Poll Tom Brady or Peyton Manning in their prime?

Kickoff between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship is inching closer and closer. “You’ve got arguably the two greatest players that ever played the position”.

What’s interesting about Sunday’s contest is that, in some ways, it resembles early Brady-Manning games. “So, that’s why they’re the best in the league”. “Guys who can intercept the ball, strip the ball from the quarterback, they’ve got rushers, they have linebackers who can cover, big, physical defensive front that makes it tough to run the ball. You want to watch Ali and Frazier, Bird and Magic, Brady and Manning”, said Tony Dungy, the coach of the Colts for Manning’s only Super Bowl win. We love the narrative, but the narrative is just a story. “It draws people, and it especially draws the casual people to the game”.

That wasn’t the only fundamental skill the Broncos worked on as they prepared for Sunday’s AFC championship game against New England.

Patriots 24, Broncos 13: Despite playing without several offensive starters in the first meeting, the Patriots held a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter before a muffed punt turned the game around.

At stake: a shot at history and sweet revenge. This, less than a year after the commissioner suspended him in the scandal over deflated footballs, a ban that was overturned in federal court last summer.

New England is 1-5 ATS both in their last six road games and last six AFC title games. The last trip was ugly – a 43-8 loss to Seattle two years ago.

Although the two are never on the field together, save for the pregame warmups and postgame handshakes, each is acutely aware of the other’s presence. I had to remind my friend Bob L’Heureux that he went to the game with me.

Meanwhile, Brady is the third-highest-paid player of all time, but he is still $82.0 million behind Manning who has played two more years and came out of college as a top draft pick. Aside from a tweet from Gronkowski (“Heard their whole team is good at giving low blows”), there was nothing but respect and praise coming from the Patriots this week. You’ve got a bunch of dudes over there that play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. Although, unless there is some kind of rule change, the only time Manning and Brady will be on the field at the same time there will be to shake each other’s hand. The Panthers have been proving almost everyone wrong all year long en route to a 16-1 record. He has as many Super Bowl rings as Trent Dilfer, let’s let that sink in.

Denver’s DeMarcus Ware declared, “The clash of the Titans is here again”. Even though Manning is a sure Hall of Famer I believe that he is the most overrated quarterback.

While Brady seemingly has many more chances for glory, Manning’s career is clearly at its sunset. The Pats are trying to reach the Super Bowl for the seventh time in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era.

There is possibly no better leader in the National Football League than Manning, and simply having him out there seems to have electrified the Broncos on both sides of the ball. “The only thing we need is to go out there and just get the job done”.