by Football Freak

Created on: August 13, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Peyton Manning is a first Ballot Hall-of-Famer. He is surrounded by talent on offense and holds the NFL touchdown record, as well as many other significant records, but Tom Brady's stats may be better than you think.

Here are their stats through their first six seasons starting:
................Att. Comp Pct ....Yds ....YPA Lg .TD .Int.. 20+. 40+ Rate Att/TD Att/ Int

Brady......3064 1896 61.9 21564 7.04 91 147 78. 270... 44.. 88.4 20.84. 39.28
Manning 3383 2128 62.9 24888 6.11 86 167 110 300.. 58.. 82.9 20.26. 30.75

Here are Brady's theoretical stats if he had thrown the same # of passes, w/ the same averages:
.Att.. Comp Pct ......Yds ....YPA.... Lg .TD ....Int.. 20+. 40+ Rate
3383 2093 61.9... 23709. 7.04.. 91..165...87...298.. 48....88.4
3383 2128 62.9... 24888. 6.11.. 86. 167. 110. 300.. 58.. 82.9 (Mannings for side-by-side comparison)

I understand that odds are that he wouldn't follow exactly the same pace, but Brady is very consistent and would most likely have similar stats.

Obviously you would want Manning fantasy-wise, he throws more passes, as a result of his less than stellar defense and the Colts offensive philosophy, but IMO those numbers show that Brady could be better statistically with similar weapons and that type of philosophy.

Tom Brady also holds the NFL record for most completions without an interception to start his career.

The next thing to consider is career postseason production. Tom Brady's 12-2 record is better than Peyton Manning's 7-6 record. You can bring up the "Peyton's defense held him back theory," but I don't buy it. Throughout his playoff career, his defense has allowed 20.6 ypg. Tom Brady's allowed 18.6 ppg. Someone needs to explain to me how 2 ppg makes the difference between a 12-2 record and a 7-6 one. Obviously there's more going on. Tom Brady has led mediocre receivers to outscore their opponents, and Peyton has led great receivers to 4 more losses with only 2 more ppg allowed.

Statistically, Tom Brady has a 20/9 TD/INT and a rating of 86.3, Peyton Manning an 18/15 TD/INT and a rating of 83.1.

In his playoff career, Peyton Manning has thrown more touchdowns than interceptions 5 times, Tom Brady has done it 8 times.

So in every aspect, it seems Brady is the better QB. He will also be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, he is the youngest QB to win a Super Bowl and the youngest QB to win the MVP.

Now, we have one more season to consider (Well, part of one, anyways)

At the same point, this season to Peyton's 2004 season:

Manning 214-324 (66%) 2116 yds (6.5 YPA) 35 tds 7 int 111.34 rating
Brady 250-338 (76%) 3059 yds (9.1 YPA) 38 tds 4 int 133.97 rating

If he continues at his pace, he will shatter several records, and this season will be known as one of the best statistical seasons ever. The real question is if they keep winning. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, Brady will have had what is in my opinion the best season ever by a quarterback, regardless of how you judge it.

(stats from nfl.com, patriots.com, and rating using primecomputing.com's NFL rating calculator)

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