Manning vs. Brady…An Honest Look

I’m tired of this “Brady is the greatest!” banter. Finally, let the stats tell the truth!

Of course I am absolutely bias toward Manning, but let’s get real here! It’s taken Brady over 70 more passes than Manning to hit 50 TDs and snapping the last ball of every single game in 2007 to do it when Manning sat out more than half of the fourth quarters he played in 2004. That’s called not being good enough to consistently show up in quarters 1-3 and having to pad the stats in the Q4. Manning also had a passer rating of 121.1 to Brady’s 117.2.

Let’s warm up our comparison with some other highlights from Peyton’s career…Here are some overall stats (from CBS Sportsline, ESPN and Pro Football Reference):

PEYTON MANNING
LEAGUE RECORDS (STILL GOING!)
Most season with 4,000+ passing yards: 8
Most consecutive seasons with 4,000+ yards: 6
Most consecutive seasons with at least 25 TD passes: 10
Most games with a perfect passer rating: 4
Most consecutive games started to begin a career as a QB: 160
Higher season passer-rating: 121.1 (2004)
Most consecutive games with at least 2 TD passes: 13 (games 1-13, 2004)
Most consecutive games with at least 4 TD passes: 5 (games 7-11, 2004)
Most games with at least 4 TD passes in a season: 6, 2004 (tied with Marino, 1984)
ROOKIE RECORDS
Most passing attempts: 575
Most completions: 326
Most passing yards: 3,739
Most TD passes: 26
Most consecutive games with at least one TD pass: 13 (games 1-13, 1998)
W/MARVIN HARRISON
Most completions (career): 956
Most passing/receiving yards (career): 12,931
Most passing/receiving TDs (career): 109
PRO BOWL RECORDS
Most passing attempts (career): 134
Most completions (career): 81
Most passing yards (career): 1,131
Most passing TDs (career): 12
COLTS FRANCHISE RECORDS
*There are over 48 franchise records, so I’m not even about to go into them. Just know that he is the single greatest quarterback to wear the Blue out of a long line of decent to impressive QBs.

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Now, for the comparison! This should settle all the “Brady’s-the-best/Peyton’s-overrated” crap going around!!! Oh, and these stats have Peyton’s rank in the all-time lists for each category available. I would put Brady‘s but, gosh, he just doesn’t have any ranking yet. Hm. I italicized the stats where Peyton beats Tom and indented where Tom beats Peyton to make it easier to keep track. All stats are from nfl.

A Quick Note:
Peyton Manning entered the league in 1998, #1 in Draft.
Tom Brady entered the league in 2000, #199 in Draft.

Games Played/Started w/ Percentage: Manning: 160/160 (100%)…Brady: 112/110 (98.2%)
     Super Bowl Wins/Appearances: Manning: 1/1…Brady: 3/4
TD passes: Manning: 306 (4th)…Brady: 197
Passes Completed/Attempts: Manning: 3,468/5,405 (8th)…Brady: 2,294/3,642
Completion Percentage: Manning: 64.2% (4th)…Brady: 63.0%
Passing Yards: Manning: 41,626 (9th)…Brady: 26,370 yards
Career Passer Rating: Manning: 94.7 (2nd)…Brady: 92.9
Passing Yard Average per Play: Manning: 7.7…Brady: 7.2
Passing Yards per Game: Manning: 260.2 (1st)…Brady: 235.5
     TDs in a Season: Manning: 49…Brady: 50
     INTs: Manning: 153 …Brady: 86
     Percentage of INTs to Pass Attempts: Manning: 2.8%…Brady: 2.3%
Sacks: Manning: 191 …Brady: 203
Sacks/Yardage Lost: Manning: 1,232 …Brady: 1,278
Rushing Attempts: Manning: 289…Brady: 276
Rushing Yardage: Manning: 696…Brady: 533
Rushing Yard Average: Manning: 2.4…Brady: 1.9
Rushing TDs: Manning: 16…Brady: 5
Fumbles Lost/Fumbles: Manning: 17/51…Brady: 29/65

When it comes to winning Super Bowls, Brady’s been there and he’s done it, and, yes, that’s important. He’s been a part of more Championship-caliber teams than Manning, but we’re talking about stats and who is going to go down as The Greatest. Peyton has this hands down as of 2008! Let the stats talk…

Manning is the greatest QB to ever have taken a snap! No question.