Different Teams, Same Rivalry

Peyton Manning takes on Tom Brady for the first time as a member of the Denver Broncos

By Joseph Creighton

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Together, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have re-written the NFL history book. Each of their legacies will one day be defined by how they did versus each other.

This Sunday marked the first battle between the two with Peyton as a Denver Bronco. The rivalry continues to thrive despite the fact that Peyton is no longer with the Indianapolis Colts. They are two very elite quarterbacks, whose careers are a lot closer to the end than to the beginning.

Peyton Manning has returned to action this year after being out all year to injury last season. Brady certainly missed him as a competitor, as he reported in a conference call with Denver media.

"The league certainly missed him when he wasn't in there last year,” said Brady. "He's a phenomenal player, leader and quarterback, and it's great watching him play out there."

The bond that they share as NFL quarterbacks has certainly strengthened as their injuries have increased the similarities in their careers. Brady injured his knee in the first game of the 2008 season and missed the whole year. Brady knew what Manning was going through during the 2011-2012 season and clearly shared his compassion with Manning, as Peyton stated to the Denver Post.

He was supportive. He plays for another team and he reached out to me and said, 'Hey, anything I can do to help the rehab, miss seeing you out there.' When you're injured, and you're not out there playing, you kind of find out who's with you and who's not. Tom consistently throughout the season would check in with me. I appreciated that. It says a lot."

All nice guy acts aside, they faced each other for the first time Sunday in Week 5 as the 2-2 Denver Broncos faced the 2-2 New England Patriots. This game would be a defining point in each team’s season and would renew the old rivalry between the quarterback heir, Manning and the California kid, Brady.

The game started off in blowout fashion with the Patriots taking a 31-7 lead. Manning and the Broncos would not go down without a fight. The Broncos scored 14 unanswered points to cut the lead to 10. They would ultimately lose 31-21 after several key mistakes by Denver running back, Willis McGahee.

Brady and Manning both finished with nice games and got their top receiver involved in the passing attack nicely. Brady finished 23-31 for 223 yards and one touchdown and also ran for another and Manning ended the game 31-44 for 345 yards and three touchdown passes.  This classic matchup between two future hall of famers would end with a Brady victory to improve his record against Manning to 9-4.

In spite of the loss, a lot of positives can be taken from this game for the Broncos. Manning is forming a great bond with wide receiver; Demaryius Thomas who had nine catches for 188 yards.  The defense was able to get great pressure on Brady, sacking him a total of four times and they forced a Stevan Ridley fumble. Denver showed a lot of resiliency in this game. The contest went far beyond the Brady-Manning matchup and proved that Denver can be competitive, even against elite teams like the Patriots.