The QB Battle That Defined An Era
When we last left it, the rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning was a somewhat one-sided affair. While Brady had already completed a dynasty, Manning had won only won title, and lost to Brady on eight of twelve occasions with Indianapolis. After Indianapolis decided to draft Andrew Luck, Manning joined Denver, bringing about the second act of this dual.
2012: Shared Disappointment
Manning ripped through the league in 2012, leading Denver to a 13-3 record and top seed in the playoffs. Brady wasn’t far behind at 12-4. In their regular season matchup, Touchdown Tom kept the train rolling, however, getting one of his most famous victories by overcoming a 24-point halftime deficit to beat Manning and Denver 34-31, in the only Brady-Manning tilt to go to overtime. Brady was electric, throwing for 344 yards and three touchdowns.
In the postseason, everything was set up for these two legends to battle for a Super Bowl berth once more, but both Brady and Manning were upset at home in the same playoffs, as Baltimore bested them both.
2013: Manning’s Broncos Beef Up
By 2013, Manning’s team had developed into an offensive powerhouse, while Brady and New England seemed to be at a pretty substantial talent deficit. Denver scored a league-record 606 points, taking the crown of best offense from Brady’s 18-1 2007 New England squad. Manning was dominant, throwing for a ridiculous 5,477 yards and a preposterous 55 touchdowns.
Brady dragged his team to the title game at Mile High, but Manning led his team to a 26-16 victory that brought him back to the Super Bowl. However, Denver would be crushed by Seattle in the title game, meaning both superstars had unfinished business.
2014: Brady Strikes Back
Once again Brady and Manning’s teams were the top two seeds in the playoffs, following a campaign that included a 43-21 Brady revenge win over Manning. There would be no conference title rematch, as Manning would lose to his former team in the divisional round. Brady went on to win his first Super Bowl in a decade.
2015: Manning Rides into Sunset, Brady Doubles Down
By 2015, it started to feel like all of the rivalry was coming to an end. Manning, still brilliant in so many ways, was dealing with injury. Indeed, Manning only managed to play nine regular season games, going 7-2, to help Denver to a 12-4 record. Defending champion New England followed suit at 12-4, once again putting Brady and Manning on course for a conference title battle.
And thankfully, this time, we got one last dance. In an enthralling battle, an early missed New England PAT proved significant. Manning threw for only 176 yards but kept Denver in front throughout, and threw two touchdowns to Owen Daniels, helping to eventually build an eight-point lead in the fourth. Brady pulled off a miraculous final drive, including a wild fourth-and-10 heave to Rob Gronkowski. The tight end caught a touchdown on the next fourth-down play, but the missed extra point from earlier meant that New England had to go for two to tie things up. Neutrals may have been upset that New England failed to convert, denying them of a Brady-Manning overtime for all the marbles, but in a way it provided a great ending to the story.
Manning would go on to get his second championship in the last football game of his legendary career. The close call against New England meant that despite Brady going 11-6 overall, Manning closed out the dual up 3-2 in postseason matchups. Brady, of course, would go on to unprecedented heights, winning three more rings after Manning retired, but this unprecedented rivalry will remain an essential piece of league history.
