Am gonna' throw a "bone" here, under this microscope...
4 an analysis, not yet as simply portrayed...

Has nothing to do with their teams, initially, ---but rather
with their backgrounds, which allowed them to be NFL
(high-quality) QB's, to begin with...

PManning has the pedigree, & the destiny, & superior
numbers, in comparison... His father, Archie, took & led
a no-nothing New Orleans team, leading it into the type
of team worthy of watching, & media attention when the
team needed a quality QB, more than anything...

His brother Eli also had the similar experience growing
up in NFL clubhouses, just as Peyton... Giving such an
advantage of true & broad NFL experiences is the thing
that TBrady did not have...

The arguments & contentions here have merit... TBrady
has had advantages that PManing did not have... He'd
lead a team like the Pats, like no other QB in their past,
& had a more rounded quality defense, & advantages,
that come with playing half their seasons games in the
good state of Massachusetts... A far different climate in
comparison to the Indianapolis area...

Always a coin-toss of an argument... Both QB's can do
no wrong, for any team they play with... Depends on the
day, the week, the month, & the year, whenever they do
match-up against each other... Always AFC super games
& always worth watching... The coin lands on the edge, &
never flattens out, as heads-or-tails...

Posted by Jtpsops on 12/2/2013 1:16:00 PM (view original):
Manning has made 20 playoff starts - he's had 3-4 bad ones. The rest have been average at worst.

People never seem to want to look at the defenses. The early 2000s Pats defenses and the Ravens defenses since Flacco arrived have been far better than anything Manning ever had in Indy.

true enough but a big reason for that was all the dollars the Colts spent on Manning and his offensive skill players (James, Harrison, Wayne, etc.).  Indy by design went all offense which isn't Manning's fault, but at the same time he didn't have to sign the massive contracts either.  He could have taken less like Brady did. 

Of course in Denver last year they had a very strong defense and lost in their first playoff game, in large part because the Manning led offense was just not very good.  If not for the two Holiday returns Denver is never really in that game.

That goes both ways. If not for a boneheaded play that 99% of DBs make, that game is over.

Remember that wins and losses aren't all on the quarterback.  He has the most say, but anyone who looks at Joe Flacco as "clutch" and "a winner" isn't thinking right. 

Posted by burnsy483 on 12/5/2013 10:39:00 AM (view original):
Remember that wins and losses aren't all on the quarterback.  He has the most say, but anyone who looks at Joe Flacco as "clutch" and "a winner" isn't thinking right. 

Flacco may not win very many playoff games (though he had a few last year), he also doesn't lose you playoff games all that much either.  He has been just good enough for the most part, and the last 3 years he has been pretty darn good in the playoffs.  It doesn't matter how good your defense is, if your QB is bad you aren't going to win at least one playoff game every year for the last five years.  And frankly the Baltimore defense during that stretch is nothing like it was when Trent Dilfer led them to their first Superbowl victory.  It has been a very good defense no doubt, but far from all time great.  It also isn't like Flacco has had this great rushing attack or great WR's and TE's either.  He has had good receivers and good rushing attacks, but far from elite, especially the last couple of years.  This year they are downright awful aside from Smith and Baltimore would still make the playoffs as the 6th seed if the season ended today.

Watched a decent amount of Flacco last year, and I saw a lot of "throw the ball in Boldin's direction and he'll catch it."  He doesn't have that guy this year, and it's showing.

Flacco had a great run last year; he elevated his game in the playoffs.  But I'd prefer Manning and 5-10 other guys over Flacco in a game I need to win.  

Flacco is the best bad QB ever. QBs are ALWAYS taught to protect the ball under pressure - either take the sack or throw it away. Flacco ALWAYS panics under pressure and lobs the ball up down field. He got away with it a lot last season - his receivers went up and got those balls for him. Hasn't been happening as much this year. Even against the Jets, he got lucky - one lob dropped by the DB, another just through the DBs hands and caught by the TE.

He's a good athlete, but a HORRIBLE decision maker.

According to ESPN Flacco since the start of October is by far the best QB in the last 5 minutes of games and is a top 3 QB overall in the 4th quarter for the season (just behind Luck and Manning).

espn.go.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/4528/joe-flacco-among-nfls-most-clutch-qbs

Yes, but do they account for the fact that he's usually a big part of the reason those clutch performances are necessary?

Everyone is talking about the final minutes against Minnesota last week, but how about the fact that Flacco had 3 picks against a crappy team that made that last minute comeback a necessity?

Manning, obviously.   Most TD in a season with a weakass arm. 

He should put the yardage record far out of reach.

No point. I'm sure it'll be broken again, but no reason to risk him getting hurt in a 31-0 game.

If Manning throws a pass in the 2nd half, Oakland should bury him on that play.