Super Bowl will determine how we'll look at 2 QBS
Win or lose Sunday, Tom Brady and Eli Manning will get more credit/blame for the outcome than they deserve.
In a quarterback-driven league, that's just the nature of the beast. And the bigger the game, the closer the scrutiny of the most important position on the field.
The winning signal-caller in Big Game No. 46 will cement his legacy among the best playoff quarterbacks since the first Super Bowl was played on Jan. 15, 1967.
A victory by Brady would give him 4 Super Bowl wins, tying him for No. 1 with the Steelers' Terry Bradshaw and the 49ers' Joe Montana, each of whom was 4-0. Brady was on the losing side four years ago after winning in his first three Super Bowl appearances. Even with a loss Sunday, Brady will go down as one of the league's best quarterbacks.
But with a victory, he would have to be included in any “greatest of all time” conversation.
Brady is 34 and, while there's no guarantee he'll get back to the Super Bowl, the odds appear to be in his favor. His regular-season performance certainly didn't show any signs of a drop-off in productivity. Only Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees had higher passer ratings than Brady's 105.6. And most of the Patriots' offensive weapons are still in their prime or still approaching it.
Manning has had far less playoff exposure than Brady, but then he's played four fewer seasons than the 12-year veteran from New England. Manning's got a long way to go. It's only in the past four seasons that Manning has put up better-than-average numbers and, as recently as 2010, he was intercepted 25 times.
However, a second victory over Brady and Bill Belichick's Patriots would put Peyton's little brother in elite company. Only five quarterbacks have won more than one Super Bowl without suffering a defeat. They are Bradshaw and Montana, Troy Aikman (3-0), Bart Starr (2-0) and Jim Plunkett (2-0). Peyton Manning is 1-1.
“I'm not worried about my legacy,” Eli Manning said in Indianapolis. “I'm worried about winning a championship for the New York Giants, for my teammates and my coaches. This is a team game. You play for your teammates and the players, coaches and organization that have helped you get here.”
It's true that football may be the ultimate team sport, but in the last 13 Super Bowls, the game's MVP has been a quarterback eight times, including the Mannings once each and Brady twice.
The Giants' Manning isn't any more anxious to discuss Brady's place in NFL history than he is to evaluate his own career.
“I'm not into making predictions,” he said. “It's not my job to list quarterbacks. He's obviously a future Hall of Famer. He's had a tremendous career. It's his fifth Super Bowl, so that's amazing. (But) this is a team game. (We) win or lose, based on how the team plays. Hopefully the Giants can be the better team on Sunday.”
Chances are the better team on Sunday will be the one that gets better play from its quarterback.
QBs with multiple Super Bowl victories
Terry Bradshaw 4-0
Joe Montana 4-0
Troy Aikman 3-0
Jim Plunkett 2-0
Bart Starr 2-0
Tom Brady 3-1
Bob Griese 2-1
Ben Roethlisberger 2-1
Roger Staubach 2-2
John Elway 2-3
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