August 20, 2012

Who is the Better of the Brothers Manning?

By - Kyle Malinowski

When you judge the brothers Manning for QB excellence, who is the better quarterback?

Photo from: nflrush.com
Far and away Peyton would probably be the one most people choose. However, even though it kills me to say this, Eli actually has a right to make his claim as the best quarterbacking Manning brother.

In my opinion, Peyton and Eli are the exact opposite in terms of their career trajectories and perception to the general public.

Peyton is arguably the best regular season QB of all-time, with several 13-plus win seasons under his belt and records galore.

But as good as Peyton's regular season exploits have been, his postseason performances have left much to be desired. His only Super Bowl win coming against the Rex Grossman led Chicago Bears doesn't exactly lend itself to being considered an impressive Super Bowl victory.

On the other hand, Eli Manning's regular season efforts look quite average when compared side-by-side with Peyton's, considering he has missed the playoffs more than once, and rarely do the Giants finish the regular season clearly being in the playoffs -- instead they usually get in by the skin of their teeth.

But when you look at Eli's postseason exploits, they blow Peyton's out of the water.

In both of his Super Bowl runs Eli beat the New England Patriots -- led by future Hall of Fame QB Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick, which are clearly better victories than one win over Rex Grossman and Lovie Smith. To get to the Super Bowl, Eli also had to win on the road against a plethora of good teams, such as the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers.

So which Manning brother is the better QB? Peyton, the record holding, regular season dominating one -- or Eli, the average regular season, amazing postseason one?

Basically what it boils down to is, are records and total wins more important, or is performing in the clutch and winning more Super Bowls the real definition of what makes a better QB?

I'll leave my opinion out of this article, because as a Patriots fan, I would love to see Eli floating in the Hudson River. Just kidding. I would never wish death upon anyone, but boy does he task me to the point that I want to pull my hair out watching his lucky exploits unfold in crunch time.

If Peyton wins in Denver, I believe he will most likely go down in history as the better Manning brother. But if it stays the status quo and Eli even wins another one, the little Manning might just take the throne in the first family of professional football.

Let the debate begin.

6 comments:

  1. This isn't as cut and dry as most people think. No doubt Peyton is one of the best of all time, but he's struggled more often than not in the playoffs. Eli on the other hand excels in the playoffs and has 2 Super Bowls wins to Peyton's 1. Since ultimately what determines greatness is championships, it's hard not to go with Eli here. As of right now anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you have to go with Peyton. Granted he's strugggled in the playoffs in the past, but a lot of those times it was against New England, and there's really no shame in losing to Brady & company.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peyton of course.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a joke right? Eli lucked out in two Super Bowls while Peyton is an all time great. No contest.

    ReplyDelete