Regardless who I am a fan of, I used to believe that Manning was the better commander. I felt he knew the offense inside and out and put his players in position to make plays.
I felt Brady benefitted from having the better defense and while he did go to 3 SBs it wasnt all him.
I was wrong. Brady's receivers were nothing more than 3rd and 4th line WR's that HE made better. Reche Caldwell? David Patten? Jabar Gaffney? Deon Branch? Those were his best WRs and they stink without him.
The last time I saw Indy they still had Reggie Wayne a top notch WR.
The comment about playing with guys is wrong. Before this year Brady only played with Gafney and that was for half a season.
The Pats have been clicking all season long with new guys.
Maybe Peyton should do less commercials and practice a little more.
I'll give you Caldwell - that guy is a mess and lost you the AFC Championship last year (so Brady didn't actually make him better, did he?).
David Patten is on pace for about the same amount of yards with NO this year that he had in his two best years with NE, so he's not any worse off without Brady.
Gaffney is still with the Pats and is making some pretty big plays for them - at least in the games I've seen - although he's obviously not the #1 option like he was last year.
Branch is still a good receiver in Seattle - he's just been hurt more than he's been healthy since he's been there.
So, of the four guys you mentioned, I don't see that Brady made a difference to any of them. Caldwell stunk with Brady AND without him, Gaffney is still there and the other two have had comparable production away from Brady.
And I wasn't talking about the "new guys" the Patriots have. You missed my point. For one thing, those guys are actually good, as opposed to the guys (apart from Reggie Wayne) that Peyton has had to work with at times this year. For another, my main point was that Peyton didn't practice with those guys on the first team from the beginning of the year- he probably never planned on completing a pass to Craphonso Thorpe during this season.... Brady did get to try out his new toys from day one of training camp, so that has nothing to do with what I was saying.
As far as being the better commander and knowing the offense inside and out... Manning runs the entire offense from the field during the game, with no huddle AND no wristband. Need I say more?
Again, I'm not going to tell you Manning is better than Brady - I think it's a fun debate. I just have a problem with you saying that this year is definitive proof the other way...
