Peyton vs Brady Round 17

Peyton Manning & Tom Brady 

There is nothing better than watching two Hall Of Fame Quarterbacks battle in a Championship Game. It's Round 17, we have to battle some fatigue, shake off a little bit of 'it's always Brady and Manning' weariness and step back to understand what we're watching. It's nice that the script is a little different this time. Tomorrow, we find out if Peyton can still hang with Brady or if Father Time has finally claimed him. It also helps that the stakes are to play in another Super Bowl. A 7th for Brady or a 4th for Peyton.

Even with all the hoop-la, it's difficult to put this rivlarly in perspective because it's been such an ingrained part of the NFL for 15 years now. I was a young NFL fan, facinated by the Cowboys/49ers matchups of the early and mid 90s. Even as someone who remembers the pre-Manning/Brady days, it's hard to think of the NFL without them. There are many who will watch tomorrow with no idea of how it will feel to look back on these two All-Time QBs and remember watching them play. The way I feel about those Aikman-Young battles, but this is super sized. 

This is the rivalry that Dan Marino and Joe Montana never had. The 500-TD man and the 4-time Super Bowl Captain battling every single year across 2 decades. They've held an entire Conference down since 2001. They have thrown for 144,635 yads and 1,060 TDs in regular seasons and 55 total playoff games, 6 against each other. These numbers are insane. 

I'm here to remind everyone to watch this game with an eye for the NFL history, that while the hype may be overblown it will fade away and the legacies that are on the line tomorrow are real. These are two players that are going to be remembered for a very long time. Tomorrow will be the last time we get to experience the thrill of the unknown in the Brady-Manning saga - the bounces, the drops, the hits and misses. It will be the last time these intertwined legacies directly effect each other, live on our TV.

Tom Brady has already surprassed Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the most successful QB of All-Time. Peyton Manning has already surprassed Brett Favre and Dan Marino as the Statistical King of NFL History. All that's left is to play against each other yet again in their 4th head-to-head AFC Championship. 

There may be another QB who stays elite long enough to challenge Peyton's records, and there may be another QB who goes to 6 or more Super Bowls, but these two hypothetical players most certainly will not play each other 17 times over 15 seasons. This Manning vs Brady stuff has been going on forever, but it won't happen again. I can't wait. 

-Miles