Sports Final: Huge Gap Between Brady & Manning
BOSTON (CBS) -- Here we go again, as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning-led teams will clash for a trip to the Super Bowl next weekend.
It's the 17th time the two quarterbacks will square off, with Brady owning an 11-5 edge of Manning and his Colts/Broncos. But Peyton has gotten the best of the Patriots in two of their three AFC title game matchups, winning each of the last two showdowns.
But Manning is no longer the Manning we once knew. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss and former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria joined Steve Burton on WBZ-TV's Sports Final on Sunday night to preview the upcoming AFC Championship Game, and Reiss said with Manning a shell of his former self, he's no longer the reason his teams win.
"[The Patriots are] the better team and it starts at quarterback. There is a huge gap right now between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning," said Reiss. "We're going to talk a lot about the two quarterbacks and this great history between them. It's a great story, and yes please, I want to see it again.
"But it's not the same Peyton Manning. It looks like he's getting by on veteran savvy," he added. "If you put the things around him and don't make mistakes you can win with him, but you're not going to win because of him."
Manning finished Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-of-37 for 222 yards and did not throw a touchdown. He's thrown just one touchdown (to eight interceptions) in Denver this season.
See the full AFC Championship game discuss in the video above. Reiss, Fauria and Burton also discuss the Carolina Panthers-Arizona Cardinals NFC Championship Game in the video below:
