Peyton Manning lost to Tom Brady earlier this season, but he was at least able to exact some revenge on Sunday.
Manning threw four touchdown passes in Houston on Sunday, capping off his historic season by hitting on his 50th and 51st touchdown passes of the year and breaking Brady’s single-season touchdown record. Although, it wasn’t as much breaking a record for Manning as it was reclaiming it.
Manning held the single-season record for four seasons, connecting on 49 during the 2004 season with the Colts, before Brady surpassed him with 50 scores during the Patriots’ historic 16-0 season in 2007. The Broncos quarterback finally retook his throne on Sunday, but, while he is proud of the accomplishment, he doesn’t exactly expect it to last — not with Brady still slinging it the way he is in New England.
“I will enjoy it while it lasts. I’m such a fan of the game, a student of the history of the game. So obviously this is a big thing for me,” Manning told TheMMQB.com’s Peter King. “But personally, I feel all these passing records are going to fall. Brady will probably break this next year.”
Even if not Brady, Manning still expects that his record won’t stand for long, especially considering the evolution of offenses in college and the pros.
“And you look at the colleges spreading the field and throwing it all over the place, and you see that style being played in the NFL now, and you’re going to see numbers like this happen a lot,” Manning added.
While Manning seems to have a point about the future of offenses and the potential of his record being broken, he still stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition this season. It’s unlikely any quarterback even comes within 10 of Manning’s 51 this season, as the next closest quarterback on the touchdown list this year is Drew Brees, who has thrown just 35. Meanwhile Brady is 10th on the list this season, having thrown 24, which would be his lowest total in a single season since he tossed the same numbers in 2006.
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