Peyton Manning is a better quarterback than Tom Brady. There, I said it. Point blank.
I am not an expert by any means, but I would like to think that my eyes tell me what they tell me and I have common sense enough to know the difference between a very good quarterback and a great quarterback.
Tom Brady is very good. Peyton Manning is great.
Michael Wilbon recently started writing his own commentary column for ESPN.com where he says,
Peyton Manning, God bless him, isn’t the best QB in the history of the NFL; John Elway is. (Remind me again how many Pro Bowl teammates Elway had on the first three AFC championship teams he dragged to the Super Bowl by himself?) And if not Elway, then Otto Graham. And if not Graham, then John Unitas. And if not Unitas, then Joe Montana. I’m an enormous fan of Manning’s, professionally and personally. He could be, for all the right reasons, the most popular player in the NFL today. But he’s not the best QB playing today. Tom Brady is. I don’t know how you vote Manning ahead of Brady, the way that NFL Network survey turned out. Doesn’t Brady have three Super Bowl championships and doesn’t Manning have one? I presume most people can count to three.
(Side note: Elway had multiple Pro Bowlers in 1986(six), 1987(three), and 1989(five), by the way Mr. Wilbon.
Incase you were wondering, Peyton Manning’s first three trips to at least the AFC Conference Championship game he actually had less, 2003(four), 2006(three), 2009(six), so that argument is flawed.)
I like Michael, love watching him and Tony Kornheiser battle it out on PTI, love watching him on ABC & ESPN’s NBA coverage, even on the radio he’s fun to listen to and I do agree with many of the things he says, but this isn’t one of them.
While I do agree that Peyton Manning isn’t the best QB in the history of the NFL (I believe Joe Montana to be #1), he’s certainly better than Tom Brady.
The last part of Wilbon’s rant is even more flawed than his Pro Bowl comment. To say because Tom Brady has three rings and Peyton Manning only has one that makes Brady better?Having championship rings is certainly part of the equation when you get into this argument, sure, but it’s just a piece of the puzzle, not the deciding factor.
It would be like saying because Trent Dilfer has a Super Bowl ring that he’s a better quarterback than Dan Marino or Jim Kelly or Fran Tarkenton or Dan Fouts or…you get the point.

One of the only ways that Peyton is less than Brady is in the Super Bowl ring department, most other categories he’s not only better, but absolutely dominant.
For example, according to Pro Football Reference Tom Brady has 22 fourth quarter comebacks and 31 game winning drives and that is very impressive.
Peyton Manning has 35 fourth quarter comebacks and 45 game winning drives to his credit and that is pretty self-explanatory when compared to Brady’s.
When I think of a Brady comeback I think of Adam Vinatieri kicking a game winning field goal.
When I think of a Manning comeback I think of Peyton throwing a laserbeam into the endzone for a touchdown.
If I had to pick between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning who I want when it’s the 4th quarter, down six, two minutes left on the clock at my own 20? Peyton Manning will get my vote every time over Tom Brady.
Two thoughts here:
1- thank god we’re not talking about Eli, nobody likes him.
2- how great are those commercials with Peyton and Eli- LOL.
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The idea that Tom Brady is better than Manning comes down to NFL marketing: they market Brady as the gutsy comeback kid who has those intangibles that help him find a way to win. Even though the statistics don’t always support that and, as you pointed out, it looks like Manning is more apt to do it than Brady. Yet he doesn’t have that reputation. Instead, he’s the world’s greatest quarterback who isn’t so great because he only has one Super Bowl ring.
It probably doesn’t need to be said, but most sports analysts and commentators are so freaking stupid.
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