Brady can beat Manning….again

 

 

In 2013 Peyton Manning had the greatest regular season ever by a QB. He broke the single season passing record with 5,477 yards and the single season touchdown record with 55. Before 2013 Tom Brady’s 2007 season was the greatest ever by a QB as threw for 4,806 yards and 50 TDs.  That broke Peyton’s TD record of 49 and for 6 years stood as the best season as a QB. Now Brady has the chance to have the greatest season ever, beating Manning  again. Just like Manning, Brady is in the prime of his career. Brady is 36 compared to Manning’s 37 and has also missed an entire season due to injury. However unlike Manning, Brady has a great postseason record that didn’t involve beating Rex Grossman in the Super Bowl. Brady has the most career playoff wins while Manning has the most career playoff losses. Plus Brady has three rings, which is greater than Manning’s one.

Unlike Manning, Brady had a rough 2013 regular season. With no real receiving threats and without Gronk for most of the season, Brady threw a lame 25 touchdown passes and only threw for 4,343 yards. However that is no reason to be down on him. When Gronkowski was in the lineup, Brady threw 13 touchdown passes and passed for 2,205 yards in just seven games. Extrapolate that into a whole season and that equals 30 TD passes and 5,040 yards which is pretty good for having no other real receiving threats. Two of his starting receivers were rookies, another was injury prone, and the slot do-it-all RB Shane Vereen missed over half the season.

Now why the optimism? The 2014 draft is loaded with talent at the skill positions.

Also the schedule for the Patriots helps Brady out greatly. In 2014 the Patriots get to play the AFC West and NFC North as well as the Colts and Bengals plus the AFC East. Of those 16 games, eight come against teams in the bottom half in passing TDs allowed, and three of the five worst in Minnesota, Oakland and Green Bay. Further good news is one of the bottom half teams is Denver and Brady can lay the beatdown of the century against Manning. Last year Manning broke the single game TD record with seven in the season opener against Baltimore. I could see Brady doing one better by throwing eight touchdown passes against Denver in what is hopefully a Sunday Night game. Would be even better if that game was the one in which Brady broke Manning’s TD record.

Overall 2014 looks like a year where Brady can make some noise. 2013 was a disappointment as injuries wrecked the offense and Brady was throwing to scraps at the end. However that was a valuable learning experience for the Patriots as some young guys got some valuable playing experience like  Dobson. With LaGarrette Blount more than likely gone, the passing game will be the focus of 2014 as Vereen is more of a receiving back and Stevan Ridley is in the doghouse…again. This is good news for Brady as he can show why he is not done as some stated (and wished). Brady is mad about 2013 and will be on a rampage to show why he is not done yet and why he is in fact far better than Manning. I see Brady breaking all the records, going 19-0 (as long as they don’t play against those evil Giants) and hoisting the Lombardi trophy like a boss.