This Sunday’s AFC championship between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos will serve as the 15th meeting between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. The two more-than-likely future Hall of Fame members have been part of an unofficial rivalry for many years now, mainly because they are often considered to be the best quarterbacks in the game of football at this time.
At first glance, the numbers all lie with Tom Brady and a Patriots team that has seen many offensive changes during the 2013 season. Of the previous 14 match-ups between the two QBs, Brady has won 10 times. Of the three of those match-ups that occurred in the playoffs, Brady has won twice. In fact, Tom Brady seems to just win more than Manning in the playoffs no matter whom he’s facing; he boasts an impressive 18-7 playoff record while Peyton is only 10-11. Brady also of course defeats Manning in Super Bowl wins, with three rings compared to Manning’s one. Consistently defeating one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game seems to almost be a special skill possessed by Tom Brady and the Patriots.
However, this season would make it seem as though Peyton Manning has no regard for what statistics have to say. At age 37, Peyton easily played the greatest season of his career, and possibly even of any quarterback in NFL history. His 5,477 regular season yards and 55 regular season touchdowns are both NFL records, the latter record having been held previously by none other than Tom Brady (50). This year’s Broncos team, with 606 points, holds the record for most scored by any team during the regular season. The record was previously held by, as one might guess, the New England Patriots.
This season is certainly a special one for Manning and the Broncos, but as it turns out Peyton’s passing stats compare favorably to Brady’s not only during just this season, but also during their careers in total. Throughout his entire career, Tom Brady has averaged 254.7 yards per game, a 63.4 completion percentage, and a passer rating of 95.7. Despite these numbers being more than impressive, Peyton’s are even better. During his career, Manning has averaged 270.7 yards per game, a 65.5 completion percentage, and a passer rating of 97.2.
Statistics would certainly seem to show that Peyton Manning, especially during this year’s historic season, should be able to conquer Tom Brady and the Patriots. However numbers also show that Brady has been able to come out on top when playing against Peyton and as well as in the playoffs in general. It’s really up to opinion which quarterback truly has the advantage, but either way Sunday’s matchup will certainly be interesting.
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