Broncos – Patriots Matchup Features All-Star QBs

Four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos face the New England Patriots led by two-time NFL MVP Tom Brady on Sunday Night Football (8:30 PM ET, NBC) in Week 12. This marks the 14th meeting (including postseason) between the two All-Star quarterbacks. Brady owns a 9-4 career record against Manning.

 

“Manning versus Brady is as big as ever,” says NBC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels

 

Brady, who is in his 14th NFL campaign and Manning, who is a 16-year NFL veteran, rank among NFL elite at the quarterback position and continue to climb league record books.

 

Manning ranks second in NFL history with 163 wins, while Brady’s 143 wins are the fifth-most in league annals among starting quarterbacks. Only Brett Favre (186) has more wins than Manning, while Brady is gaining on Hall of Famers John Elway(148) and Dan Marino (147).

 

“What’s remarkable is that these two guys have been able to keep their teams on top, almost no matter what,” says NBC Sports analyst Cris Collinsworth. “All they do is keep on winning. That’s how great they are.”

 

This will mark only the second time in NFL history that two starting quarterbacks with 140+ career regular-season wins each meet in a game. The previous matchup featured Elway (147) of the Denver Broncos and Marino (141) of the Miami Dolphins on December 21, 1998.

 

“If you look at their careers and what they’ve done over time; the Super Bowls they’ve played in and won, their consistency each and every week – that is what separates them from the rest,” says CBS Sports’ NFL TODAY analyst Marino. “They always give their team a chance to win when they’re on the field.”

 

The quarterbacks with the best regular-season record in the Super Bowl era (minimum 100 starts) and the most regular-season wins as a starter in NFL history:

 

 

Manning and Brady also rank second and fifth respectively for the most touchdown passes in NFL history:

 

 

MVP PERSPECTIVE: Two-time NFL MVP and NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner provides the keys to success this season for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Tom Brady:

“Tom is one of those few quarterbacks that we say makes everyone around him better. He continues to lead, he continues to make plays and continues to find ways to win football games. It’s been the most impressive season up to this point of him being able to will his team to win.”

Peyton Manning:

“The biggest thing for Peyton is he’s comfortable in a system. It’s his second year in the system, they really developed it around the players that they have, and then you add another guy like Wes Welker to the mix. They have playmakers. Julius Thomas has come on the scene. We already knew how great Peyton was, now you add all of these weapons at his disposal. That just takes him to another level and that’s why we’re seeing such a great start by Peyton.”