fans will still say well Joe never lost a SB which is their one branch they're clinging to even though it's ass backwards since making 6 with the same amount of wins has to be viewed as greater.

Playoff record
Montana 16-7
Brady 22-8

Conference Championship record
Montana 4-3
Brady 6-3

One and done's
Montana 4
Brady 2

All of Brady's regular season wins and losses and stats are better as well. Should Brady win this year though he'll have 5 SB wins, 7 appearances, a 7-3 conference championship record even the Montana fans will have to give it up.

Manning is a known choker in the playoffs and the SB. He's 1-2 in SBs and he is a main reason they lost both SBs. In fact, the only SB he won, he threw 4 tds and 7 ints in the playoffs. Indy's defense and a great running game won that SB yet somehow he got the MVP. The 2 SBs Brady lost, he drove them down the field to give them the lead with less than 2 minutes left, and the defense couldn't stop the opposition from scoring. That's the big difference.

The neutral fan's view:
OP- I won't mock your thread but instead give a realistic view of what "neutral" fans think. I'm a relocated Pats fan but I live in a city where a large proportion of the populace also came from another part of the country. The movie/TV industry is huge here, major university, beautiful beaches and 2 major military bases nearby- that means there are all kinds of fans here- pats,dolphins, steelers, cowboys,seahawks, niners, packers, panthers- you name it. So I think I got a pretty good feel for how "neutral" fans think. 10 years ago I was having constant debates at the gym etc over Brady/manning. That stopped a few years ago. Everyone pretty much conceded Brady wins that debate-even the jets fans. Now make no mistake- a lot if them hate the Pats- but they can't deny the obvious truth. Heading into the SB last year- the only debate left(for some) was Brady/Montana. After that game even the worst brady-haters had to give him goat status. Now they still hate the Pats and brady- but I believe a large-scale nationwide poll would have Brady #1 all time. And that jives with vast majority of national NFL networks talking heads- ESPN,NFL network etc. Most of them, even the haters, have acknowledged Brady as the goat. This no credit to them - its akin to saying "water is wet".