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Manning vs. Brady

By W. James Antle, III on 9.7.11 @ 1:59PM

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has officially been ruled out in Sunday's opener against the Houston Texans. Veteran backup Kerry Collins, recently plucked from retirement, will start in his place. This is much bigger news than any of the mumbo-jumbo the president is likely to spew about jobs.

Manning was on track to break Brett Favre's consecutive start streak with about five additional seasons or so of play. Now Favre's record is secure. How the Colts do without Manning will also feed into the debate over whether he is a better quarterback than Tom Brady.

When Brady went down at the beginning of the 2008 season, the New England Patriots played quarterback Matt Cassel, who hadn't started a game since high school, and still went 11-5. If the Colts do poorly with Collins at the helm, many will say this proves Brady is a system quarterback while Manning is integral to his team's success. After all, didn't the Patriots only go 10-6 Brady's first season back?

But there's a counterargument: as well as Cassel played -- he won himself a job as the franchise quarterback in Kansas City -- he still took an offense Brady led to an undefeated record in the 2007 regular season to an 11-5 record. Brady fell short in the Super Bowl, but Cassel missed the playoffs.

Moreover, the Patriots played the weak AFC West and NFC West divisions that year, beating all but one of those teams. That accounted for 7 of their 11 wins, with the other four coming from within the AFC East. Cassel benefited from an easy schedule. The team was different by the time Brady returned, with no viable third receiver and a suspect defense.

If the Colts falter without Manning, it will be at least partly attributable to the fact that Collins has had so little time to prepare -- he didn't arrive until the third preseason game and didn't play until the fourth -- and the backups behind him are clearly subpar. By contrast, Cassel was in his third year in the Patriots' system by the time his number was called.

The case for Manning has always been his command of the offense, the fact that he calls his own plays, his regular season stats, and his pure passing ability. The case for Brady has always been the fact that he plays outdoors, his ability to do more with a lesser supporting cast, and his superior postseason record. They are both unquestionably great.

View all comments (17) | Leave a comment

Al Adab| 9.7.11 @ 2:05PM

Packers v. Saints is clearly a better matchup than Obama v. American economy.

Grzmlyk| 9.7.11 @ 2:24PM

Gee, I wonder why Jay Cutler isn't spoken of in this article? Clearly, he's the best in the NFL and puts Manning and Brady to shame.

Sorry. Bears fan here. Disgruntled Bears fan. Well, I'm sure Cutler will get a few passes to his teammates this year; I'm sure he'll even look good on several occasions. He may even get the chance to make 15 or 20 tackles on interceptions.

But he will always be a mediocrity. He's just a little higher paid than most of the rest.

Oh well. At least he's a charming SOB!

Occam's Tool| 9.7.11 @ 5:09PM

Mr. G,

another reason to like you. Doesn't Jay look so natural running backward?

wut?| 9.7.11 @ 2:25PM

Collins is a proven loser (see Titans record with Collins) so the Colts are basically screwed.

W| 9.7.11 @ 3:51PM

Brady and Manning, together, are not as good as Terry Bradshaw.
Bradshaw won four Super Bowls, called all his own plays, played hurt, and played for a pittance of today's salaries. Bradshaw called more plays on his own in one game thatn these two have in their carreers.

Al Adab| 9.7.11 @ 4:11PM

...and W, the best superbowls played were the Steelers/Cowboys ones with Bradshaw and Staubach. The NFL hasn't been the same for a long time. Very little class left.

W| 9.7.11 @ 5:57PM

Al Adab,
I have yet to disagree with you.
Steelers v. Cowboys were the best. Bradshaw and Staubach.
I went to the 1980 Steelers v. Rams Super Bowl. The great cathces by Stallworth and Swann.

Butch| 9.7.11 @ 6:30PM

You got it, Al. The Steelers-Cowboys Super Bowl was the best of them all. Wasn't it 38-35? Love those offensive games.

Butch| 9.7.11 @ 6:30PM

You got it, Al. The Steelers-Cowboys Super Bowl was the best of them all. Wasn't it 38-35? Love those offensive games.

Steve A| 9.7.11 @ 4:36PM

W, Come on man. Manning audibles about every play. Plus, what the hell does salary have to do with it? You think if Bradshaw played today he would turn down the cash? save it.

W| 9.7.11 @ 5:59PM

Steve, of course Bradshaw would take today's money. Who wouldn't. But before they played for the game and the money. Today it is the money.

JohnD| 9.7.11 @ 6:08PM

I'd put Brady and Manning at the top of NFL QBs. I'd put Phillip Rivers, Drew Brees, and maybe Aaron Rodgers in that top tier.

At the top of the rest of them, I'd put Joe Flacco; he's a tough SOB, a cannon arm, and never missed a game in his career, and led Baltimore to playoff appearances in all three season, with a 4-3 winning post season record ALL ON THE ROAD! His numbers have improved each season as well.

As for the Bears, they haven't had a great QB since Sid Luckman. I never thought Jim McMahon was that great. That said, in my opinion, Gayle Sayers was the greatest running back I have ver seen.

W| 9.7.11 @ 7:12PM

How could you leave out Ben Rothlisberger who has two super bowls rings already.

JohnD| 9.7.11 @ 8:33PM

I would definitely put Ben in that next tier, and maybe the argument could be made that he is at the top with Flacco right behind. Big Ben is great at moving out of the pocket away from pressure and becoming more dangerous than he is in the pocket.

I have to go with Flacco because (a) Flacco has played 7 -- 7 -- playoff games on the road, (b) Flaco is younger, and (3) Flacco is much more durable.

Frankly, I also feel the NFL has made things easy for the Steelers, like two years ago when they took two Baltimore TDs off the board in one game to give Pittsburgh the AFC North title. Then there is the Miami fumble on the 2 yard line that was ruled a TD, even when the replay showed it was a fumble, and not even close. Then the Santorio Holmes catch in Baltimore that was reversed and made the winning TD when the replay showed no conclusive evidence to reverse the call of 4th and goal on the 1 yard line.

Three tainted Divison titles, and a three postseasons playing at home. It is a well-known fact in Vegas that the Steelers are loved by gamblers, and their games always have twice the money bet as any other NFL game. Money bet means eyes on the TV, and higher ratings, so the NFL has a good business reason to ensure the Steelers success on the field, even if they have to intervene, which they have. (Keep your eyes open Sunday). Baltimore has played 2 playoff games at home in the last decade, despite being one of the most winning teams in the NFL. Indy has had 9, New England 9, Pittsburgh 9. That is an odd distribution of numbers given the consensus that Baltimore and Pittsburgh have been pretty evenly matched over the years.

So in short, Ben has had lot of help, while Flacco has had not. Just sayin.'

W| 9.7.11 @ 10:16PM

John,
are you a Ravens fan?
Are you claiming the NFL rigged points for the Steelers?

JohnD| 9.7.11 @ 8:39PM

By the way, the game in Pittsburgh two years ago when they took two Baltimore Tds off the board on questionable penalties, there was the added bonus that Pittsburgh won by the exact point spread, meaning it was a push and the Vegas bookies made bank on one of the most heavily bet games of the season. I don't know about you, but 100 million dollars has never just fallen in MY lap by dumb luck. And Vegas really needed the money with travel to Vegas way down at the time.

That may have been the season after which, Big Ben was secretly being wined, dined, and comped by Reno casino bigwigs, which we never would have known if not for the phony rape allegations of a hostess. The bookies know which side their bread is buttered on, and they never, NEVER EVER lose.

PeterS| 10.9.11 @ 10:22PM

This is a pretty defensive article to write before the season even began. The preemptive excuses tell us more about Brady than any 0-5 Colts record could ever say. Next time act surprised when a result like this happens. Otherwise it looks like you know the truth that so many already know about Brady.