Earlier in the month, we saw an article written by a Colts fan describing why he thought Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady. Today the Patriots will bring their arguments to the table defending why Tom Brady takes that title. There will be no irrelevant topics such as College stats or replacement value, only NFL stats and success. Yes, Peyton has more yards, TD, etc. Payton has also played 4 more years then Brady making career totals incomparable. What we will look at are the averages of most major categories.
Regular Season Production:
Winning % : Brady .764 , Manning .678
QB Rating: Brady 95.7, Manning 94.9
Touchdown/Interception ratio: Brady 2.52/1, Manning 2.01/1
Yards/attempt: Brady 7.45, Manning 7.60
Completion %: Brady 63.8%, Manning 64.9%
Postseason Production (each has 19 games):
Winning % : Brady .737, Manning .474
QB Rating: Brady 85.7, Manning 88.4
Touchdown/Interception ratio: Brady 1.88/1, Manning 1.53/1
Yards/attempt: Brady 6.29, Manning 7.51
Completion %: Brady 62.2%, Manning 63.1%
Looking at the above totals, Brady is by far the more winning QB not only in the regular season, but in postseason. Brady has 3 SB rings, Manning 1 despite being in the league 4 fewer seasons (2000 was 1 game as was 2008). Most people will determine how winning a QB is and how much hardware he has is more important then stats alone.
Brady will always be downplayed as having a better defense and that is the reason to his overall success, yet overlooked for the lack of talent he had offensively compared to Manning’s weapons. Manning and the Colts have had plenty of opportunities as well to win SB by having a top defense (points allowed), but have been bounced from the playoffs in their first game 7 times.
If Manning is to be praised for gaudy statistics and wins, then he also needs to be held accountable in the games that matter. On basis of the overall NFL success, Super Bowl appearances and wins, Brady is the obvious choice to who is a better quarterback.
Sources:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BradTo00/splits//
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannPe00/splits//