Is Peyton Manning the BEST EVER?

Question

Watching Manning go 16 for 17 the other day it occured to me that I'm watching the BEST QB in the history of sports.
They used to say: HE Hasn't won a Super Bowl....now that excuse is gone...notice they never said that about Marino who never won a SB.
I';ve seen the following QB play: Montana, Marino, Unitas, Elway, Bradshaw, Greise, Kenny Anderson, Kenny Stabler,
Tom Brady and on & on

NON of these outstanding QB's come close to the talent of Peyton Manning.

Manning is in a category all by himself....he has redefined the postion.

I agree with Madden last year when he said: Manning is the BEST he has ever seen.



tell me why I'm wrong

Answer 1

I have said he is on track to be the best ever since 2004.
However, he is not there yet. There is little doubt he will reach it in time though!

Assuming his career is not shortened by injury:
1) He will hold every significant career passing record
2) He will have been part of 2 or 3 championship teams
3) He will have won 3, possibly 4, league MVP awards
4) He will have played in at least 10 Pro Bowls

4000 yards has only been achieved 36 times in the history of the NFL. 7 of those times were by Peyton Manning. He has missed 4000 twice, once as a rookie and once in a season he played only 14 games.

He calls all of the plays of a very successful offense
He has NEVER missed an NFL start
He holds the all time record for touchdowns in a season

Answer 2

I realize this is just an opinion, I mean how do you actually quantify the best qb? I will say I don't consider him the best ever, I can't for one minute say he doesn't belong in the conversation. He's a great qb, and he has a greater control of his offensive system than anyone since Unitas. Yes that includes Montana, who didn't call his own plays. To say, that Manning redefined the position is absurd. Brady won 10 straight post season games. W and L defines the postion. Brady is also has the best TD to INT ratio in the post season and the lowest overall INT % in the post season. Those numbers alone put Brady in the conversation with Manning. And he never even had the talent around him that even Marino had. And you have a pretty short memory if you don't remember the Superbowl being held against Marino and Elway in the 80s and 90s. That was why Montana was considered better than either of them, even though both of their numbers were superior. Your wrong, because theres no such thing as one absolute best qb ever. Its far too subjective a topic. You're wrong because He's still a dropped wide open td by reche Caldwell away from still having never beaten Brady and you're wrong because he's spent his entire career with arguably the most talented offense in the history of the league, which makes his numbers a little easier to achieve. I won't say he's definitely not but you can't say he definitely is....he's one of the qbs who belongs in the conversation. Now that Brady has eqivalent tools ( for the first time) I think you're going to see how good he really is and thats going to change a lot.

Was that 16-17 against the Lions in the preseason? You can even use that as a throw in for your arguement. The Lions are the worst franchise in proffesional sports.

Answer 3

He is great, no question but he's not better than Marino, Elway, Unitas, Brady or Montana. Marino was close to a one man show who never had a D and never had quality skill position players around him. Favre has done more with less than Manning I mean he made #1 WR's out of Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman. Elway was more clutch than Manning. And if you had to win a big game I would take Montana and Brady over anyone else who has ever played. This isn't hating on Manning by any means he certainly deserves to be considered with the other top QB's of all time but to say he was more talented that Elway or Marino is inaccurate.

Answer 4

Peyton Manning is the best quaterback in the NFL right now but to go a say he is the best ever.......to soon!!!!

He is no way in the same league as Montana, Marino, Unitas, Elway, Bradshaw, Greise, Kenny Anderson, Kenny Stabler, Bart Starr, Otto Gram, Len Dwason, Joe Namath, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach......

I qoute the "Tuna" dont put him in Canton just yet

Manning has alot of work to do before he is known as the Best Ever

Here is the list of QB's in the Hall of Fame as of today:

Troy Aikman 1989-2000
George Blanda (Also PK) 1949-1958, 1960-1975
Terry Bradshaw 1970-1983
Len Dawson 1957-1975
John Elway 1983-1998
Dan Fouts 1973-1987
Otto Graham 1946-1955
Bob Griese 1967-1980
Sonny Jurgensen 1957-1974
Jim Kelly 1986-1996
Bobby Layne 1948-1962
Dan Marino 1983-1999
Joe Montana 1979-1994
Warren Moon 1984-2000
Joe Namath 1965-1977
Bart Starr 1956-1971
Roger Staubach 1969-1979
Fran Tarkenton 1961-1978
Y.A. Tittle 1948-1964
Johnny Unitas 1956-1973
Norm Van Brocklin 1949-1960
Bob Waterfield 1945-1952
Steve Young 1985-1999

Answer 5

nah, not the best ever. He's pretty freakin good no doubt. But there are other QBs before him that didnt have half the talent that he has at WR/RB. They were some talented QBs...not to forget: Elway, Marino (despite not winning a Super Bowl, Montana, Aikman, Theisman and more than a few that i'm missing.

Manning is one of better QBs that i've seen in the past several years...but the Best Ever. Nah i think not.

Answer 6

The answer to your question is 'Yes' and 'No'.

All the Manning haters are right in that Peyton is not the best QB ever, yet. We are watching him in the prime of his career. He has not had the time to achieve the lifetime stats yet.

However, watching Peyton now you have to admit that barring any injury you are watching the best QB ever. He is arguably the smartest QB ever. No one runs a complicated offense as well as he does.

When you watch him now you have to think about it like when you were watching Jordan in the middle of his career. Everyone knew they were watching the best basketball player ever.

The same with Tiger. We know he is the best golfer ever and it is only a matter of time before he passes the Golden Bear in majors wins.

Peyton will be the best ever and I bet in a few seasons there will be little left to argue.

BTW, never quote Madden. He is a shell of his former self. Between the booze and the turducken his brain has taken a beating. He was a great football mind 25 years ago.

Answer 7

First of all, to be able to watch from Unitas to Manning, you'd have to be atleast 50 to remember it vividly and I doubt many elderly people come on this site.

Secondly he isn't the best because...well for one his careers not even over yet. Sure he LOOKS like he's on his way to break records and such, but to compare him to the likes of Favre, Montana and Unitas is just crazy right now.

Thirdly, he's NEVER had a bad supporting cast around him. When he entered the league he had a great offensive line including Tarik Glenn, Marcus Pollard and Marvin Harrsion already at his disposal. The next year they draft Edgerrin James. 2 years later they bring in Brandon Stokley and and draft Reggie Wayne. Then in 2002 they draft Dallas Clark. Hmm...lets ee, an All Pro offense around him for the last 10 years, no wonder he's set records. Sure he has arguably more talent than any other QB in the league, but when you have THAT kind of talent around you, it's basically like watching Montana and his boatload of surrounding talent again. Guys like Favre and Elway deserve to be mentioned as possible best QB of all time because they never had that consistency of talent around him, yet Elway took the Broncos to 5 superbowls and Favre is on the verge of breaking almost all of Marino's records and become the winningest QB ever.

So not to say to our crazy....but you are. Manning is the best in league and one of the best ever, there's no doubt in that. But to put him in THAT elite class with THOSE quarterbacks, no way.

Answer 8

There's really no question that Peyton Manning is NOT the best quarterback ever...in fact he's not in the discussion yet...and if you never heard anybody say "he hasn't won a Super Bowl" about Marino, then I question whether you watch much football...

I'm not saying the potential's not there. I'm just saying Peyton is definitely NOT Montana, Bradshaw, Starr, Staubach or even Aikman yet.

Answer 9

Peyton is indeed one of the greats...but the best ever, simply comes down to personal opinion.

There have been numerous greats, many of which can be given credit as the greatest of all time...but for my eyes, I have to give that crown to Troy Aikman!!!

Again, this is all about personal opinion.

Aikman was one of, if not the greatest Field General the game has ever seen. He was so efficient he made it look easy. He knew where everyone was suppose to be at ever moment of the game and he made sure that each player was focused on executing their portion of the game.

He was and is perhaps the most loyal player of the modern era. Not only to his organization, the Cowboys, but to a man, each of the players he played with. His support of HOF Micheal Irvin during his off field troubles, demonstrated true leadership and team loyalty, without compromising his stature in the community.

Sure Peyton is a great one...but again, my preference would be for Troy Aikman as my QB before I took any other in the history of the game.

Answer 10

You're wrong because how can Manning be considered the best ever.. if he never played in "the greatest game EVER played"?????

Unitas is waaaayyyy better. That game played in December of 1958 proved that football is based on inches, heart and drive. The best part of the game was in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.

The last two minutes of that game has taken almost all of Peyton's career.. and he still hasn't come close to that type of glory. Im not denying that he is a good QB; it's just way too early to say best ever. Besides, one SB to the Indianapolis Colts does not warrant him to be the best ever. When the Colts played in Baltimore, they actually had more SB wins.