New England Patriots fans were in rare form Sunday, but they might have been at their loudest while chanting “Brady’s better” late in the second half, with their team holding a commanding lead over the Denver Broncos.
The debate between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will rage on years after both quarterbacks are retired and likely serving in front-office positions around the NFL, but on Sunday, those 68,756 fans crammed into Gillette Stadium were correct: Brady was better, and it had nothing to do with temperatures or wind, which could best be described as “football weather” in Foxboro, Mass.
It was close, though. Brady was 33-of-53 passing for 333 yards and four touchdowns with an interception (62.3 completion percentage, 6.3 yards per attempt, 97.4 passer rating). Manning completed 34 of 57 passes for 438 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions (59.6 completion percentage, 7.7 yards per attempt, 80.9 passer rating).
The score — 43-21 Patriots — was the most important stat, however, and Brady’s 11-5 record over Manning won’t tell the whole story of their head-to-head matchups, but it’s not as if either QB has ever had a terrible team around them. Historically, Brady has been better against his No. 1 foe.
Let’s dive a little deeper into both quarterbacks’ incompletions Sunday:
— Brady missed on 20 passes. Six — including his interception — can be categorized as his fault. Brady overthrew four receivers, chucked a pass behind Brandon LaFell and threw too high to Danny Amendola while being pressured, leading to a tipped pass and interception. (Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe touched that pass but didn’t appear to change the trajectory.)
— Patriots receivers dropped five of Brady’s passes (one by Jonas Gray, Julian Edelman and Shane Vereen, two by LaFell) and there was miscommunication between Brady and LaFell on another attempt. Brady was under pressure on five incompletions, the Broncos’ defense caused two missed attempts, and one pass was thrown away. Only 30 percent of Brady’s incompletions were caused by the Patriots quarterback, and his own team caused 11. Brady was sacked once and was under pressure 14 other times.
— Manning’s receivers dropped just three passes, and the Patriots’ defense did a tremendous job against Manning, forcing 11 incompletions. Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman forgot to turn around on one missed attempt and Manning was forced to throw the ball into the dirt while being pressured on one play.
— Manning was at fault on seven incompletions, overthrowing four receivers, under-throwing Emmanuel Sanders, throwing high to Wes Welker and failing to see Rob Ninkovich on an interception. Manning’s other pick was a drop by Welker. Only 30.4 percent of Manning’s incompletions were his fault, and his own team caused just 4 (though you wouldn’t know it by his frustrated looks in the direction of his fellow Broncos). Manning was sacked once and under pressure just 10 other times.
The argument that Manning has a greater offense around him held some water Sunday, but Brady’s Patriots obviously were the better overall team. Patriots cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner were so effective that they often forced Manning to throw into double coverage, leading to pass breakups by New England’s defense.
Manning was incorrect in his assessment that he “stunk” against the Patriots, but he wasn’t as good as Brady.
Photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
