Brady Versus Manning, Round 13

For much of the last ten years, any discussion of the top quarterbacks in the NFL started with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.  On Sunday, their decade long rivalry resumes, even though Manning has replaced the familiar horseshoe on his helmet with the entire horse.

The Broncos head to Foxboro on Sunday where Manning and Brady will face off for the 13^th time in their careers – 10 regular season games and 3 times in the playoffs.  And some of those meetings are legendary, as in the three playoff meetings where the winner of that game ultimately went on to win the Super Bowl.

The rivalry goes all the way back to Brady’s first start in 2001, when the Patriots faced the Colts.  Brady, a relatively unknown former sixth-round draft pick who just inherited the job after a Drew Bledsoe injury, was trying to make a name for himself against the established Manning.

“I went over there and he said, ‘Hey, I’m Peyton Manning,’” Brady recalled this week. “I was like ‘Of course. I know that.’”

But Brady made an impression quickly.  The Patriots won that game 44-13, while Manning threw 3 INTs in the loss.  The Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl that season, their first of three Super Bowls in four years.  The Patriots went through the Colts in the playoffs on their way to Super Bowl wins after the 2003 and 2004 seasons, winning 24-14 in 2003 and 20-3 in 2004.

Manning and the Colts finally got their Super Bowl win after the 2006 season, but they had to get past the Patriots in the AFC Championship game to do it.  That matchup was probably the most epic of their 12 meetings.  The Colts won 38-34 in a game that featured 5 scores in the fourth quarter, as the game see-sawed back and forth.  Ultimately, after the Patriots took the lead 34-31 late in the fourth, Manning led the Colts on an 80-yard drive in the final two and a half minutes for the win and his first Super Bowl appearance.

Given the history and the level of play of the two quarterbacks, this meeting is more than just another regular season game.

“Peyton’s been a big-time competitor. He wants to win, every throw he wants to be perfect, he wants to have the perfect play,” Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said this week. “It’s special to have someone on the team like that. We have one in Tom. This week, we get the chance to see two quarterbacks at that level that love to compete and hate to lose.

“It’s going to be a pretty good show.”

Even the always-understated Patriots head coach had something to say about it, as Bill Belichick said, “I’m not saying that I’m real excited about having to face him again.”

Manning’s father, NFL legend Archie Manning, commented on Peyton’s view of the game.  “My guess, looking at their schedule, is he could probably pick four or five teams he’d rather be playing than them,” Archie said laughing. “But I think he knows it’s been kind of a special thing through the years.”

Archie, who amassed a career record of 35-101-3 playing with the infamous New Orleans ‘Aints of the 1970s, commented on the lack of a similar rivalry in his playing days, saying, “We weren’t good enough to have rivals.”

“Right now, they’re probably both too focused and have too much to do to get ready to play a ballgame,” Archie said.  “One day both of them will look back on this and be proud of it. Just the fact they played in an era where they both had a lot of success in games that meant something, drew a lot of attention, the networks pushed it and people wrote about it.

“It’s really a credit to both of them.”