NFL's Great Rivalries: Settling the Debate Between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning

The idea behind this article must be credited to fellow Bleacher Report blogger Ben Oldiges, who aroused quite the debate on who is the better quarterback—Peyton Manning or Tom Brady—when he commented on another great article written by Dan Tylicki.

I'm sure this topic has been discussed more than once, twice, or even three times: who is the better quarterback, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning?

The two have been part of one the NFL's better rivalries over the past decade: the New England Patriots versus the Indianapolis Colts, and it hasn't seemed to ever calm down or lose its luster.

Moving on to the argument about which quarterback is better. I'll start off by saying Manning has been a FULL-TIME NFL starting QB for his entire 13 year career, whereas Brady has only been a FULL -TIME NFL starting QB for 9 of his 11 years. This gives Manning 4 years on Brady to rack up all the hardware, stats, etc. to prove he is that much better than the Patriots QB is.

Also, Manning—who evidently has better regular season stats overall—has had the supporting cast of a Super Bowl caliber team year-in, year-out. Brady has not—he's turned lousy, supposed-to-be .500 teams into playoff contending teams each year. Look at all Brady's receivers up to Randy Moss, all no-names and ineffective everywhere else before they came to New England.

Both QB's have the ability to make everyone around them better sure, but Brady has the ability to turn nobodies into very big somebodies. Who was Deion Branch, David Givens, or Riche Caldwell before they were Patriots? Who were they after they were Patriots? How about Rob Gronkowski or Aaron Hernandez as most recent examples, would you have guessed that they would have had rookie seasons like they had this year? If you did, you're either a football genius, or just very, very lucky.

I'm guessing that you were the latter.

Secondly, Brady has the stats where it matters most—the Super Bowl and the post-season.

Superbowl wins: Brady's three to Manning's one.

To note, Brady won his first Superbowl in 2002, just two years into his career, while Manning won his first in 2007, his ninth season in the NFL.

Superbowl MVP awards: Brady's two to Manning's one

Of course, you need to be in the Superbowl to have a chance at winning this prestigious award and both have had their shots. To win this award, unless you put forth an unheard of performance in a loss, your team usually has to win for you to win. Brady has converted two out of three opportunities. Manning's converted once, while losing to the New Orleans Saints in the other.

Post-season records: Brady's 14-5 record to Manning's 9-10

Now that speaks volumes about both quarterback's play when it matters most. The numbers there are just NOT comparable.

I mean, look at those stats. Brady is clearly the better performer when it matters most by a long shot, Manning's not even close. Sure, Manning can accomplish everything during the regular season, but Brady plays the best when it matters the most.

Another way to prove Brady better is comparing the two when they face each other. Brady's won two out of three post-season meetings, while also being 8-4 when the two face-off. This area is also dominated by Brady.

And alas, my last point. Brady's 33 years old, and Manning's 34. Not much difference at all, but yet Manning showed some very bad aging this season, and is entering the downswing of his career, where Brady just received his second MVP award getting all 50 first place votes (which Manning hasn't done either I might add).

Is Tom Brady the greatest QB ever to live? Perhaps not, at least not yet. I think he's another one or two Super Bowl's and MVP's from that, but at the very least he is THE BETTER QB than Peyton Manning.