I’m posting this link not because I think it’s a definitive conclusion to the great Brady-Manning debate, but because of the stats laid out showing how Brady has faced the toughest slate of defenses in the NFL this year. Check this:
Seven of Brady’s 14 games this year were played against the six stingiest scoring defenses in football (Co-No. 1s Green Bay and Pittsburgh, No. 3 Chicago, No. 4 Baltimore, No. 5 N.Y. Jets (twice) and No. 6 San Diego).
Brady and the Patriots shredded almost all of them. They scored:
• 31 points against Green Bay Sunday night, the most any team has scored this year against the league’s stingiest defense (15.7 PPG)
• 39 against Pittsburgh, the most any team has ever scored in a regular-season game at Heinz Field
• 33 points in the first half alone against Chicago; the Bears have not surrendered more than 26 total points in any other game this year.
• 45 points in their second meeting against the Jets; the team has otherwise not given up more than 31 points in a game in two years under Rex Ryan.
To be honest I don’t really give a crap about the great Manning – Brady debate, as I’ve said many times before. So is this article moot if Manning and the Colts upset Brady at Foxboro this year? Hoodie forbid, of course.
When both their careers are over and all the Super Bowl trophies, MVPs, and stats are tallied then we can have a legitimate debate about who was the better quarterback. Trying to do so now is like trying to pick a winner while the race is still going on.
