Peyton Manning Becomes 2nd QB to Throw for 500 Touchdowns in NFL History

Move over, Brett Favre: It's time to make some room in the 500 Touchdown Club. With a seven-yard strike to Julius Thomas in the first quarter of Sunday's 41-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Peyton Manning became the second quarterback in NFL history with 500 touchdown passes.    

The five-time league MVP came into Week 5 one score short of hitting the milestone, which should be one of many in his 17th NFL season. After his four-TD day, Manning is now six touchdowns shy of breaking Favre's all-time NFL mark—a goal that will inevitably be reached in 2014, barring injury.

Player	TDs
Brett Favre	508
Peyton Manning	503
Dan Marino	420
Drew Brees	372
Tom Brady	363

"It's greatness," Broncos coach John Fox told reporters earlier this week, via ESPN.com's Jeff Legwold. "When somebody reaches that kind of statistic in their career, it's pretty remarkable."

Making the day even more historic, Manning threw for a career-best 479 yards, redeeming two interceptions with four TD tosses.

Favre broke Dan Marino's previous record of 420 touchdown passes in 2007. Favre, Marino and Manning are the only three quarterbacks in league history to top the 400-touchdown mark. Drew Brees and Tom Brady are likely to surpass 400 touchdowns in 2015.

That Manning is so far ahead of his contemporaries speaks to the level of his on-field accomplishments. A 13-time Pro Bowler, Manning set the NFL single-season touchdowns (55) and yardage (5,477) records last season and is arguably the best statistical quarterback in history.

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

That campaign resulted in his unprecedented fifth NFL MVP award, extending the lead he had over Favre, Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown. If Manning plays through next season at full health, it's very likely he'll break the all-time passing yards record as well. 

"I know how hard it is to compete for that long," Favre told USA Today's Nate Davis in January. "Peyton's the closest to me in that respect. It's tough to be good year in and year out, and week in and week out for that matter."

Player	APV
Peyton Manning	172
Brett Favre	155
Fran Tarkenton	149
Tom Brady	145
Dan Marino	145
John Elway	138

His approximate value, Pro-Football-Reference.com's attempt to normalize a player's contributions across all positions, is by far the highest in history. Jerry Rice and Ray Lewis, who are tied for second, are closer to seventh-place Bruce Smith than they are to Manning.

After joining the Broncos back in 2012, Manning is already second on the team's all-time touchdowns list behind John Elway with 101. Manning threw the first 399 touchdown passes of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, where he spent his first 14 seasons.

"I have reflected on the great teammates and coaches that I've been with along the way, who have been a part of that," Manning told reporters, via Legwold. "You don't throw that many touchdowns without a lot of help. I guess I think about just how grateful I am to have played with some great teammates at all positions...excellent coaching. I'll always be grateful for that."

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Great teammates or not, it's impossible to undersell how brilliant his regular-season production has been. Nor is it possible to undersell how miraculous his comeback in Denver has been; three years ago, we were wondering whether he'd ever play football again due to a serious neck injury. Now, he's a couple of weeks away from setting the NFL record for touchdown passes.

Prorating his three-game pace heading into this week, Manning should break Favre's record sometime this month. The Broncos face a shaky New York Jets secondary next week before hosting the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers, both of whom have some holes in their secondaries. If Manning isn't able to put together a nine-touchdown run over his next three-plus games, he'll get a chance to cap off a near-perfect narrative when Denver takes a trip to New England on Nov. 2.

The dichotomy between the 2014 seasons of Brady and Manning is interesting, in large part because of the cottage industry that exists comparing the two. Brady is in the midst of his worst professional season, struggling amid a porous offensive line and below-average skill-position talent. Manning, no matter his surroundings, has been a bastion of consistency.

We'll have plenty of time to settle the Brady versus Manning debate long after both are retired. Same goes for Manning versus Montana, Manning versus Favre and so on. For now, let's just marvel at the accomplishments of one of the greatest players in NFL history. Save the debate over whether he's the greatest for another day.

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