How Tom Brady Can Upstage Peyton Manning Again in Super Bowl 49

We have finally arrived to Super Bowl 49 weekend and whether you are a diehard football fan or just an average fan who only watches the Super Bowl, the excitement for this game is present nationwide. Super Bowl Sunday has become its own unique day and has taken the feel of a national holiday over the course of time.

This Sunday we will see one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game go after Super Bowl title number four. I am of course talking about Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady. Brady has already accomplished what only a handful of quarterbacks before him have done by winning three Super Bowls. If Brady is able to solve the mystery that is beating a vicious Seattle defense, then he will win Super Bowl number four and join a class of his own in modern day football.

Now, in today’s NFL the comparison is always made between Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning and Brady. In the two weeks leading up to this year’s Super Bowl and all of the possible storylines that will be covered, I thought of one that hasn’t been discussed and that is how Brady could once again upstage Manning.

I know you are probably thinking how Brady and Manning even can be related in discussions of this year’s Super Bowl, but look no further than to last year’s Super Bowl 48. We all remember the amazing 2013 season the Denver Broncos had led by NFL MVP Peyton Manning.

Manning threw for a record 55 touchdown passes, passing Brady’s record of 50 in 2007 and Manning also threw for 5,477 yards during his record breaking 2013 season. Manning led a Broncos’ offense that was NFL record breaking in total yardage, touchdowns and total points scored during the season.

It was a historic season offensively, but when the time came to cap it off with a championship, Manning and the Broncos folded under the pressure like few teams ever have. The Broncos lost 43-8 to the Seattle Seahawks in last year’s Super Bowl 48. It was a total embarrassment and one of the most disappointing Super Bowls ever.

Manning once against struggled in the big game and the loss dropped his Super Bowl record to 1-2. Manning gets praise like few other quarterbacks ever have, but if we take a realistic look at it he doesn’t deserve it.

Manning is 11-13 during his career in playoff games and that includes nine first round exits in the playoffs, those first round exits coming in either the Wild Card weekend or the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

As you think about that stat, realize Brady has been to nine, yes nine, AFC title games. So, how can Brady possibly burry Manning even further in the shadows of greatest quarterbacks?

Well, if Brady and the Patriots are somehow able to beat the Seahawks and defeat the same team that handed Manning’s record offense a 35 point loss it would make last year’s performance look even worse for Manning and the Broncos.

A Broncos’ offense that set basically ever record possible last year was held to eight total points and really put a black eye on Manning’s career. If Brady goes out and has a game for the ages and leads the Patriots to another Super Bowl title, it would and should elevate Brady’s status of being better than Manning even more in stone.

This is a storyline I felt hasn’t been covered nearly as much the past two weeks, mainly in part due to deflate gate. Manning and Brady will always be connected at the hip and Sunday, in its own odd way, will add to that comparison. It may not be your typical style of comparison, but it has to be something that is taken into consideration when comparing the two quarterbacks.

On the other hand, if the Seahawks happened to go out and embarrass the Patriots and make Brady look horrible like they did Manning, then the script would change on last year’s Super Bowl as well. It would turn last year’s loss into a more of a historic great Seattle Seahawks team, rather than a disappointing Manning and Broncos performance.

Super Bowl Sunday is literally hours away now and for Brady it could be another historic day. Arizona was the place where Brady lost his first ever Super Bowl following the 2007 season to the Giants. He will now look to turn those memories into new found dreams with a fourth career Super Bowl victory on Sunday afternoon. The time is almost here and for Brady and the Patriots’ faithful, the time can’t come soon enough.