I agree that Manning is one of the best ever. However, I no longer think he owns the "stat war" against Brady, and he clearly does not win the intangibles war.
Looking at their careers, it is impossible to argue that Brady's conditions have been comparable to Manning's. Manning plays in a dome, and plays against the AFC South, where it is warm throughout the year. For half the season Tom plays in the cold, where passing stats wither. I don't know why a myth exists about why Brady having "the greatest line ever" but that is far from the truth. Both of them are great at avoiding pressure, so I don't think you can refute the following stats based on this argument.
Looking at the amount of sacks each QB has taken since 2001.
2001: Manning 29, Brady, 41
2002: Manning 23, Brady, 31
2003: Manning 18, Brady, 32
2004: Manning 13 Brady, 26
2005: Manning 17, Brady, 26
2006: Manning 14, Brady, 26
2007: Manning 21, Brady, 21
Overall Manning 135, Brady 203
Manning career sack %- 3.4
Brady career sack %- 5.3
That's a lot better protection.
Manning is one of the best protected QBs in NFL history; add to this that he plays in a dome, in warm weather year around, and he has had the following first round talent: Harrison, Wayne, Clark, James, Faulk, Addai for two years, Gonzalez for one. Brady has had Moss for one year and Maroney for two. We are looking at one team who drafts exceptionally skilled players for their quarterback, and another that counts on their quarterback to make these players (see: Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney.)
Again, these conditions are far from comparable. The only season in which Brady has had enviable wideouts was 2007; for Manning it's been his whole career.
Now, if you didn't know anything about these players, and knew one player would have much better protection, much better receivers, and much better playing conditions for passing, what do you think the separation would be in their QB rating? Objectively, you should expect that rating to be around 10 points, or maybe higher.
INCLUDING THE PLAYOFFS, here is following quarterback ratings:
Manning- 93.8
Brady- 92.2
INCLUDING THE PLAYOFFS, here is the following TD:INT ratio:
Brady: 2.28
Manning: 1.82
You're telling me that out of all the factors mentioned above- the superior receivers, the ideal conditions year around, the clearly better pass blocking- that this doesn't attribute for more than 1.6 points of passer rating?
Again, Manning does not have better stats than Brady. He may be a more prolific in his passing attempts, and have more cumulative stats, but the numbers are a wash, and the when you factor in each player's conditions, it's easily Brady. No one can objectively deny this fact-finding above; if you claim that these are misleading in any way then you are being biased.
