Does Eli Manning Still Need 1 More Ring to Step out of Peyton's Shadow?

The Manning vs. Manning debate surrounds statistical achievements: Super Bowl success and the balance between the two. 

It goes beyond Saturday Night Live appearances and DIRECTV commercials, even if those are really fun to watch.

Peyton definitely has the iconic statistics, but Eli has already done enough to share the sun with his older brother.

Quarterbacks are judged much differently than every other position in sports. To be truly great, they must accumulate all the requisite statistics, but they must also win games.

They can't be just any games either. An elite quarterback must take home Super Bowl rings, preferably in the plural sense.

Eli has taken his team to two improbable Super Bowl titles...both against Tom Brady and his Patriots.

The 2007 Patriots were trying to become the first team in NFL history to go 19-0. The 1972 Dolphins completed an undefeated season, but that was before the regular-season schedule expanded to 16 games.

Any thoughts of beating Bill Belichick and the Patriots was inconceivable, and the Patriots were favored accordingly.

That Patriots team averaged nearly 37 points per game. They owned a +315 score differential. The Patriots' offense is still dynamic, but that team also featured a daunting defense. Finding a hole in their game would just be petty.

But Eli beat them. He earned Super Bowl XLII's MVP trophy, outperformed Brady and completely shocked the world. He did have the support of a dominant defensive line working against Brady, but that doesn't take away from his ineffable leadership when the game was on the line.

OK, he did have David Tyree on his side as well, but even that didn't come without a Houdini-like escape from the pocket:

Super Bowl XLVI was a different story, but it wasn't any less miraculous. The 2011 Giants were 7-7 entering Week 16, but they managed to win two must-win games over the Jets and Cowboys to earn a postseason berth.

Their Super Bowl victory was the cap on an epic six-game winning streak. Eli threw for nearly 1,800 yards, 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions over that span. He put the team on his back when they needed him the most, and that's precisely what a quarterback must do.

As for the Super Bowl itself, he and Brady had similar games. However, Eli is the one with the 88-yard, game-winning drive in his back pocket.

You can't leave out Brady's credentials here. He's won three Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVP trophies and five AFC titles. He's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time no matter which way you cut it, and Eli's legacy is forever entwined with his.

Saying that Eli bested Brady once is one thing, but he did it twice. That cannot be overstated.

I'm not speaking ill of Peyton, but they are two very different players. The parallels you can draw between the two stop at their bloodline.

Peyton has been in the league since 1998 and made 11 Pro Bowls. He's a four-time NFL MVP, and he's the fastest quarterback to ever reach 50,000 passing yards. His success in Indianapolis handed him a plethora of individual achievements and copious amounts of Colts records.

He hasn't been totally unsuccessful in the postseason, but his Super Bowl XLI win over the Chicago Bears doesn't stack up to his brother's earth-shattering titles.

As I mentioned Brady before, I have to mention that Peyton out-dueled Rex Grossman to win this championship. That's not the same thing.

Quarterbacks are primarily judged by wins and how they play in a game's biggest moments, but other things must be taken into account.

Eli has been lucky to play with excellent New York defenses. The Colts rarely gave Peyton that luxury, and their wins almost always depended on his success alone.

Eli has only made two Pro Bowls, but he's also had six fewer chances than his brother to get there. Regular-season accolades and individual production have not been his strongest area.

Most NFL fans will always see Peyton as the better signal-caller because of his laser-like accuracy, infallible decision-making and ethereal concept of the quarterback position, but it's all a matter of perspective.

Eli doesn't play with his brother's refined touch in the pocket, but he's rock solid in the clutch. He rises to the occasion, and he's always a threat to put together a decisive drive in the game's closing moments.

If you ask me, Eli is already right there with his brother in NFL history, but in a completely different way. He won't ever be that 40-plus touchdown passer, and he's probably not going to match his brother in the record books, but he's proven himself in less definable ways.

Eli saves his best for the biggest situations, and that's what matters. He could win one more ring, but that will only reinforce what he's already proven.