Why Peyton Manning Is Better Than Tom Brady

came along. Many make the poor argument that Brady has not had anyone good to throw to. I feel that is not giving the Patriots receivers enough credit. He has had some good wide receivers like Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Patten, and David Givens but they never evolved and produced exceptionally well under Brady's leadership.

Take a look at a guy like Chad Jackson. He was a second round draft pick and a star in college. What did he do when he was drafted by New England? Nothing, because Brady has never been able to make his receivers better the way Manning has.

Rather, he needed players who were already proven productive prior in their careers in order for him to put up Manning-like numbers.

People say that the reason Manning has been so productive is because he's had players like Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne his whole career. This is another false statement. He has had Marvin every year of his career but he played four years without Reggie Wayne or any other notable receiver.

Can you name one single receiver in Indianapolis who was even slightly productive before or after they came to the Colts? Don't worry, I can't either. So please don't say Brandon Stokely because he caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl with the Ravens.

His career high in Baltimore was 357 yards and two TD's. With Peyton Manning, he received for 1,077 yards and 10 TD's being the third string receiver.

People say Marvin Harrison is the biggest reason Manning was productive, but Harrison's production was more a result of Manning then anything else. Before Manning came to Indianapolis, Marvin was averaging 850 yards a year and six to seven TDs a season. Then he was injured in Manning's rookie year and missed games.

What happened in his first full-year with Peyton?

115 catches for 1,663 yards and 12 TD's. What a coincidence.

He then went on to go to eight straight Pro Bowls and became a future Hall of Famer.

Reggie Wayne? He did not become a top-tier receiver for four years. During his first three seasons he put up pedestrian numbers before elevating his game to become a real threat. He was not like a Jerry Rice or Randy Moss tearing up the league from Day one. Peyton's first six seasons did not have a 1,000-yard receiver besides Harrison.

So the argument that Manning has always had "weapons" is a very poor one. Peyton was able to turn receivers into superstars. Brady was never able to do that like Manning has. The only time receivers looked really good under Brady were those receivers who were already good on other teams before hand. 

So don't use Wes Welker as an example either. He was good on a very horrible Dolphins team. The reason he's been so productive in New England is more because his teammate Randy Moss takes the coverage away then it is Brady making him better. Welker is doing very well with Matt Cassel of all quarterbacks. That's because Moss is the big factor in Welker's production, not Brady.

Randy Moss is the one who turned Tom Brady into a superstar. Kind of the opposite situation of what was happening in Indianapolis. Moss has always made his QBs look good.

He helped Randall Cunningham reach the Pro Bowl in 1998. He made Jeff George look dangerous and become the NFL's Comeback Player of The Year in 1999. He helped Daunte Culpepper go to multiple Pro Bowls. Culpepper has never been successful since he stopped playing with Moss. Technically speaking, he's been atrocious. Culpepper's career stats are actually close to Brady's, take a look...

Daunte Culpepper: 22,733 yards, 143 TD's, 93 INT's, 89.4 QB Rating

That is how productive he had been with Randy's aid. Moss was able to take a QB like Culpepper and make him nearly as Productive as Tom Brady. Then when Culpepper stopped playing with Moss he went from his career QB rating being over 90.0, to having 72.0, 77.0, 78.0, and 56.8 seasonal ratings. That is also no coincidence.

Moss was injured for a lot of his time in Oakland but still had a 1,000-yard year in 2005. Before his injury, he was on pace to receive for over 1,800 yards that year, look back and calculate the numbers if you don't believe me.

In 2007, Moss caught 43 percent of all Tom Brady's 50 TD passes. He also hogged up so much of the coverage that it let Brady spread the ball around to other places. Brady averaged 24.5 TD passes a season and it was no coincidence that he suddenly doubled his average when Moss, Stallworth, and Welker came into town.

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