One-hundred ninety ninth overall versus first overall. Three Super Bowl titles versus one title. Fifty touch downs in one season compared to forty-nine. The comparisons to one another will never end. Not to mention, they are in such close proximity of one another. In present day, as well as when both retire, the debate will always be who’s better. Both are extremely oriented team guys (look at the contracts each of them have if you want a good laugh) and both are as humble as the fifty-third guy on the team. Both players want to win all the time and refuse to accept the fact that there is nothing else to get better at.
That being said, “the who’s better” game is a fun game for fans to play. People in New England would say Tom Brady is better. People in Indianapolis would say Peyton Manning is better. But, really though, who is actually the better of the two? Regular season stats say it is Peyton Manning. Post season stats say it is Tom Brady. However, even after looking at stats, the popular water cooler topic will leave people with out a definitive answer.
Brady has the clear advantage in a few categories, nothing more important than a 14-4 record in the post season that includes a dominant 3-1 record on Super Bowl Sunday. Manning is a disappointing 9-9 and only 1-1 in Super Bowls. Advantage Brady. Look closer though. In the Super Bowl Brady possess an unreal QB rating of 94.5 compared to Mannings 85.4. Outside of that though, Manning has a higher playoff completion percentage, playoff passing yards, and playoff QB rating. Advantage Manning.
Manning’s lowest QB rating is a 74.2 which came against the Cleveland Browns. Brady’s lowest QB rating was almost 10 points lower at 68.7 coming against the Carolina Panthers. On the other end of the spectrum, Manning has 12 teams in which he currently owns a 100.0 QB rating compared to Brady’s 11. Advantage Manning.
Brady is currently undefeated against 13 NFL franchises compiling a record of 30-0. Manning on the other end is undefeated against less than half with only 6 franchises. Manning’s record is 22-0. This is only a slight advantage to Brady because it is against more teams. Brady also possesses a better record against the other conference. In 34 games against the NFC, Brady has an 82% winning percentage and a record of 28-6. Manning on the other hand is 34-17, good enough for a 67% winning percentage. True, Manning has the same number of wins as Brady does games against the NFC, but it will only be 6 more wins for Brady to catch Manning, which is definitely attainable.
Even after almost five hundred words, it is still virtually impossible to reach a verdict on who is better. The only advantage Brady can stand on is that all his home games are outside, when Manning’s are not, as well as that Brady has 3 rings compared to Manning’s 1. Rings are huge in considering who is better but it does not mean all. If it did, Trent Dilfer would be better than Dan Marino and Eric Hinske would be better than Dustin Pedroia. Rings do not determine it all, but certainly shows that Brady performs better on the bigger stage.
Regardless of where the pink hat, casual, or serious fans stand, there is no right answer. Just remember to take this into consideration: this will probably be the only time in your lifetime where the NFL has two great quarterbacks with nearly identical stats. Enjoy this while it lasts because once this movie is over, it will never be reproduced.