Peyton Manning's supporting cast?

by coxandreweric on Jan 23, 2012 9:01 PM EST

In light of Tom Brady's new Superbowl birth, a question arose in my mind. In the past few years, one of the measures by which Manning's greatness has been compared to Tom Brady's by their supporting casts. Several have claimed that Brady is greater than Manning because he always had nobodies to work with, while Peyton always had the greatest of supporting casts. Fast forward to this year. What ever happened to Manning's great "supporting cast?" No one had much to say about any of these guys that were so great. No one put up phenomenal numbers to that extent that people would say that Manning was a one man team. This assessment does not jibe with the earlier one. In fact, it seems like Manning has made that great supporting cast great only because of his own talent level. We didn't see that same thing when Brady was out for his season. Now, I don't want to try to compare Brady and Manning and ask who is better. I think it is a moot point, and completely useless to pursue. Both are so much greater than most of the other 30 quarterbacks that this fact in and of itself says more than is necessary. But did everyone forget that until recently critics were claiming that the other ten men on the field with Manning were far superior to Tom's ten confidants, thus, making Tom's play far superior and far more important than Peyton's? I think that assessment missed the mark significantly.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.

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What you mean he didn't have a supporting cast?

Do you not remember the greatness of Aaron Moorehead and Craphonso Thorpe?

Believe in Blue.
Marshall Manning, Colts QB, 2032-

by stonewall12345678 on Jan 23, 2012 9:08 PM EST reply actions 2 recs

Cast

I don’t think its even questionable now. Brady always had the better cast, shown by the fact the team went 11-5 without him and that he didn’t win a playoff game until now. Brady clearly needed a great supporting cast for the early SB runs.
Manning’s supporting cast was never as good as Brady’s. Manning essentially the same team that just went 2-14 to the SB a couple years back and almost won it.
I think its obvious now that Peyton’s had a terrible supporting cast in comparison with Brady.
By supporting class I mean both O and D. (the whole team in essence)

by indycolts21 on Jan 23, 2012 9:39 PM EST reply actions

It's so hard to compare based solely on Bradyless going 11-5 and Manningless going 2-14

You’re talking over a decade of different teams. Yes this year’s supporting cast obviously wasn’t very good but a part of that is due to our backup QB being horrid. Had we had Matt Cassel backing up Manning? This team maybe pulls off 3-5 more wins.

Say Manning gets injured on one of the teams that had Reggie/Marvin/Sanders/Freeney/Mathis/James all closer to their primes with a halfways decent backup QB. Now that’s a team that probably could have still made the playoffs.

Early in the decade I think it could be argued that Manning had a better offense as a whole with Dallas Clark, Reggie, Harrison, and Edge. During that same time Brady was throwing to some pretty poor recievers as I remember and didn’t have much at RB until Corey Dillon came. This of course all went out the window during the 18-1 season w/Moss and Welker as the primary WR.

However I don’t think anyone will argue against the fact that Brady has always had the better defense. Easily as a whole he has had better defenses especially when he won his titles.

This is just my recollection I’m not going back and looking at statistics, it’s just how I remember it. Brady didn’t have much of an offensive cast back in the title years but he definitely had better defense than Manning has ever had to help him.

If asked to choose I say Manning but more because I’m a Colts fan and not as much because I think he’s that much better than Brady. They both have amazing statistical numbers and amazing effects on the game. If Brady wins another title it won’t be as simple as saying well he’s ahead 4-1 on titles he must be better. It’s also not as simple as saying Colts when 2-14 sans Peyton and Pats went 11-5 sans Brady.

Peyton's good but have you ever heard of Jeff George?

by halfchest on Jan 24, 2012 1:03 AM EST reply actions

Cassell

You do have to keep in mind that Cassell hadn’t started a game since high school when he took over for Brady. It’s not like he was a great vateran or highly touted young backup. He played well within that system. Brady has become an incredible QB, but he was a system QB who played well under pressure when he won his rings. Manning has never been considered a system QB. He carries the team no matter who is out there. Garcon was a 6th rounder. Rammed looked like he was all-world last season. His cast is better, because he makes them better.

by PeytonTheManning on Jan 24, 2012 1:54 AM EST up reply actions

Exactly.

Please, just look at the YAC-stats for the Pats receivers this season. The way they (especially the TEs and Welker) are padding Brady’s stats is absolutely unheard of.

by Peter Storgaard on Jan 24, 2012 7:48 AM EST up reply actions

In all honesty...

I definitely think the coaching staff has much more to do than the supporting staff (aka plalyers)…Bellicheat has devised an ultimate scheme and system…Caldwell has devised a scheme to call time-outs at sporadic moments.

"No one's gonna take me alive
The time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our rights
You and I must fight to survive"

by Z.Pain on Jan 24, 2012 8:44 AM EST reply actions

Absolutly!

The SOLE reason the Colts looked so bad last year was not missing Manning(Although that DEFINATYL HURT) It was the fact the coaching staff and managment did NOYHING without him. Come on sign Collins out of retirement? Hell he was NEVER that good when he played. Favor done by Polian. And didn’t the Colts still have 5 Pro Bowl players on there rooster? Fact is they didn’t look that good at the end of the 2010 season and Peyton was playing. It all came down to the coaches and not knowing how to make udjustments! Which is why Polian and the COACHING staff are all gone!!!

by shoospa on Jan 24, 2012 9:27 AM EST up reply actions

I agree, the superiority of NE coaching

is probably just as big or bigger factor than on-field talent. Belicheat is a master at exploiting the weaknesses of his opponents and maximizing his strengths. He and his staff have been demonstrably flexible and innovative in their game-planning. A stark contrast to the Colts for the last 10 years.

by Wippersnapper on Jan 24, 2012 2:12 PM EST up reply actions