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.

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!