The primary measure of a quarterback’s greatness at any level, but particularly in the NFL has always been and always will be their ability to win games. This is an even more critical tool for assessment when the games being considered are “big games.” For NFL fans our age it is impossible to discuss winning quarterbacks without mentioning Tom Brady. Brady has made winning Superbowls a lifestyle choice; he already has three Superbowl rings a mere seven years into his young career.
Brady’s three Superbowl victories equal those of Troy Aikman tying him for third behind only Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw all-time. Manning has a paltry one Superbowl Ring just like Trent Dilfer. Brady is 91-26 all-time as a starter in the NFL giving him a win percentage of .850, the best in the NFL since the inception of the Superbowl for any quarterback with over 40 starts. Brady also quarterbacked the Patriots during their twenty-one game winning streak that set the NFL mark for most consecutive wins by a franchise. That’s right he has won nearly as many games in a row as he has lost total in his career. Furthermore, Brady is an otherworldly 12-2 in the playoffs in his career, including 10 straight wins to open his playoff career.
Brady has been an impressive quarterback in terms of passing statistics as well. The most obvious example would be his awe-inspiring touchdown pace this season. Through nine games Brady has tossed 33 touchdowns; meaning that he needs a mere 17 touchdowns over his last seven games. That is right, Tom Brady is on the brink of breaking Manning’s most impressive achievement to date. One has to wonder what possible claim Manning will have on Brady’s status as the best quarterback in the NFL when he has shattered all of Manning’s most cherished accomplishments with his fist (featuring two more Superbowl Rings than Manning as well I might add).
Brady is currently sporting a 131.8 quarterback rating on the year, which means it is probable that come week 17 he will be breaking Manning’s best single season mark for quarterback rating as well. So far this season Brady has put up video-game-like statistics at every turn, seriously undermining any argument that he was inherently inferior to Manning. Brady should not be punished for doing what Belichick requires of his players. Rather, Brady’s willingness to put personal accolades aside and play within his team’s game plan should be recognized and praised. This is particularly important to realize now that Brady has been given the opportunity to put up video-game-like statistics and he has.
Brady’s efficiency as a passer has allowed him to be exactly what the Patriots need, the best on-field game manager in the NFL. Brady rarely makes mistakes but still has the confidence to regularly make exceptional plays to win games. To start his career Brady threw 162 passes without an interception, setting the record for most passes to start a career without an interception. He is currently 27-5 in games with a margin of less than a touchdown including a 6-1 mark in such games during the playoffs. In addition, he is undefeated, 7-0, in games going into overtime. In his 117 games Brady has engineered 24 game winning drives including six such efforts in his 14 playoff appearances. In short, Brady deserves substantially more credit for many of the Patriot’s most widely famous wins. Without Tom Brady’s arm the leg of Adam Vinetari would have been hard pressed to gain such notoriety for clutch performances like Superbowl XXXVI.
Brady’s critics will say that Bill Belichick is the mastermind behind all of Brady’s achievements, but in reality Belichick was a very average coach before he teamed up with Brady. Belichick’s record with the Brady under center is now a sterling 91-26, standing in clear contrast to his losing record with as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Right now the historical comparison for Brady is clear, he is on pace to become the next Joe Montana. The Superbowl wins make this comparison nearly unavoidable and frankly the fact that a very young Tom Brady witnessed “The Catch” in person only further mandates this comparison. This is obviously a favorable comparison for Brady fans, after all many consider Montana to be the greatest NFL quarterback to date.
Bearing all of this in mind how could anyone possibly believe in Manning’s superiority? The answer is simple, mass media. Most NFL fans out there see more of Manning in commercials for various products like DirecTV, ESPN’s Sportscenter, Sprint Nextel and Mastercard. Couple this with his family’s nobility like status in the NFL and misconceptions about his relative greatness are easy to conceptualize.
At the end of the day though, commercials do not decide who gets into Canton and thankfully the debate over the greatest quarterback ever will be far enough down the road that commercials will not play a role in that debate either, leaving us one clear choice.
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