Brady V. Manning: Where's the Edge?

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are facing off in the playoffs for the first time since 2007 today at Mile High.  The two have a storied history and will be going down as the best two quarterbacks in the current NFL era, and maybe of all time.  Who would you take in one game? Brady or Manning?  Here are a few categories and the quarterback who has the edge.

Playoff Record

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Brady: 18-7

Manning: 10-11

THE EDGE: BRADY

Peyton may go down as the best regular season quarterback of all-time, but Tom Brady may go down as "Mr. Clutch", when the stage gets big, Brady gets bigger, and so do his teammates. Well, except for Wes Welker

Playing In the Elements (BELOW FREEZING)

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Brady: 24-5 Record

Manning: 2-8 Record

THE EDGE: BRADY

Yes, Brady has had more opportunities to show off his talent in freezing cold weather, but he has a pretty damn good record in those games.  Manning's 2-8 is awful.  Playing in that dome in Indy for years hurt Peyton in this crucial playoff statistic.

All-Time Statistics

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Brady: 63.4% Completion Percentage, 359 Touchdowns, 95.7 Rating

Manning: 65.5% Completion Percentage,  491 Touchdowns, 97.2 Rating

THE EDGE: MANNING

This one is very close in every category except touchdowns.  Last time I checked, touchdowns win games.  Manning is a machine in the regular season.  Every time he plays your team, it's hard to be optimistic about a win. 

Head to Head

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Brady: 9 Wins, 23 TD's 12 INT's

Manning: 4 Wins, 27 TD's 19 INT's

THE EDGE: BRADY

Neither one of them play particularly well against each other.  The interception numbers are abnormally high for both.  I'm not sure if it's because of the stage, the expectation, or pressure, but they just don't perform extremely well against each other.  It doesn't mean the games aren't good, though. 

THE FINAL EDGE: BRADY

Take it for what it's worth. These are just numbers.  We all know that when Brady and Manning show down, anything can happen.  Comebacks, domination, and close games are never out of the realm of possibilities. Chances are, 3 hours after kickoff, you'll be mentally exhausted from the twists and turns in the Brady-Manning bowl.

Trey Frisbey

Boy Meets Sports 

1/19/2014

Twitter: @boymeetsports

With What We Know Now: NFL Playoff Predictions

This is the first post of my periodic installment on Boy Meets Sports called "With What We Know Now".  In this column, I will make future predictions on outcomes of games or seasons, based on recent developments in the sport.  Today, I will pick the playoff teams in each conference based on what we know now, but didn't know at the beginning of the season. The Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, and New England Patriots are some of the favorites to make it to New York this year.  Who will be playing in January? Who will be on vacation?  There are many bad teams in the AFC trying to get that sixth seed, but only one can take it.

AFC

1 seed- Denver Broncos

2 seed- New England Patriots

3 seed- Indianapolis Colts

4 seed- Cincinnati Bengals

5 seed- Kansas City Chiefs

6 seed- Baltimore Ravens

The first five in the AFC playoff race are locks, but that last spot is extremely difficult to predict.  I did some research and played around the playoff prediction machine and think the Ravens have the best shot at getting in.  They have a tougher schedule after this week against the Vikings, but they're the Ravens, they get hot and win.

Playoff Prediction Machine

NFC

1 seed- Seattle Seahawks

2 seed- New Orleans Saints

3 seed- Philadelphia Eagles

4 seed- Detroit Lions

5 seed- Carolina Panthers

6 seed- San Fransisco 49rs

The NFC isn't as jumbled as the AFC, but it is a much more competitive and talented league.  The 49rs are fighting for their playoff lives with four losses, while the Raiders are still technically alive with eight losses in the AFC.  The Saints will win the NFC South over the Panthers, but Cam will win enough games to get them into a wildcard.  The Lions are just lucky to be playing in the division they play in.