One of the more famous debates among football circles is that over the best Quarterback in the league, or of all time. It is a timeless event for fans and professionals alike. Nothing gets our fan blooded hearts beating like arguing for our favorite players. We take pride in living vicariously through these discussion as if we were a tangible part of those players and teams that we have so invested yourself. This is one of my favorite things to do with friends, and one of the most famous debates over the last decade has been “Who is the best, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady?”
The arguments have been fierce and competitive, but Brady fans have always had one trump card that has been able to hush the Manning fans, and that is the three Super Bowl rings. My question is, does that all change if Peyton takes home his second on Sunday?
Peyton obviously has the statistical advantage. He has 50,000 passing yards to Brady’s 30,000. Peyton has 366 touchdown passes to Tom’s 219. Manning’s career passer rating wins by a margin of 95.2 to 93.3 (I do not believe passer rating is a good indication of quarterback quality; see my article Best Quarter Back Ever at http://fortruefootballfans.webs.com/.
However, Tom has three Super Bowl Victories and four appearances to Peyton’s one victory and one appearance. We all know that is the key stat for most of these conversations. It is the only reason Terry Bradshaw is even mentioned, and what keeps Dan Marino out of the argument.
So, does this close the discussion and serve to solidify Peyton as the winner? The answer is no… Peyton was already the winner.
We all respect Brady, but the truth is, it only took Brett Favre incredible numbers and one Super Bowl victory with a second appearance to be mentioned. Even though Tom has good numbers (including some amazing single season records), he just doesn’t touch Manning.
By: Matthew Walden
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