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In an October 2018 Monday Night Football game vs. the then-Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to to Tre’Quan Smith to surpass Peyton Manning’s then-record of 71,940 career passing yards to sit atop the NFL record books. Though they have both since been surpassed by the incomparable Tom Brady, Brees and Manning remain #2 and #3, respectively, all-time in both passing yards and touchdowns. No doubt two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, the duo were part of a golden era of passers and faced off against each other numerous times (including in the Super Bowl), so it is only natural to ask:
Who was better – Drew Brees or Peyton Manning?
The Beginning
While they were both prolific high school football players, expectations for Brees and Manning diverged greatly. On one hand, the undersized Brees was consistently overlooked despite putting up big numbers, while Manning was the prototype quarterback and excelled despite lofty expectations from a young age.
A native of Texas, Brees lettered in baseball, basketball, and football in high school; however, after injuring his knee as a high school junior, he was not highly recruited by college football programs, such as in-state Texas and Texas A&M, despite winning Texas High School 5A Most Valuable Offensive Player and leading his team to a state championship as a senior. Instead, after only getting offers from Purdue and Kentucky, Brees chose to attend Purdue and took over as the starting quarterback in his sophomore season, throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 39 touchdowns. During his prolific career with the Boilermakers, he was twice named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, twice finished top-four in Heisman Trophy voting, won the Maxwell Award as the country’s most outstanding player as a senior, set a slew of school, conference, and NCAA passing records, and led Purdue to both a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl appearance. Once again, however, Brees was overlooked by NFL teams despite his sterling accomplishments, as they expressed concerns about his size, arm strength, and ability to play in a pro-style offense. Ultimately, after trading the top overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons (used on quarterback Michael Vick) and using the fifth overall pick on running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the San Diego Chargers selected Brees 32nd overall in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. With wily veteran Doug Flutie entrenched as the team’s starting quarterback, Brees played sparingly in his rookie season, attempting a total of 27 passes.
In contrast, Manning grew up in Louisiana, the son of longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning and older brother of future NFL quarterback Eli Manning, and was earmarked for greatness at a young age. A three-year starter at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans (where he wore his signature #18 jersey in honor of older brother Cooper), Peyton earned Gatorade Circle of Champions National Player of the Year and Columbus (Ohio) Touchdown Club National Offensive Player of the Year honors as a high school senior and was recruited by nearly every major college program. Expected to follow in Archie’s footsteps at Ole Miss, Manning surprised many by committing to the University of Tennessee, where he backed up future MLB star Todd Helton as a freshman before becoming the full-time starting quarterback in his sophomore year. After sixth and eighth-place finishes for the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore and junior, respectively, Manning graduated in three years and was expected to be the top overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, but elected to return for his senior year. As a senior, he was a consensus First Team All-American and won the Maxwell, Davey O’Brien, and Johnny Unitas Awards; additionally, Manning was one of the Heisman favorites, but finished as runner-up to Charles Woodson of Michigan, who became the first and to-date, only primarily defensive player to win the award. Following a sterling college career that saw him set Tennessee records for passing yards and touchdowns and a then-Southeastern Conference (SEC) record for career wins, Manning was unsurprisingly selected first overall in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Sharing a backfield with future Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, Manning passed for 3,739 yards (56.7% completion percentage) with 26 touchdowns vs. 28 interceptions (71.2 QB rating) as a rookie, though the team only finished 3-13; nevertheless, he set a number of rookie passing records and made the All-Rookie Team (wide receiver Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings was Offensive Rookie of the Year).
Career Comparison
Across NFL careers spanning a pair of franchises and nearly two decades apiece, Brees and Manning would successively set new passing records while also leading their respective teams to the ultimate team prize, i.e. Super Bowl titles.
Upon taking over as the Chargers’ starting quarterback in his second season in 2002, Brees was average for his first few seasons, throwing roughly as many touchdowns as interceptions. However, in 2004, despite San Diego acquiring Philip Rivers in the draft to be its quarterback of the future, Brees earned the first of 13 Pro Bowl selections and won NFL Comeback Player of the Year by throwing for 3,159 yards on 65.5% passing with 27 touchdowns vs. only 7 interceptions for a 104.8 QB rating and an 11-4 starting record. As an encore, he passed for 3,576 yards (64.6% completion rate), 24 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions for an 89.2 QB rating and a 9-7 record in 2005; unfortunately, he also tore his labrum at the end of the season and required surgery. With fears that he would never be the same player, the Chargers offered him an incentive-laden deal, thus causing Brees to explore other options in free agency; after the Miami Dolphins passed on signing him and traded for Daunte Culpepper instead, Brees ultimately signed with New Orleans.
In hindsight, Brees joining the Saints turned out to be one of the best free agent signings in NFL history. In his first year in New Orleans in 2006, he completed 64.3% of his passes for a league-leading 4,418 yards with 26 touchdowns vs. 11 interceptions for a 96.2 QB rating and a 10-6 record to again make the Pro Bowl, earn First Team All-Pro honors for the only time in his career (surprisingly), and finish as MVP runner-up to former teammate Tomlinson. Moreover, this would mark the first of a dozen straight years with at least 4,000 passing yards, including 7x leading the league in passing yards and 4x as the league leader in touchdown passes. In 2008, Brees threw for a league-leading 5,069 yards and 34 touchdowns vs. 17 interceptions (again a 96.2 QB rating), thus becoming just the second quarterback to pass for 5,000 yards in a season (after Dan Marino in 1984); though the Saints were only 8-8, he was Offensive Player of the Year and a Second Team All-Pro. As an encore, Brees proceeded to set a then-NFL record with a 70.6% completion percentage, again leading the league with 34 touchdowns (vs. 11 interceptions) for 4,388 yards and a league-high 109.6 QB rating; this time, he finished as MVP runner-up to Manning and was once again Second Team All-Pro as New Orleans went 13-2 in games he started.
As the 2010s and his 30s rolled around, Brees continued his consistently great play. For the 2011 season, he set a single-season record with 5,476 yards on a record 71.2% completion rate with a league-high and career-best 46 touchdowns vs. 14 interceptions (110.6 QB rating) to lead the Saints to a 13-3 record, once again winning Offensive Player of the Year and finishing as MVP runner-up (to Aaron Rodgers) and a Second Team All-Pro. The next season, Brees once again passed for 5,000+ yards (5,177) and led the league in touchdown passes (43), though also threw a league-worst 19 interceptions as New Orleans only went 7-9. From 2014-2016, he paced the league in passing yards for three consecutive seasons (4,952 in 2014, 4,870 in 2015, and 5,208 in 2016), but the Saints were sub-.500 each season. Entering the twilight of his career, Brees would pass less as the Saints ran the ball more (his last 4,000-yard season was in 2017), but became arguably more efficient as he led the NFL in completion rate for three straight years from 2017-2019 and was 32-10 as a starter in that span. Most notably, Brees set a current NFL record with a 74.4% completion percentage in 2018, passing for 3,992 yards and 32 touchdowns vs. 5 interceptions (league-best 115.7 QB rating) and leading the Saints to a 13-2 record while once again being a Second Team All-Pro and finishing as MVP runner-up to Patrick Mahomes; though he never won an MVP, Brees was runner-up 4x, each time to a different winner. Finally, after 20 NFL seasons, including 15 in New Orleans, Brees retired in 2020 as the career leader in passing yards.
Meanwhile, as the Colts added offensive weapons around Manning (e.g. Edgerrin James at running back and Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne at wide receiver), he quickly ascended into one of the league’s top quarterbacks. In his second season in 1999, Manning completed 62.1% of his passes for 4,135 yards and 26 touchdowns vs. 15 interceptions for a 13-3 record and 90.7 QB rating, thus earning the first of 14 Pro Bowl selections, a Second Team All-Pro selection, and MVP runner-up to Kurt Warner. The next season, he was again a Second Team All-Pro with a league-leading 4,413 yards and 33 touchdowns against 15 interceptions on 62.5% passing, good for a 94.7 QB rating and 10-6 record. A couple of seasons later, Manning won his first MVP (shared with fellow quarterback Steve McNair) and was a First Team All-Pro by completing a league-best 67.0% of his passes for a league-leading 4,267 yards with 29 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions (99.0 QB rating) while leading the Colts to a 12-4 record. As an encore, Manning repeated as MVP and First Team All-Pro while winning Offensive Player of the Year in 2004 with 4,557 yards and a league-high 49 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions, good for a league-leading and career-best 121.1 QB rating and a 12-4 record; the 49 touchdown passes broke Marino’s then-record of 48 touchdown passes set in 1984.
Coming off two MVP seasons, Manning was again a First Team All-Pro in 2005 with 3,747 passing yards and 28 touchdowns (league-best 104.1 QB rating) and was MVP runner-up to Shaun Alexander while guiding Indianapolis to a 14-2 season. Outside of his rookie and final seasons, this was the only time in his career passing for less than 4,000 yards. However, he quickly bounced back with a league-best 31 touchdown passes in 2006, placing third for MVP. This was soon followed by consecutive MVPs (his third and fourth, respectively) and First Team All-Pro seasons in 2008 and 2009:
- 2008: 66.8% passing for 4,002 yards and 27 touchdowns vs. 12 interceptions (95.0 QB rating); 12-4 record
- 2009: 68.8% passing for 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns vs. 16 interceptions (99.9 QB rating); 14-2 record
After another outstanding season in 2010 (4,700 yard and 33 touchdowns), Manning underwent neck surgery ahead of the 2011 season and was forced to miss the entire season after never missing an NFL game up to that point; with the Colts getting the #1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and using it on generational quarterback Andrew Luck, Manning was released after 13 seasons in Indianapolis.
A highly sought-after free agent, Manning signed with the Denver Broncos and quickly rejuvenated his career. In 2012, he completed a league-best 68.6% of his passes for 4,659 yards and 37 touchdowns against 11 interceptions (105.8% QB rating), leading Denver to a 13-3 record and winning Comeback Player of the Year, earning First Team All-Pro honors, and finishing as MVP runner-up to Adrian Peterson. He was even better the next year – not only did Manning set an NFL record with 5,477 passing yards (surpassing Brees’ previous record by a single yard), but also broke his own record with 55 touchdowns (vs. 11 interceptions) to earn First Team All-Pro honors, win Offensive Player of the Year, and win a record fifth MVP. However, following a final Pro Bowl season in 2014 (4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns), Manning struggled through the 2015 season (only 9 touchdowns vs. 17 interceptions) before announcing his retirement at season’s end as the then-NFL career leader in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
All in all, Brees and Manning each excelled in the NFL for nearly two decades apiece with two different franchises. In addition to better cumulative statistics due to his longevity, Brees was a more accurate passer with a higher career QB rating; on a season-by-season basis, he also has the advantage in 5,000-yard seasons (5x vs. 1x) and 30-touchdown seasons (10 vs. 9), while Manning had more 4,000-yard seasons (14 to 12) with the same number of 40-touchdown campaigns (2x each). On a per-game basis, Brees averaged 280 passing yards with 1.99 touchdowns vs. 0.85 interceptions across 287 regular season games vs. 270 yards with 2.03 touchdowns vs. 0.94 interceptions in 266 regular season games for Manning. Meanwhile, on the awards front, Manning earned more Pro Bowl selections (14 vs. 13) and has a major advantage in both First Team All-Pro nods (7 to 1) and MVP awards (5 to 0); moreover, Manning’s teams achieved greater success with him at the helm, winning ~70% of their games vs. ~60% for Brees. As two of the winningest and most prolific passers in NFL history, Manning was not surprisingly a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2021 and Brees will no doubt join him when he first becomes eligible in 2026.
Regular Season Statistics
| Drew Brees | Player | Peyton Manning |
| 20 (2001-2020) | Seasons | 17 (1998-2015) |
| 287 | Games Played | 266 |
| 7,142 | Completions | 6,125 |
| 10,551 | Attempts | 9,380 |
| 80,358 | Passing Yards | 71,940 |
| 67.7% | Completion % | 65.3% |
| 571 | Passing Touchdowns | 539 |
| 243 | Interceptions | 251 |
| 98.7 | QB Rating | 96.5 |
| 172-114 (60.1%) | Starting QB Record | 186-79 (70.2%) |
| 13x | Pro Bowls | 14x |
| 1x | All-Pro | 7x |
| – | MVP | 5x |
| 1x | Super Bowls | 2x |
| 1x Walter Payton Man of the Year, 2x Offensive POY, 1x Bert Bell, Comeback Player, 1x Super Bowl MVP | Other Awards | 1x Walter Payton Man of the Year, 2x Offensive POY, 3x Bert Bell, Comeback Player |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | 2021 |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
More so than any other position in football, quarterbacks are judged by their postseason success – for both Brees and Manning, the two signal-callers struggled for many years to get over the proverbial “hump”, but were ultimately successful in guiding their respective teams to Super Bowl victories.
Though he consistently put up huge passing numbers, Brees was a bit hit-or-miss in terms of the postseason, making the playoffs 10x in his two decades in the NFL (all but once with the Saints). In addition to a handful of NFC Championship Game appearances, the highlight of Brees’ career was guiding the team to Super Bowl XLIV in 2009 – in a 31-17 victory over Manning and the Colts, Brees completed 32 of 39 attempts for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns to earn MVP honors and give New Orleans its first ever Super Bowl title. Infamously, the Saints also lost the 2018 NFC Championship Game in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams after a blatant pass interference no-call at the end of the game in the red zone that eventually led to a rules change.
Meanwhile, Manning had 15 postseason appearances during his career, 11 with the Colts and another four with the Broncos. After falling just short of the Super Bowl numerous times in Indianapolis, often thwarted by Tom Brady and the Patriots, Manning eventually made a total of four Super Bowl trips with two titles, split evenly between the Colts and Broncos:
- 2006: making his first appearance in Super Bowl XLI vs. Brian Urlacher and the Chicago Bears, Manning led the Colts to a 29-17 victory, completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards with a touchdown and an interception to take home the MVP
- 2009: in the aforementioned Super Bowl XLIV loss vs. Brees and the Saints, Manning was 31 of 45 for 333 yards with a touchdown and an interception
- 2013: in his record-setting season, Manning guided the Broncos to Super Bowl XLVIII vs. Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, but they were crushed 43-8; Manning was 34 of 49 for 280 yards with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions, though most of his yardage came when the game was well out of reach
- 2015: finally, in his last NFL season, the Broncos faced off in Super Bowl 50 vs. Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers; in more of a game manager role, Manning completed 13 of 23 passes for 141 yards with an interception in a 24-10 victory
Playoff Statistics
| Drew Brees | Player | Peyton Manning |
| 18 | Games Played | 27 |
| 481 | Completions | 649 |
| 721 | Attempts | 1,027 |
| 5,366 | Passing Yards | 7,339 |
| 66.7% | Completion % | 63.2% |
| 37 | Passing Touchdowns | 40 |
| 15 | Interceptions | 25 |
| 97.1 | QB Rating | 87.4 |
| 9-9 (50.0%) | Starting QB Record | 14-13 (51.9%) |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; though each quarterback suffered a serious injury at one point that led to changing teams, both Brees and Manning generally maintained a high level of play throughout their long careers. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams, of which Manning is part of for the 2000s Second Team), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Drew Brees | Player | Peyton Manning |
| 2006, 2008-2009, 2011-2017 | Decade of Dominance | 2003-2006 ,2008-2010, 2012-2014 |
| 158 | Games Played | 160 |
| 4,209 | Completions | 3,841 |
| 6,175 | Attempts | 5,717 |
| 49,054 | Passing Yards | 45,033 |
| 68.2% | Completion % | 67.2% |
| 347 | Passing Touchdowns | 361 |
| 135 | Interceptions | 120 |
| 101.6 | QB Rating | 103.2 |
| 94-64 (59.5%) | Starting QB Record | 124-36 (77.5%) |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Across their respective decades of dominance, which largely overlapped in the first two decades of the 21st century, Brees and Manning are relatively evenly matched – the former threw for more yards with better accuracy, while the latter had more touchdowns and fewer interceptions for a higher QB rating and a significantly better record.
My Thoughts
Together with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning formed a “core four” of elite quarterbacks who dominated the league with sustained excellence for much of the 2000s and 2010s decades. While Brady is unquestionably the greatest quarterback ever, Brees and Manning nevertheless each did it all during their careers, setting individual and career passing records, racking individual accolades, and most importantly, leading their teams to Super Bowl victories (two different franchises in Manning’s case). On one hand, Brees racked up the passing yards with pinpoint accuracy and is one of the most consequential free agent signings in NFL history, transforming the Saints franchise and leaving an indelible mark as the greatest player in franchise history. On the other hand, with his prototypical size and unmatched intelligence at the position, Manning was as close to a perfect quarterback as you could create; he exceeded all of the lofty expectations placed upon him due to his pedigree and is the unquestioned alpha of the Manning quarterback dynasty. Ultimately, with his five MVP awards and Super Bowl wins with two different franchises, Manning in my view stands a notch above Brees in the pantheon of greatest NFL quarterbacks ever.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Peyton Manning
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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