This stuff just drives me nuts. How anyone with any historical perspective can rank Manning or Favre ahead of Brady baffles me to no end. The only Qbs who are in the conversation with Brady are Montana, Unitas, and Otto Graham. Only they have consistently put up great numbers while delivering multiple championships.
On this very show, they ranked Troy Aikman ahead of Steve Young. Even though Young threw more Tds, fewer Ints, and had a career passer rating a preposterous 15 points higher, Young only has one championship to Aikman's three. So Aikman's better. If it's so simple there, than why not now?
Statistically, what separates Manning and Brady? In passer rating, Manning is 95.5 to Brady's 93.5. That's two measly points. Even though Manning has had infinitely superior talent for all but two of Brady's seasons. Even though Manning plays in a dome, in a warm weather division, while Brady's left out in the elements. Just two points. Heck, in the most critical statistic, TD to INT ratio, Brady's superior. But that's to be expected. After all, Brady's ratio is the best ever of any QB with 3500 or more pass attempts.
Manning wouldn't even have a championship if his team hadn't carried him through the worst post-season of any SB winner ever. Seriously. Only Namath and Bradshaw have ever won a championship with a worse passer rating in a Superbowl run, and Manning threw more interceptions than both of them combined. Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson are truer champions than he is.
Nothing mystifies me quite like the media's obsession with manufacturing a legacy for Peyton. His only truly unique achievement is his four MVP awards, and three of those are a sham. In 2003, Priest Holmes set a new rushing touchdown record, went for over 2000 yards from scrimmage, and his Chiefs finished with a 13-3 record, the second best record in the league behind Brady's Patriots. In 2008 and 2009, Philip Rivers and Drew Brees each threw more tds, fewer ints, had a passer rating roughly 10 points higher, and defeated Manning in the post-season. For three of his four MVPs, Manning wasn't even close to the best player in the league.
That being said, Manning obviously deserved his MVP in 2004. His NFL record 49 Tds was a remarkable achievement. Too bad Brady topped it three years later the very moment he got a comparable receiving core.
People seem to forget how unprecedented Brady's production is. No multiple SB winner has ever lead the league in touchdowns more times than Brady. He's also the only multiple SB winner to lead the league in passing yards multiple times. Simply put, no multiple SB winner has ever been relied upon to generate as much offense as Brady.
Brady has the greatest winning percentage of all time. He's never played a losing season. He's the fastest player to 100 wins. His 10-0 post-season winning streak through 2001-2005 is the greatest of all time. His 21 game win streak from 2003-2004 is the greatest of all time. Manning's 23 game regular season win streak politely ignores an 0-1 post-season performance. Brady's the only quarterback to lead his team to a 16-0 season. Manning's Colts had a similar opportunity, but cowardly threw away a chance at history for fear of excess pressure. Brady's a multiple SB MVP, and he's been forced to make plays in the 4th quarter of four different SBs. If not for a miraculous offensive drive by the Giants in 2007, he would have succeeded all four times. The only time Manning ever trailed in a Super Bowl's fourth quarter, he threw a pick that was returned for a touchdown, killing any chance his team had at glory.
With time, the allure of Manning's alleged statistical dominance will fade. Even now, Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers sport superior career Passer Ratings. But Brady's singular achievements will be puzzled over and marvelled at for decades to come. In the end, I suppose it's obvious why most seem to prefer Manning: he's hasn't crushed people's hopes and dreams quite like Brady has.
