Brady's Legacy check: Pre Super Bowl 49

Typically when a Super Bowl is played, legacies are on the line.

Super Bowl 49 is no different. The player with the most to gain? The quarterback for the AFC champions, Tom Brady. Opponent? The Seattle Seahawks and the Legion of Boom.

If that sounds familiar, it should. It was the same scene last year when the AFC champions Denver Broncos were led by their quarterback Peyton Manning and he had the chance to become the first quarterback to lead two franchises to NFL supremacy, which along with all of his records would put him in a class of his own. To say he came up short is an understatement. The 43-8 drubbing was just an embarrassment.

Tom Brady hopes to have a different result. With a win here, Brady would have four super bowl trophies to his name.

FOUR.

Only two guys, Terry Bradshaw and Brady’s childhood idol Joe Montana, have won four times at the grandest stage. But Brady is different; he’s been to the top stage six times, more than any quarterback ever.

Brady already has the NFL record for most playoff wins in history with 20. To put into perspective, that is more playoff wins he has alone than 21 of the 32 franchises in the NFL have in their entire history. Tom Brady also holds the record for most passing yards in playoff history with 7,017 and most passing touchdowns with 49.

Brady’s dominance through the playoffs has been nothing short of spectacular. Though he has had a few bad games, mostly to the Baltimore Ravens, his good far outweighs his bad. He’s had clutch performances, such as Super Bowl 36 and 38 when he led his team to the game-winning points on the final drive. He has had the statistical dominance; such as in 2011 against the Broncos when he tied an NFL record with six touchdown passes, including five in the first half. The man has shown it all.

But for some reason, there are some people that hold Brady’s two super bowl losses against him in elevating him to the greatest of all time status. That’s not fair to Brady.

Now this is assuming he wins on Sunday, Brady would have the same amount of rings as Montana, widely regarded as the best ever, but would have two losses to the Giants while Montana never lost in the super bowl. By saying this, people are penalizing Brady for WINNING. The reason Brady has two losses while still having the same amount of rings as Montana is because Brady went further in the playoffs all the way to the Super Bowl two times while Montana, other than the four seasons he won it all, was ousted earlier in the playoffs so he never had the opportunity to lose a Super Bowl on top of his four wins.

Also, the way one loses has an impact. Peyton Manning got blown out by a record margin in one loss and threw a game-ending pick 6 in the other. That’s not a good look when you can point straight at the quarterback for the loss. With Brady, it’s different.

When people remember Brady’s first Super Bowl loss, most people will point to the luckiest play in NFL history: The helmet catch when the ball stuck to David Tyree’s helmet after an unreal escape by Eli Manning.

When people remember Brady’s second Super Bowl loss, there will be a clear image of Wes Welker dropping a pass that hit him in both of his hands. Neither time can you really pin it on Brady.

Many young fans won’t remember, but Montana nearly didn’t go unblemished. Unlike Brady, luck was on his side instead of against him. In 1988, when Montana led the legendary drive to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, he almost cost them the game earlier. Montana threw a pass in the middle of the end zone that landed right in the hands of Bengals defensive back Lewis Billups. Billups straight up dropped the pass on his own, with no impact from any 49er. The 49ers, who were trailing 13-6 at that point, may not have recovered from that. Instead, Montana threw a touchdown to Super Bowl MVP Jerry Rice on the very next play.

You think Bradshaw got his four without some luck on his side? Not so fast.

In Super Bowl 13, Roger Staubach stepped up in the pocket on a 3^rd down in the third quarter and fired a pass to a WIDE OPEN Jackie Smith. The Hall-of-Fame tight end dropped the ball and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal, losing four points on the drive. How much did the Steelers win by on that night? That’s right, four points, 35-31.

The point is, nobody gets to greatness without a little luck. Heck, even Tom Brady had it when he was winning. Remember the “Tuck Rule” in 2001 that propelled the Patriots to a Super Bowl win that year? Remember John Kasay, the Panthers kicker who kicked the kickoff out of bounds with a little over a minute left in the Super Bowl in 2003? That field position gave Brady a short field to set up Adam Vinateri for the game-winner.

If Brady wins his fourth ring on Sunday, his four wins and an additional two appearances should be a plus for him, not something held against him. And him doing it without the like of Jerry Rice or Lynn Swann just drives the point home even more.

The Brady vs. Manning is over. The Brady vs. Montana debate is now in full force.

The Argument is Sealed: Tom Brady reigns over Peyton Manning

This past weekend in the Divisional round of the playoffs, the number 1 seed New England Patriots took on the Baltimore Ravens, a game that many thought was the toughest matchup for the Patriots.

In the other AFC game, Peyton Manning and the Broncos hosted the Indianapolis Colts, a game the Broncos were favored in. It was a matchup of one of the all-time greats in Peyton Manning playing his former team, led by a third year star, at home.

If the outcomes had came out the way everybody predicted, the AFC Championship game would be hyped to the max with Brady vs. Manning Part 17.

Brady took care of business. Manning faltered.

And with that, the Brady vs. Manning debate came to a close. Tom Brady will start in his NINTH conference championship game this upcoming weekend. Peyton Manning will watch comfortably from his home after being bounced for the NINTH time in his first playoff game of the postseason.

Nine conference championships. Nine one-and-dones.

Many Manning apologist want to say that winning is a team game. And they would be completely on the money. The thing they don't take into account is that the quarterback position has more of a weight of who wins and loses the game than arguably any other position in team sports. Want proof? Just look at this past weekend.

Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and also ran one in himself as the Patriots put up 35 points on the vaunted Ravens defense. Brady and the offense had to do that because the usually-reliable Patriots defense let January-Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense score 31 points.
On the other side, Peyton Manning threw one touchdown and scored a total of 13 points at home in a loss to the Colts. The Colts defense definitely showed up, but there is no doubt that Manning was way off of his game. He was missing short throws, deep throws and everything in between. But as a viewer, it would be easy to give Manning a pass on the game, because as Manning apologist will point out, Manning has been playing on a strained/partially torn quad for the last month of the season.

Okay, fine. Manning gets a pass on his NFL-record 13th postseason loss.
But what about the other 12? Manning has been one-and-done NINE times. Eight of those times his team was favored. Six of those times he was at home. His team has scored less than 20 points in 11 of the 13 losses, including being shutout in 2002 by the Jets 41-0.

The thing is, Manning is so dominant in the regular season that his playoff struggles really raise some eyebrows. Nine times his teams have won 12 or more games int he regular season (four 12-4, four 13-3, one 14-2). He has a 179-77 record in the regular season. He has 51 game-winning drives in the regular season.
But somehow that translates to 11-13 in the playoffs with just one game-winning drive in his entire postseason career.

To put into perspective, Tom Brady has had two game-winning drives in Super Bowls alone, and just had another one this past weekend.

So yes, while winning is a team accomplishment, quarterback play is a huge part of the team. There is a reason why the Cowboys gave Tony Romo over 100 million dollars even though he had one playoff win under his belt. There is a reason why the Bears made Jay Cutler the highest paid quarterback in the NFL even though he had one playoff win under his belt. There is a reason why the Bengals gave Andy Dalton over 100 million dollars and he has yet to win a playoff game (though he has got to the playoffs every year of his career). The reason is simple. When a team realizes they have even a decent quarterback, they lock him up because of the importance of the position.

And while winning is a team accomplishment, so is breaking records. Want proof of that?
When Peyton Manning broke nearly every quarterback record known to mankind in 2013, he was throwing to Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Julius Thomas and had a phenomenal offensive line.
When Tom Brady had his best statistical season in 2007, he was throwing to Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, and Wes Welker and also had an amazing offensive line.

For their respective careers, Tom Brady has had a better defense for the most part, especially int he Super Bowl winning days but Peyton Manning has had a far superior offense. But when you actually look at the talent the two quarterbacks have played with, the equality is mind-boggling.

Since Tom Brady started in 2001, he has had a total of 59 pro bowlers around him.
Since 2001, Peyton Manning has also had exactly 59 pro bowlers to work with.
Tom Brady has played with 17 1st team All-Pros in his career.
Peyton Manning? You guessed it, 17 All-Pros as well.

With the combination of playing with a stronger offensive arsenal for much of his career, as well as playing in a dome stadium for much of his career as opposed to frigid Foxboro like Brady, Manning does edge Brady is career stats for a lot of categories.
However Brady has statistical dominance even in the playoffs as he has the most passing yards, most passing touchdowns and ultimately the most wins ever by a quarterback in NFL postseason history.

There are many other factors that tilt the argument to Brady's side, and to read them you can check out the article I wrote just a couple of months back at http://sportstation126.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-war-of-1812-legacy-check.html

At the end of the day, we are talking about two first-ballot Hall of Famers, two quarterbacks that are widely regarded as top 5 in NFL history and are extremely celebrated. In no way am I disrespecting Manning or diminishing his greatness. He is an all-time great, arguably third all-time behind Joe Montana and Brady.
But of course, many Manning supporters won't waver in his support, no matter how much evidence is put in front of them, and that's understandable. But as a neutral viewer that knows the game, it's hard to put Manning in front of Brady.

And this weekend just may have iced it.