A Brief Argument for Peyton Manning over Tom Brady in the Greatest Quarterback of All-Time Discussion

(Patriots fans, don’t shit yourselves; just read and take this in, you borderline-illiterate lunatics)

Beginning at the Beginning: Peyton Manning was drafted by the worst team in professional football and in three years had turned them into a perennial division champion and playoff contender.

Tom Brady inherited a playoff- and Super Bowl-caliber team and led them to several championships, which shouldn't be a surprise. They were already amazing without him. Brady was handed the keys to a Cadillac, whereas Peyton Manning was directed to a broken down Ford Explorer that hadn’t run since 1992 and had bees in the trunk.

When Manning left the Colts, the team went into complete disarray; the Patriots are 11-6 in the Bill Belichick era without Brady under center. Every quarterback who’s ever been in their system has been successful… and no one who’s left it has done anything with any other team. Manning also went to Denver after neck surgery and in 2014 and had a record-setting year with an entirely new cast of characters. 

Let’s not confuse “greatest” with “most successful.” Or rather, greatness with success in general. Trent Dilfer and Joe Flacco have Super Bowl Rings. So do Doug Williams and Jim McMahon. Are they better than Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, or Jim Kelly? (think a moment before responding.).

Brady is unquestionably the primary cog in the greatest machine ever to take the field in the National Football League. But it is the system, not the quarterback, that makes this team winners. Keep in mind, Brady was on the sidelines for the game-winning plays in three of the five championships his teams won.

Finally, regarding the Win-Loss record between Brady and Manning head-to-head: Brady won 11 games versus Manning's 6. However, after the Patriots beat the lousy Colts teams he faced in the first 6 contests, Manning actually went 6-5 over the final 11 matchups between the two QBs... including 3 AFC Championship wins. All he needed was time for his teams to mature, something Brady didn't have to ask for, and in 17 NFL seasons, never has.

That being said, Manning holds most of the significant regular season all-time passing records and is a 7-time first team All Pro (no other player at his position has earned that distinction more than 3 times, and Brady has only gotten the nod twice). He was able to identify and pick apart opposing defenses like no other quarterback in history, and in the late minutes of a close game he was untouchable.

So to anyone with space left in their heads for a rational discussion about the greatest quarterback of all-time (and stop using GOAT, Pats fans; that distinction is for Jerry Rice and you know it), here you have it.

Go Bengals