The Great Quarterback Debate: Peyton Manning By Jared Beck

Super Bowl XLI is over even though ESPN continues to cover it like it's "news," and the hot-button topic of debate now is whether or not Peyton Manning's victory over the Chicago Bears has earned him the title of the greatest quarterback in NFL history. As a responsible reporter and a columnist with my two-cents to chip in, I decided that maybe I should tackle this debate head-on, ending it once and for all.

Manning's statistics are seemingly incomprehensible for only having been in the league nine years. Drafted in 1998 from the University of Tennessee, everyone knew that Manning had the capability of throwing out huge numbers -- and he delivered.

His first season in the league he threw for over 3,700 yards and 26 touchdowns -- but he also completed 28 passes to the other team. Only once since his rookie season did he throw for more than 20 interceptions (2001), and let's not forget about his most memorable season (2004) when he broke the passing touchdowns record established by Dan Marino. He finished that season with 49 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions, earning an almost unthinkable quarterback rating of 121. Insane!

But, Peyton has his critics. He has been in the league nine years, starting all 16 games every season, and is currently 13th on the all-time passing yardage list, ahead of such greats as Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Len Dawson, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Namath -- all of whom have bronze busts resting in the halls of Canton, Ohio. One begins to ask oneself how this could possibly have happened? Is Peyton Manning really the next big thing or is he simply a beneficiary of playing in a pass-happy offense and profiting from having future Hall of Fame receiver Marvin Harrison who was in Indianapolis two years before Peyton?

Many consider Joe Montana to be the greatest quarterback of all time. His mix of winning (four Super Bowls, three Super Bowl MVPs, two regular-season MVP's) and stats (ninth all time in passing yards, eighth in passing touchdowns, eighth in passing completions) is what many point to as proof of his greatness, as well as his multitude of game-winning drives and coolness under pressure. Let's stack him up next to Peyton Manning: Manning has two more touchdown passes than Montana (275 to 273), they have identical interception totals (139), but Montana has 2,695 more passing yards, 501 more passing attempts, and 278 more passing completions.

That does not seem like much, and no doubt Peyton Manning will surpass those numbers by the end of the 2007 season. The thing is, Joe Montana played in the league for 15 seasons, leading Peyton by 6. Everybody knows that Montana executed Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, relying on dink-and-dunk passes to set up the big one, to perfection, but Peyton has almost matched his numbers in 3/5 less of the time. Peyton averages 543 attempts a season, while poor Joe only averaged 359.

So, are Peyton's numbers really just inflated because of the offense that he runs or because he is the greatest? Manning's stats ought to be up there with some of the all-time greats like Marino, Favre, Elway, Tarkenton, and Moon, but does that necessarily qualify him for the title of greatest quarterback of all time? As I said, many pundits consider Joe Montana to be the greatest quarterback, even though Dan Marino's statistics nearly lapped Joe's (20,000 more yards and 147 more touchdown passes). Since different things are asked of different quarterbacks on different teams, affecting negatively or positively the impact of their statistics. What does it take to be the "greatest?"

If it's not the stats, then it has to be the results. Montana's winning ways are what separate him from most quarterbacks. Results are what ultimately throws the likes of Bradshaw or Namath into the discussion (their stats are behind even the more obscure quarterbacks in the history of the NFL). Manning has proven to be a winner during the regular season, but, until this year, it's taken numerous trips to the playoffs and frequent early-exits before he could even play in a Super Bowl, let alone hoist the Lombardi trophy.

Many say that his accomplishments this year fill that gap in his resume, while some believe that he was just lucky this year: his post-season performances were less than stellar. He didn't have to go through the Chargers in San Diego to make it to the Super Bowl, and he only had to beat the lowly Bears to win the ring. Still, he has a ring, something that Marino could never gain.

But oh the debate! Based on winning, how could you even say that Manning is the greatest quarterback in the league right now? Tom Brady, the stud quarterback of the New England Patriots, has been winning since he's been starting: three Super Bowls in four years with a less star-studded cast than Peyton and a 22-game win streak (including playoffs), and, until his loss to Peyton, a 12-0 record in the post-season. On top of that, Brady has led comebacks to win two Super Bowls and come up clutch in numerous other games, including ending many of Peyton's finest years by knocking the Colts out of the playoffs. Brady has never had that one go-to receiver during his career either, let alone a great #2; Peyton had Marvin Harrison, a future Hall-of-Famer in his own right, and Reggie Wayne, making the Pro Bowl this year and most likely more in the future. If it comes down to winning, Peyton plays second-fiddle to Brady right now, and in the end they both play second-fiddle to Bradshaw and Montana.

Peyton Manning is surely a great quarterback and has years left in him to further make his case as the greatest quarterback. At the moment, however, he has hurdles to jump before he can earn that crown, and, even if he does, some people may never truly give him the credit he deserves. For this humble man, Peyton is cool, but not ice-cold.