Sorry quarterbacks, Watt is the real MVP

The 2014 regular season has come to a close, which means it is time to start thinking about who gets the most coveted awards in football. The biggest individual honor when it comes to the regular season alone is the MVP, Most Valuable Player. This award has recently turned into the MVQ, the Most Valuable Quarterback, but this year there is a player who is the most deserving and he doesn't even play offense....or kinda doesn't play offense....Well, he plays defense, but plays offense too. He kinda just does everything.

His name: J.J. Watt, listed as the defensive tackle for the Houston Texans but also plays some tight end.

Before I make my case for him, I'll run through some other candidates and why they fall just a tad bit short of him.

Aaron Rodgers- Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback in the NFL in my opinion, once again had a phenomenal year. His stats were great, as they always are but I've always been one that doesn't just go by the stat line. There is much more than that. Let's start in the opener, a game in Seattle in which the Packers got drubbed by the Seahawks and Rodgers could not find it in him to target Richard Sherman even once.
Then came a game in Detroit. The Packers lost 19-7 and Rodgers threw for just 162 yards. Now, I do realize that is a top notch defense and a road game, but Rodgers didn't play his best.
Last, a game in Buffalo against the Bills in mid-December that should be fresh in the memories of many. Aaron Rodgers for the first time in his career threw multiple interceptions, two, without a single touchdown. He completed a miserable 40.4% of his passes for a quarterback rating of 34.3 and a QBR of 17.2.
Rodgers finished second in the league in QBR at 82.6, just barely behind Tony Romo's 82.8.
A very superb season. Just not the best season.

Tom Brady- Tom Brady had an excellent season, especially considering what most people and "experts" were saying about him four weeks into the season. Brady pretty much stunk for the first four weeks of the season, which started with the opener against the Miami Dolphins. Brady and the Patriots offense were shutout in the second half of a opening day road loss to a division rival. After a decent game against the Adrian Peterson-less Vikings and escaping Oakland with a seven point win (thanks to the defense), Brady played a putrid game on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs, a game in which things so out of hand he got benched and head coach Bill Belichick was asked if there was a quarterback change to be made in New England.
To Brady's credit, he probably has had the least amount of star power in his offensive arsenal out of any superstar quarterback. But since week 5, he played at a spectacular level and climbed all the way up to fourth in QBR for the season at 74.3.
He really got going when tight end Rob Gronkowski was back to full strength. Some Patriots supporters can make a case for Gronk as the puzzle piece on the team that really kick-started the team this year. If Brady isn't even undoubtedly THE guy on his team, how can he be THE guy of the NFL?
Again, a great season, but not enough to merit a league MVP.

Tony Romo- Tony Romo had a sensational year, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, just talking about the 2014 season alone. He showed great toughness battling through his well-documented back pain and reportedly some issues with his ribs. He finished on top in the league in QBR at 82.8 and quarterback rating 113.2 as well as the best completion percentage in the NFL at 69.9. Statistically, the MVP is Tony Romo, hands down. However, there is more to the story than the stats. Romo had a great year, but the guy behind him, Demarco Murray, just happened to be the leading rusher in the NFL and a guy who broke Emmitt Smith's team record for rushing yards. Smith by the way is the all-time leading rusher and a hall of famer, so that is no small feat. As a result, Romo faced a lot more eight man boxes, which opened up his pass game. When he was throwing, he was throwing to arguably the best receiver in the game in Dez Bryant, who by the way set the team mark by catching 16 touchdown passes. A lot of Bryant's success is because of Romo and his accurate and prolific passing, no doubt, but throwing against an eight man box is much easier than when a defense is gearing up to stop the pass.
Like Brady, Romo can't be the MVP in my opinion because arguably he isn't even the MVP of his own team. Demarco Murray has something to say about that. Many Cowboys fans will point to the game against the Arizona Cardinals to point to Romo's value, but that was against a great defense and the Cardinals were still at their top quarterback at the time. There is some debate if the Cowboys would have won the game even with Romo. But the bottom line with Romo is this: Great season, maybe the best quarterbacking season, but he isn't even the unquestioned MVP on his team, so how can he be the MVP of the NFL?

Demarco Murray- Demarco Murray had the best season as a runner of any running back int he NFL, which is shown by him leading the NFL in rushing yards. Not only that, but as mentioned earlier, he passed the great Emmitt Smith for most yards and carries in a season in franchise history. Murray started the season with eight consecutive games running for triple digit yardage, an NFL record and ended up hitting at least 100 in 12 of the 16 games.
Even Murray's "bad" games weren't all because of his lack of ability. He had a season-low 58 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, but that was because the Cowboys blew them out of Jerry World and plus, Murray had broke a bone in his hand the week prior. He rushed for just 79 yards against the Cardinals, but that was with Weeden at quarterback and against a great, great Cardinals run defense.
Which leads to my point as to why he isn't the league MVP. Murray has one of his teammates on this list of MVP candidates, so in my opinion he can't really be the MVP of the NFL, even though he had a great season.

***Point of Note: The thing with Brady, Romo, and Murray not being the most valuable on their own team so they shouldn't be MVP is only because I believe J.J. Watt was so dominant with so little help, he gets the edge. There are definitely scenarios in which the MVP is not the undoubted most valuable player on his team, but he either sets big-time NFL records or there isn't another dominant force in the league that year like Watt is this year. If Watt is taken out of the equation, my MVP would be Tony Romo.***

Now let's get to the REAL MVP in my book: J.J. Watt-
    J.J. Watt had one of the best season by a defensive player in recent memory. In recent years, Watt has had the likes of Connor Barwin and Antonio Smith to help him dominate the opposing offensive line, but this year he had just a bunch of no-namers. Jadeveon Clowney barely played this year so that made Watt not only the focal point of the defensive line, but of the whole defense and almost the whole team pretty much. His impact has been profound.
Watt finished the year with 20.5 sacks, just two shy of the single-season NFL record. He became the first player with back-to-back 20+ sacks seasons, showing that even after teams knew of his dominance, they still couldn't stop him. He had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown, another fumble recovery for a touchdown, a sack for a safety in the final game... just to signify a few key big-time defensive plays. He also had three receiving touchdowns as a tight end this year and tallied 59 total tackles on the season. Watt also played every single game this season and as of early December, when he was on the field, the opposing QBR was 48. When he came off, the QBR rose to 71. When he was on the field, opposing runners ran for 3.9 yards per carry. With him off, the number rose to 5.1 yards per carry.
Since 1986 when Lawrence Taylor won MVP, only quarterbacks and running backs have been recipients of the award. That needs to change this year.

J.J. Watt, you da real MVP.

Tim MacMahon- ESPN Dallas

As Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was about to take the podium for his scheduled pregame press conference before the Mavs took the court to face off against the Miami Heat, a host of media members patiently waited. Most of them had their smartphones out, and some were dressed in a suit.

But in the very front row on the left side sat Tim MacMahon, in his usual spot, with his usual attire of jeans and a nice shirt, and his usual pen and notebook to go along with his smartphone.

The 38-year-old ESPN Dallas reporter has a unique approach to his job and is well respected by fellow media members he works with, as well as personnel he interviews and reports on.

“He dresses comfortable,” said Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News when asked about what impresses him the most about MacMahon’s approach to work. “Nice jeans, every once in a while he’ll break out a suit, which throws everybody off, but usually nice jeans and a good shirt”

Other than just his attire, Sefko went on to praise MacMahon’s work, saying “he’s got a nose for what people want to read. He’s good at digging through the BS and getting to stuff that will grab readers”

MacMahon prepares to ask Coach Carlisle questions prior to a Dallas Mavericks game

MacMahon grew up locally in the metropolis of Flower Mound, Texas. He was the third of seven children to Paul and B.J. MacMahon.

His father Paul was an advertiser while his mother was a stay-at-home mom and looked after Tim and his three brothers and three sisters.

MacMahon went to Marcus High School in Flower Mound for 12 weeks before switching over to a boarding school in Bath, Maine. Over there, MacMahon excelled in sports, playing quarterback and safety on the football team, center on the basketball team, and ran track.

MacMahon enjoyed playing multiple sports and said, “The one good thing about getting sent to this little prep school in Maine is that I was able to go both ways (in football), which obviously would not happen playing for a 5A school like Marcus.”

Though MacMahon enjoyed football and basketball, there was one sport he despised.

“Track is terrible,” said MacMahon.

Following his high school graduation in 1995, MacMahon took his basketball talents to St. Petersburg, Florida where he played basketball for Division 2 program Eckerd College. After playing there for a semester and focusing his studies in business, he decided to move in another direction.

“I took a couple of economic classes, figured out that wasn’t my thing,” said MacMahon. “I figured out I didn’t want to be in business my whole life.”

MacMahon figured he wanted to be involved in sports and the best way he thought of was the media. That, along with his then-girlfriend now wife Tida being in North Texas, led to Tim packing his bags and moving from tropical Florida back near home and becoming part of the Mean Green.

At UNT, MacMahon was advised to do broadcast journalism as opposed to radio television because it “gives you more options.”

While at UNT, MacMahon engaged himself in the school newspaper, the North Texas Daily while also taking part in the school radio station, KNTU.

Soon, MacMahon met the late Richard Durrett, a TCU grad who was the editor for the Denton Record Chronicle at the time. MacMahon recalled them meeting in the Super Pit before a UNT basketball game, where Durrett interviewed him for a part-time position at the Chronicle, working about 12 hours a week at seven dollars per hour.

“He[Durrett] was really good to me,” said MacMahon.

That part-time job turned into a 39-hours-a-week job, which led to MacMahon senior year being stretched out into what he called a “senior era.”

“I was working full time at Denton Record Chronicle, wasn’t taking many classes, so it took me four or five years to finish up what would have been my senior year,” said MacMahon.

After finally finishing his classes, MacMahon graduated in 2003 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

When speaking on the academic side of college, MacMahon said it’s “the most overrated part of college. Nobody has ever asked me about my GPA.”

MacMahon continued working for the Chronicle while soon also taking a position at the Dallas Morning News for the North Texas beat. After a few years, MacMahon went to the Dallas Morning News in the Collin County Bureau and did that for a few months.

After that, MacMahon got promoted to cover high school sports in the area and did that for three years.

Following his three-year stint doing that, MacMahon got elevated to the college ranks, covering schools such as Baylor and Texas Tech.

After nine months doing that gig, the blog position came open and MacMahon worked with people like Sefko and covered the Dallas Cowboys and Mavericks extensively, while mixing in a little bit of Texas Rangers as well.

Then, in 2009, ESPN Dallas.com was launched and MacMahon transitioned there along with his editor, and has been there since.

MacMahon works in the media room following a contest between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers

 At ESPN Dallas, MacMahon made a positive impression on many, including columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor, who primarily covers the Cowboys.

When asked about MacMahon, Taylor pointed to why he believes MacMahon has been so successful.

“The best thing about Tim is that he is unafraid,” said Taylor. “He doesn’t let players, coaches or members of the front office intimidate him and you can’t say that about every journalist. Sometimes you have to ask tough questions and it’s not always easy because a lot of times the people you are talking to don’t want to provide answers.”

Taylor went on to specifically talk about MacMahon’s work ethic.

“The job is about grinding,” said Taylor. “It’s about working nights and weekends and holidays without complaint. It’s a job of inconvenience and you have to accept that if you’re going to succeed. Tim doesn’t have any problem grinding.”

When talking about an inspiration, MacMahon pointed to a couple of guys.

“David Moore, was covering the Cowboys with the Morning News when I was in school and he was a North Texas alum,” said MacMahon. “Phil Rogers, who’s with MLB.com now was another one. I never met him but he was with Chicago Tribune at the time and a big time baseball writer. I saw those clips and said “Hey if they can make it big time out here, so can I.”

MacMahon has definitely won over his respect with the people he works with too. Before almost every Mavericks game, MacMahon and other reporters talk to Mark Cuban in the locker room. Cuban spoke glowingly about MacMahon and his work.

“He’s an expert at headline porn, he knows how to have fun with it,” said Cuban. “He makes it fun for me and makes it interesting.”

MacMahon (right) interviews Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki following a game between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, in which Nowitzki moved to 8th on the all-time NBA scoring list

 Though MacMahon is well respected and loves his work, it doesn’t come without a major challenge. He says his biggest challenge is to manage his job and family time.

“My schedule is determined by the Mavs schedule, Cowboys schedule, whatever my radio schedule is, which is also unpredictable,” said MacMahon. “My wife and kids need to understand there will be times I don’t have too much time. I just maximize the down time, and in the busy time just do what I can.”

MacMahon said in his down time, he likes to hang out with his daughters Baylee, 8, and Finlee, 5, and play with them and just watch sports.

“I don’t have very exciting life,” said MacMahon.

MacMahon acknowledged that he is very happy with where he is right now.

“My hobby is what I get paid to do,” said MacMahon. “If I wasn’t working I’d be looking for excuses to watch sports on the weekends and at night. Now I have a legitimate excuse, I can tell my wife I have to do this for work.”

MacMahon says he likes where he’s at and “doesn’t have any great goals to check off the list.”

“I’d like to continue advancing and that crap, but I love what I’m doing,” said MacMahon. “I want to keep doing this, and do it well for next 30 years and then retire. That’d be nice.” 

Post-game Power Points: Mavs 109, Knicks 102 (OT)

Monta Ellis struggles, then saves Mavs- Monta Ellis had arguably his worst game in a Dallas Maverick uniform.... Until it mattered most. Ellis was 1-9 from the field with just 2 points and 3 turnovers with 4:28 left in regulation. He had picked up his 5th foul with seven minutes left in the 4th quarter, but head coach Rick Carlisle kept him in the game.
And boy did that pay off. Monta Ellis hit a couple of free throws with 4:56 left in the 4th quarter and then hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Mavs a one-point edge. In overtime, Ellis missed a shot but saved the ball from going out of bounds and threw it in to Tyson Chandler, who gave the Mavs a two point lead that they would not relinquish.
Ellis finished with 8 points on 3-13 shooting, six assists, three steals, and a couple of rebounds.

Three point struggles continue- Though it was a tough win, it was very ugly from behind the arc for the Mavs. They finished 4-31 from three-point range, a putrid 12.9%.
When Dirk was asked about it, he could not provide a definite answer, just saying "I don't know."
The Mavs also struggled defending the three-point line, allowing the Knicks to shoot 50%, including former Maverick Jose Calderon going 7-9 from downtown.

Tyson Chandler explodes on his former team, Calderon does the same for the Knicks- Tyson Chandler definitely had this date circled on his calendar. He posted season-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (25) for a very impressive double-double. His impact goes beyond the stat lines though as he probably had two of the top five momentum-shifting plays, one being an alley-oop and the other being a punctuating dunk in overtime to give the Mavs the lead in the waning minute.
Jose Calderon wasn't too shabby for the Knicks either. Ironically on a night the Mavs were short-handed at the point guard position because of injuries to starter Jameer Nelson and former Knick Raymond Felton, Calderon exploded for 7 three-pointers and a team-high 21 points. Unlike Chandler though obviously, he came up on the losing end.

Dirk plays big in the second half- Dirk had four points at halftime, but finished with a game-high 30 points. He was an absolute monster in the second half and overtime, scoring clutch basket after clutch basket. He also put the game away effectively, scoring a basket with 43.9 seconds left in the game to give the Mavs a four-point lead. The Knicks started playing the foul game after that and never caught up.
Dirk finished with 30 points on 11-24 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. He also played a season-high 39 minutes.

What's next?- The Mavs kick off their four game road trip on Friday at Toronto to face off against the Raptors at 6:30 p.m.

Post-game Power Points: Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks

Miami Heat 105, Dallas Mavericks 96

Lackluster first half on both ends- The defensive deficiencies have been somewhat of a problem all season and the first half of this game wasn’t much better. The Mavs allowed the Heat to shoot 60 percent from the field while they shot a measly 36.6 percent. Dirk had 16 points in the first half, but he was the only Maverick to break double digits as he got minimal help from his supporting cast.

At the other end, Chris Bosh and Luol Deng had 15 points each, with Mario Chalmers pitching in 10 points of his own. Deng especially had a very efficient first half as he made seven of his eight shot attempts.

Heat offense dictates- The Miami Heat scored all over the floor, but they especially dominated the closer they got to the rim. It wasn’t even the big men for the Heat that were scoring down low, actually it was their ability to shoot from the perimeter that brought Tyson Chandler and the Mavs big men to the perimeter and opened up easy lay in opportunities for the Heat guards to attack the rim.

Monta Ellis rocks the third quarter-  Monta Ellis sent the AAC in an uproar as he came out of the gate after halftime and scored 10 very quick points for the Mavs. He had two quick shots and then followed it up with back-to-back three pointers. Ellis finished with 14 points in the third and had 23 for the game.

However, the Mavs defensive struggles carried over from the first half as they allowed 28 points in the third period to scoring 23 of their own.

Aside from just giving up points, they were giving up shots that drained any momentum they had built, such as three pointers to Wade and Chalmers at different points in the period as the shot clock expired.

Tale of the two newcomers- The Miami Heat added Luol Deng to their arsenal on a two-year 19.9 million dollars deal. The Mavs added Chandler Parsons on a three-year 46 million dollar deal. The stat lines for each?

Deng went 13-17 for 30 points, including four from downtown. He added five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Parsons went 1-9 for four points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and a turnover.

Statistically notable-

Luol Deng finished with 30 points on 13-18 shooting, five rebounds and three assists.

After 16 first half points for Dirk, he scored one more point the rest of the way and finished with 17 points on 6-15 shooting, six rebounds and three assists.

Notable quote- Mark Cuban said before the game: "I hated them before LeBron got there. He didn’t impact my feelings for them at all.''

Brady furthers legacy, Tops Manning in 16th battle

We all went into Sunday afternoon's game of Brady vs. Manning Part 16 thinking we would get another classic. Instead, it was the second biggest blowout of any game between the two ever.

This game alone does not prove or say that Tom Brady is better than Peyton Manning. No, that was known before the game. However this game brought up some points to prove further why Brady is a slightly better quarterback than Manning that was missed in the pre-game legacy check.

First of all, going into the game, I had thought that even though Brady was the slightly better quarterback, Manning would win the game 24-20 because he had the better team (the argument many Manning supporters use to say that Brady has had better teams, which as shown in my previous article is not true. Both were fairly equal, Brady having defense, Manning having offense).
Manning had arguably a top three offensive arsenal of all-time, and the second ranked defense in the NFL currently, with Von Miller and Demarcus Ware rushing the quarterback off the edges and Aqib Talib and T.J Ward anchoring the secondary. All Tom Brady had going for him was special teams and home-field. And that proved to be enough.

Brady was superb all day, with the exception of one throw early in the game where he missed Brandon LaFell for a touchdown. His lone interception came off a tipped ball and he had four touchdowns. He carved up the second ranked defense the same way he had carved up the Bengals early in October, who were at the time the top ranked defense in the NFL.

Manning struggled all day. He got tricked into throwing his first of two interception (the second was dropped by Welker and was not Manning's fault), when Rob Ninkovich dropped in a zone and Manning threw an errant pass that swung the momentum while the game was still close. Brady threw a touchdown to Brandon Lafell on the very next play. Manning couldn't even get all of his weapons involved, as Julius Thomas didn't have his first target/catch until the third quarter.

This game really just furthered the point why Brady is total is a better option than Manning. For Manning to truly be successful, he needs perfect conditions around him. He needs great weapons at his disposal and ideal weather conditions. For Brady, it isn't necessary.

As I said before, Manning is superior in stats to Brady because he played in the Indy dome for the first 12 years of his career. In Indy and in Denver, he has always had a better supporting cast than Brady, with the exception of 2007.

With the game time temperature being just under 40 degrees, Manning's loss put him at 8-12 all time when temperatures dip below 40. Brady? Oh, he's 32-4. Winds were gusting in Foxboro, yet Brady didn't miss a beat. But Manning seemed to be a little off, even with an amazing supporting cast.

If you want to be considered the best of all time, you have to be consistent. You can't say he's the greatest BUT temperatures need to be warm. BUT he needs guys around him. BUT it can't be the playoffs. No exceptions.

On game doesn't answer a questions, but it was more ammo to add for Brady's case, while Manning's case against Brady remains a weak one.

Kobe Brady? LeBron Manning? There are more similarities than you may think...

A comparison between the NFL and NBA...? Say whaaaaaat?

That may be the initial reaction, but when you look in at this Kobe-Lebron vs. Brady-Manning comparison, interestingly enough, it isn't that off.
Kobe Bryant is to Tom Brady as LeBron James is to Peyton Manning.

Let's take a look at some of the similarities:

1) 
Kobe Bryant and Lebron James are two of the most iconic players representing the NBA. 
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are two of the most iconic players representing the NFL. 

2)
Kobe Bryant had some draft day drama of being traded from the Charlotte Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers. 
Tom Brady had his own version of draft day drama by falling to the sixth round and being picked 199 overall. 

3)
LeBron James was a highly touted prospect prior to entering the NBA and was picked number 1 overall. Also, there was plenty of talk of LeBron or one other player, Carmelo Anthony. 
Peyton Manning was also a highly touted prospect prior to entering the NFL and was also picked number 1 overall. There was also strong debate about whether the top pick should be Manning or one other player, Ryan Leaf. 

4)
Kobe Bryant has played his entire career on one team, winning numerous championships (5), and losing twice on the grandest stage in the NBA. 
Tom Brady has also played his entire career on one team, winning numerous championships (3), and losing twice on the grandest stage in the NFL. 

5)
LeBron James has played on two different teams in his career, taking both to championship games (2007 with Cleveland Cavaliers, 2010-2014 with Miami Heat).
Peyton Manning has also played for two different teams in his career, also taking both to championship games (2006 and 2009 with Indianapolis Colts, 2013 with Denver Broncos).

6)
Kobe Bryant is currently playing on a roster devoid of too much superstar talent, and one of his biggest weapons was just lost for the season to injury in Julius Randle. 
Tom Brady is also playing on a roster that many consider to be devoid of a lot of superstar talent, and he too lost a key weapon for the year to injury in Stevan Ridley. 

7)
LeBron James has played with a plethora of weapons in his career (Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, etc) and has a star-studded roster right now as well (Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, etc). 
Peyton Manning has also played with a plethora of weapons throughout his career (Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, etc) and has a star-studded roster right now as well (Demaryius Thomas, Emannuel Sanders, etc)

8)
Kobe Bryant played a good portion of his career with a legendary coach in Phil Jackson, and won all of his rings with him. 
Tom Brady has played his entire career with a legendary coach in Bill Belichick and also won all of his championship rings with him. 

9)
LeBron James has played for five different head coaches and won his rings with a coach on the rise (Erik Spoelstra). 
Peyton Manning has played for four different head coaches and won his lone ring with a rising head coach at the time (Tony Dungy). 

10)
Kobe Bryant has been widely documented to looking up to, and copying, the player considered to be the greatest ever at his position in Michael Jordan. Most people say Kobe is "the closest thing to Jordan." Along with that, Kobe is currently one ring shy of matching Jordan (6).
Tom Brady's childhood idol was Joe Montana, and Montana is widely considered the greatest quarterback to ever play. Brady is also currently one ring shy of matching Joe Montana's total (4).

11)
LeBron James gets somewhat criticized for showing up relatively small in big games, even though he has won a championship. 
Peyton Manning gets faulted for showing up small in the playoffs and Super Bowls and he too has won a ring. 

12)
Kobe Bryant is known for showing up big in big moments, such as the playoffs and the Finals. 
Tom Brady is known for his big-game performances, including the playoffs and Super Bowls. 

13)
LeBron James leads Kobe Bryant by three regular season MVPs (4-1).
Peyton Manning leads Tom Brady by three regular season MVPs (5-2).

14)
Kobe Bryant is considered to have that extreme killer instinct inside of him that comes out on the court, unmatched by anybody in his sport. 
Tom Brady is also considered to have a ruthless killer instinct that is on display on the field, unmatched by anybody in his sport.

15)
LeBron James is playing his sport at the highest level of anybody currently in the NBA. 
Peyton Manning is playing the quarterback position at the highest level of anybody in the NFL. 

16)
Kobe Bryant is considered to have a better, more legendary career compared to LeBron James as of now. 
Tom Brady is considered to have a better, more legendary career compared to Peyton Manning as of now. 

It's always fun to compare greatness amongst the greatest in the game, but it's pretty interesting to compare athletes in two sports and see so many similarities! At the end of the day, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady are all the best at what they do and we are blessed to be able to witness it.

Post-game Power Points: Utah Jazz 102 Dallas Mavericks 120

Mavs thump Utah Jazz 120-102 in scoring outburst

Big D changes nickname to LOB City for the first half- Was this a regular season game or the All-Star game? It sure seemed like an All-Star game the way they Mavs came out of the gate with Dirk kicking off the scoring. Then, very quickly, Tyson Chandler was the beneficiary of lob passes from Jameer Nelson and Chandler Parsons on two possessions that had a Dirk three-pointer sandwiched in-between. Then midway through the 1^st quarter, Nelson chunked a pass from half-court towards the rim and Tyson Chandler went up and finished it. In fitting fashion, the first quarter ended with Devin Harris throwing up an alley-oop to Al-Farouq Aminu.

Contributions from EVERYBODY- The Mavs had their usual superstar in Dirk Nowitzki dominate, but the entire roster was insanely on fire. Chandler Parsons started off struggling, going 2-for-8 with his lone two shots being attacks at the rim. But he got on track really quick and finished 8-for-16 and 21 points. Mavs had a total of seven players in double digits including Nowitzki (21), Parsons (21), Aminu (16), Monta Ellis (14), Tyson Chandler (13), Devin Harris (12), and Brandan Wright (14).  These Dallas Mavericks are an offensive juggernaut and can score with anybody in the league.

Lineup experiments continue- Coach Rick Carlisle played every guy possible in this game and had some interesting combinations. The intriguing lineup of the night was when he went small with newly signed J.J Barrea, Devin Harris, Richard Jefferson, Dirk Nowitzki, and Brandan Wright. The scoring was through the roof with the smaller lineup.

Minute management- Maybe it was the fact that it was the Utah Jazz and the Mavs were up by 30 in the first half, but Carlisle was Popovich-esque in managing minutes for all the players. No player hit 30 minutes for the game, as Monta Ellis led the team in playng time with 29:22.

Dallas hits the road to face the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday November 1^st at the Smoothie King Center.

The War of 1812: Legacy Check

Tom Brady or Peyton Manning?
It's the question that leads to some heated debates. It's a question, that after hours of debating, seemingly goes unanswered.

It's also a very tricky question to answer, especially with both quarterbacks playing at an extremely high level in the twilight of their respective careers. On Sunday, they go head-to-head for the 16th time, with Tom Brady leading the series 10-5. Let's take a look at who has a better legacy thus far:

First of all, I want to make sure it's clear what the question is that I'm about to address: Who's legacy is better at this point, as of October 30, 2014. My definition of legacy is the following: What is the impact you had while playing and how will people look back on your career?

With that being said, to determine who's career has been better, I'm going to use the help of Peyton Manning's former coach and Hall of Fame teammate: Tony Dungy (currently with NBC as an analyst) and Marshall Faulk (currently with NFL Network as an analyst).
Tony Dungy was on the Dan Patrick show just three weeks ago and when asked about who's career he would want right now, he said, "I'd definitely want Tom Brady's career...Right now I'd definitely say Brady's in the lead"
Last year, in the midst of Peyton Manning's best season as a pro, Marshall Faulk was asked the question of who was better all-time. He replied, "As much as I love Peyton Manning and what he can do, I'm riding with Tom Brady." Many analysts around him were shocked he wasn't going with the homer pick in Peyton but he said he's just doing his job being an analyst.
These are two individuals with close ties to Peyton Manning and are now two of his biggest fans in the media. Yet providing an objective take, they both took Brady.

Contrary to many Tom Brady supporters, I don't believe the reason Brady is ahead of Manning is his Super Bowl rings. It certainly helps him, but that doesn't catapult him over. And Manning supporters always want to bring up Manning's supremacy in statistics, which I don't consider fair either, because it ignores many factors (i.e. playing in a dome for 11 years vs. Boston). The way to determine the legacy is a combination of everything. From supporting cast, regular season, postseason, super bowls, and stats. Factor in all of those things, and you get your answer. Let's take a look

Regular Season winning success

Tom Brady has been dominant in the regular season, and followed that with a stellar postseason. In the regular season, Tom Brady has never in his career posted less than nine wins in a season, and that only happened once in 2002. Aside from that, Brady has had double digit wins in every season, including an undefeated regular season in 2007.
Manning has been just as impressive as Brady in regards to winning in the regular season. Unlike Brady though, Manning has had two seasons where his team posted losing records, his first as a rookie in 1998 when the team went 3-13, and the second in 2001 when he lead his team to 6-10. Aside from those two early hiccups, every season has been double digits for Manning.

Stats

When comparing career stats by the numbers between the two quarterbacks, it is actually pretty surprising how close it actually is, because it seems like Peyton Manning runs away with the numbers.
But for Manning's career, he averages 271.7 yards per game versus Tom Brady's 254.8 yards per game. Those numbers come with Manning's attempts per game average being at 35.2 versus Tom Brady being at 34. With Tom Brady's 7.5 yards per attempt, if you add another attempt to match Manning's, Brady would be just 10 yards shy of Manning per game.
Peyton Manning's career touchdown percentage is at 5.7%, with Brady checking in at a 5.5% career touchdown percentage. Though Manning has the slightest edge over Brady in that, Brady has the edge with interceptions. Tom Brady has a career interception average of 2.0% while Manning is at 2.6%.

Peyton Manning's career quarterback rating stands at a 97.9 right now, while Brady is at a 96.4.
Both quarterbacks also have a plethora of astounding records, far too many to individually list each record Brady and Manning hold. A few significant ones include Manning holding the single season record for touchdown passes with 55, breaking Tom Brady's previous record of 50. Tom Brady holds the record for the highest winning percentage ever for any starting quarterback in NFL history, in which Peyton Manning checks in at third place behind Brady and Joe Montana.
Peyton Manning also has an NFL record FIVE regular season Most Valuable Player awards, to Tom Brady's two.
Tom Brady is the only player in NFL history to be a unanimous decision for MVP (2010), a season in which he set a record for pass attempts without an interception (335).

Again, each quarterback has plenty of records and statistics but in the big picture, Manning and Brady are fairly close in those categories.
*Note: Peyton Manning has the record for most touchdowns in a career and is second in passing yards all-time. However, when considering those marks, it is important to take into account that Tom Brady has played 46 fewer games than Manning as Manning started out from week 1 in 1998 and Tom Brady started his career in week 3 (against Manning) in 2001. If Brady's averages were to be added to his current career totals for 46 games, Brady would be a very close to Manning in career touchdowns (about 40 less) and passing yards (about 4,000 less). 

Supporting Cast

Each player has had different advantages in supporting cast through the years. Peyton Manning has had an offensive arsenal that has been unmatched. He walked into the league with Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk taking handoffs from him and Future Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison catching his first NFL pass for a touchdown. After Faulk left, Manning gained Edgerrin James, who was 1st team All-Pro in 1999 and was the NFL rushing champion in 1999 and 2000. Through his career in Indianapolis, Manning had Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark, all consistently great. Peyton Manning definitely elevated the play of all of them, but Clark went on to being a productive player for Joe Flacco in Baltimore and Reggie Wayne is still making plays for Andrew Luck in Indy. When Manning switched over to the Denver Broncos, he embraced the arguably greatest arsenal off all time. He had/has Demaryius Thomas, who was the number one receiver for Tim Tebow and was making plays. He had Eric Decker, who was productive for Denver before and is now a number one receiver for the New York Jets. When Manning lost Decker, the Broncos gave him and upgrade in Emmanuel Sanders, who was a top receiving option is Pittsburgh before. As if all of that wasn't enough, Manning also has had Tom Brady's favorite target Wes Welker at his disposal for the past two years. In Indianapolis, Manning always had a stellar offensive line, but in Denver, he has had arguably the top pass protecting offensive line in the entire league.

With Tom Brady, he was winning super bowls early with the likes of David Patten, who was a journeyman receiver for SEVEN different teams. He also was throwing to Troy Brown, who has one Pro Bowl under his belt, as a special teamer. Brady had Deion Branch for three years before he left for Seattle after his Super Bowl MVP and was irrelevant up in the northwest until he came back to New England. His starting tight end was Jermaine Wiggins, who was more of a blocking tight end and really didn't strike fear in the hearts of too many defensive coordinators. In 2006, Brady was throwing to a cast that featured Reche Caldwell as his primary target and Troy Brown, Jabar Gaffney, and Doug Gabriel rounded out the rest. After 2006, Brady's arsenal vastly improved with the addition of Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and with those weapons, Brady showed he is fully capable of putting up the numbers if given the weapons as he threw for a then-NFL record 50 touchdowns. Brady only had Moss for two seasons, 2007 and 2009 as Moss was traded away in the 3rd week of 2010. That was the year Brady changed from a vertical offense to working the middle of the field with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Starting in late 2011, Gronkowski's injuries started piling up and Brady took the Patriots to the Super Bowl that year with Gronk being not fully healthy. In 2012, Gronkowski only played the first 11 games before breaking his arm. 2013 was probably the most frustrating season for Tom Brady, in regards to his arsenal. To start the season he lost 84.1% of his receptions from the previous season with Gronkowski not coming back till week 6, Welker going to Denver, Hernandez going to jail, Danny Woodhead going to San Diego, and Brandon Llyod walking away. Defensively, the Patriots lost leaders like Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo within the first five weeks of the season, yet Brady carried them to the AFC Championship game throwing to Julian Edelman (a quarterback in college), where he fell short to Peyton Manning. In 2014, Brady faced a new challenge, losing his top offensive lineman Logan Mankins the week before the season and had a terrible offensive line for the start of the season. His receivers feature Edelman, Gronkowski, and Brandon LaFell, who has been buried on the Carolina Panthers depth chart up until this point.
The advantage Brady did have early in his career over Manning was much better defenses during his Super Bowl years. However Brady is also the only quarterback to take the 31st ranked defense to the Super Bowl in 2011, the lowest ranked defense to ever reach the grand stage. Also, Brady's stellar defenses are also a big reason why his stats are slightly edged out by Manning, because Brady played a ball control offense while Manning was forced to air it out. Another very key thing to keep in mind while comparing stats is that Manning played in a dome from 1998-2009, which is a lot easier conditions to throw the ball in compared to the northern inclement weather Brady starts to face in Boston from October till the end of the season. Also, ever since Brady has dealt with mediocre defenses since 2007, he has averaged 36 touchdowns a year compared to his 26 he was averaging early in his career when he had good defenses. In 2014, Manning is now playing with his all-time great offensive arsenal to go along a defense that is top 5 in the league.
So, Brady early on had the defense, while Manning had the offense so they were pretty equal. But lately, Brady hasn't had the defense and also has no where near Manning's offensive arsenal. So judging the bigger picture of the whole career, Manning has been blessed with the better cast.
Aside from the field, Brady has had the advantage over Manning when it comes to the sideline. Brady has played his entire career with one coach, Bill Belichick. Manning played with Jim Mora, Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell and now John Fox. Though Belichick is considered one of the greatest ever, it isn't a monumental advantage. The biggest advantage for Brady is the consistency. But when it comes to coaching, Belichick was 36-44 before Brady. He truly tasted success with Brady so an argument could be made on who makes the other better, but that's for another day. What can't be denied is that Belichick is an all-time great and Brady has played with him his entire career, so on consistency alone, it is an advantage for Brady that Manning didn't have.

Playoffs

Here is where Brady's legacy starts to pull away from Manning. Winning is definitely a team effort, but it is undeniable that the quarterback position has a large part in the outcome of a football game. As the legendary Bill Parcells said, "Quarterbacks, like coaches, are judged by their jewelry." The problem with Manning's postseason narrative is that unlike the regular season success, supporting casts, or stats, it isn't even remotely close to Tom Brady's. It is actually nearly the opposite.
Tom Brady has played three less seasons than Manning, yet Tom Brady has played in three more playoff games than him. Brady is 18-8 in the playoffs, giving him the most wins of any starting quarterback in NFL history. Peyton Manning has a losing record, 11-12, which gives the most losses by any quarterback in NFL history.

Peyton Manning has been one-and-done EIGHT times in his career. Tom Brady on the flip side has been one-and-done just twice and been in EIGHT conference championship games.
The playoffs are where the competition reaches the highest points, and Manning has put up some real stinkers, such as his 41-0 loss to the Jets in 2002 and his four interceptions agains the Patriots in 2003. Manning has also put on clinics, such as his game against Kansas City in 2003 divisional round, but the bad far outweighs the good for him in the bigger picture. For Brady, he has a couple of stinkers, such as a 33-14 loss to Baltimore in 2009, but his good, such as six touchdowns against Denver in 2011 and a perfect game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007, outweighs the bad. In this category, Brady has a huge edge.

Super Bowls

The Super Bowl category also largely favors Brady over Peyton Manning.
Brady has won three Super Bowls to Manning's one.
Brady's Super Bowl record is 3-2 to Manning being 1-2.
Brady is a two-time Super Bowl MVP to Manning's one.
Brady has two career interceptions in his five Super Bowl games. Manning has two interceptions returned for touchdowns in his three career games, and four interceptions total.
When you think of the first Super Bowl Tom Brady lost, the primary thing most people point to is the lucky helmet catch. In his second loss, a lot of people point to the Wes Welker drop. Brady is not brought up as the main culprit in either.
With Peyton Manning's two losses, the first one everybody points to Peyton Manning. Down by seven and driving, Manning threw an interception returned for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. In his second Super Bowl, Manning's record breaking offense didn't put up a point against Seattle until the third quarter and ended up scoring a grand total of EIGHT points.
Even in the lone Super Bowl Manning won, through that postseason, he threw more interceptions (7) than touchdowns (3). In the Super Bowl, he went up against an inept Rex Grossman, who aided Manning in throwing as many touchdowns to the Colts as Manning did (1).

Conclusion

Brady and Manning are pretty equal when it comes to regular season success. 

Statistically, Manning edges out Brady by a little bit. 

Manning also has had the better supporting cast for the totality of his career. Early on Brady had the defense, while Manning had the offense. More recently, Brady hasn't had that much of a defense and his offense hasn't been surrounded by those kind of weapons either. 

The playoffs and Super Bowl are not even close. Brady dominates in those two categories. He has been historically good, while Manning has almost been historically bad. 

So in conclusion, Brady gets the edge in legacy so far. Again, that's in legacy. This is NOT an analysis which player plays the quarterback position at a higher level or is more accurate, etc. It is judging the entire picture. So as Tony Dungy said, Brady has had the better career so far. But another quote from Dungy in that same interview that is very important is, "your career is not over, until it's over." With that being said, Manning still has time to change this narrative, and is seemingly on the fast track to doing that. In fact, I was one to say that had Manning beat Seattle in the Super Bowl last year, he would have had a stronger legacy than Brady and his one less Super Bowl would be made up by his strong other areas. That win would have gave him a winning record in the playoffs and super bowls. However, it didn't happen. 

Therefore, at this point, Tom Brady reigns over Peyton Manning as the quarterback with the stronger legacy and better career.

The 16th battle of the War of 1812 will take place Sunday November 2nd, 2014 at 3:25 p.m.