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My Kentucky readers sometimes forget that its football season (how 'bout that slogan "This is why we camp" at Big Blue Madness?"), but here we are in week 5 of the NFL season. Last week, Tom Brady and the Pats took on the Dirty Birds from Atlanta and Peyton Manning and the seemingly unstoppable Denver Broncos took on the Philadelphia Eagles. Why are these two so interesting, besides them being in the top tier of elite quarterbacks who consistently win games for their teams and break NFL records? I'll tell you.
Peyton Manning, who was deemed by some to forever be "the mystery of the Bionic Neck", comes to Denver and completely changes their team. The guy is on fire; through only 4 games Manning has completed 117 passes out of 156 attempts (that's 75% completion) for 1470 yards and 16 touchdowns. WHAT? Yes. Oh, also he has zero interceptions and has a quarterback rating of 138. That's stinkin' good. Don't ask me about this stupid scale, but 158.3 is perfect.
But when I'm older I'm not going to be telling my kids and grandkids about Manning's stats. They will have access to the numbers. I'm going to be telling them the stories about watching Peyton Manning, who people thought was past his prime, unequivocally control football games. If you haven't been watching this guy, you need to. I will forever hold onto memories of him crouched behind his center, eyeing the defense, then inventing a new play. The man swivels his partially mechanical neck, then shouts things like "ZEBRA! ZEBRA!" or "OMAHA!" and then picks apart the confused defense. The guy knows football arguably better than anyone else in the history of the game, and nobody else controls games like him.
But when I'm older I'm not going to be telling my kids and grandkids about Manning's stats. They will have access to the numbers. I'm going to be telling them the stories about watching Peyton Manning, who people thought was past his prime, unequivocally control football games. If you haven't been watching this guy, you need to. I will forever hold onto memories of him crouched behind his center, eyeing the defense, then inventing a new play. The man swivels his partially mechanical neck, then shouts things like "ZEBRA! ZEBRA!" or "OMAHA!" and then picks apart the confused defense. The guy knows football arguably better than anyone else in the history of the game, and nobody else controls games like him.
While Manning is in his 16th season, Tom Brady is in his 14th. At first, their 2013 seasons don't compare; Brady is 93 of 158 (58.9% completion) for 1014 yards, 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. But the difference lies in Brady's track record and some more intangibles. Brady brought his team to 5 Superbowls, and won 3 of them, twice making Superbowl MVP. Peyton has only 2 Superbowl appearances and one Superbowl win (as well as the MVP award). This alone would lead some to argue that Brady is better, but I wouldn't leave it at that.
Tom Brady's stats are hardly fair; I watched 3 of the 4 games so far, and Brady is hitting his receivers' hands. He's that good. So why so few completions? Well, Julian Edelman is Brady's only trusted receiver through the first 4 games. Rob Gronkowski has been injured, and Danny Amendola, who was brought on with the loss of Wes Welker, is new to the Patriots AND injured. Oh yea, did I mention the Pats gave up Wes Welker, Dieon Branch and Matthew Slater? Tom is playing, yet again, with an almost fresh set of wide receivers. I tried to find the number of different receivers that Brady has completed a pass to, but all I found was this article which goes into some depth on the subject. That guy really loves the Patriots. The number itself isn't as important as the implication, and that is that Tom Brady makes players around him great.
Brady has played with a higher receiver turnover rate than Peyton Manning (or any other QB, for that matter) and yet he continues to make them great. The improvements in the Patriots' receivers over the first 4 weeks is testament to his impact on his teammates. This is why these two are so interesting: Manning controls games with a confidence and effectiveness that confuses and overwhelms defenses; and Tom Brady seems to be such a talented QB and inspiring leader that the players around him improve constantly. Keep in mind that Peyton Manning's receivers on the current Denver Broncos squad are some of the best in the game, with Wes Welker, Demarius Thomas and Eric Decker just to name three. So who's the better quarterback? That's up to you, tell me what you think!
Tom Brady's stats are hardly fair; I watched 3 of the 4 games so far, and Brady is hitting his receivers' hands. He's that good. So why so few completions? Well, Julian Edelman is Brady's only trusted receiver through the first 4 games. Rob Gronkowski has been injured, and Danny Amendola, who was brought on with the loss of Wes Welker, is new to the Patriots AND injured. Oh yea, did I mention the Pats gave up Wes Welker, Dieon Branch and Matthew Slater? Tom is playing, yet again, with an almost fresh set of wide receivers. I tried to find the number of different receivers that Brady has completed a pass to, but all I found was this article which goes into some depth on the subject. That guy really loves the Patriots. The number itself isn't as important as the implication, and that is that Tom Brady makes players around him great.
Brady has played with a higher receiver turnover rate than Peyton Manning (or any other QB, for that matter) and yet he continues to make them great. The improvements in the Patriots' receivers over the first 4 weeks is testament to his impact on his teammates. This is why these two are so interesting: Manning controls games with a confidence and effectiveness that confuses and overwhelms defenses; and Tom Brady seems to be such a talented QB and inspiring leader that the players around him improve constantly. Keep in mind that Peyton Manning's receivers on the current Denver Broncos squad are some of the best in the game, with Wes Welker, Demarius Thomas and Eric Decker just to name three. So who's the better quarterback? That's up to you, tell me what you think!
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