Pick your Manning. Peyton or Eli?
The most famous and successful quarterbacking brothers in NFL history will face each other for the third time in their careers Sunday when Peyton and the Broncos play Eli and the Giants at MetLife Stadium in what could ver𒉰y well be the final “Manning Bowl.’’
So, who’s better? Who would you rather have?
Peyton has the gaudy record-setting statistics on the back of his football card, but Eli has two Super Bow✱l rings to Peyton’s one.
Peyton has four NFL Most Valua♊ble Player awards, but Eli has two Super Bowl MVPs.
Peyton has more nationalဣ commercial appeal and is recognized everywhere he goes while Eli is so bland he blends anonymously꧅ into the booths in almost every restaurant he dines.
Peyto🎀n was a far more hilarious “Saturday Night Live” host than Eli.
And statisticall🐲y, there is little comparison between the two. Peyton’s remarkable career statistics alone are enoug𝓡h to make him a lock as a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee even had he not made a single Super Bowl appearance, let alone win one. Eli, without his two Super Bowl wins, would not even be a consideration for Canton.
Peyton has played in 225 games, has a 155-70 won-loss record, h🍸as completed 5,109-of-7,835 passes (65.2 percent) for 59,949 yards with 44♛3 touchdowns and 209 interceptions and has a career 96.0 quarterback rating.
Eli has played 138 games, has a 78-58 record, has com𓂃pleted 2,639-of-4,499 passes (58.7 percent) for 31,977 yards with 215 touchdowns and 147 interceptions and has a career 82.9 QB rating.
Peyton, playing with the Colts, prevailed in the previous two meetings between the two, beating Eli and the Giants ♔26-21 in 2006 at Giant🌄s Stadium and 38-14 in 2010 in Indianapolis.
But two years aꦬgo, Eli and the Giants won the Super Bowl at Peyton’s place, Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, the second Super Bowl title 💙of Eli’s career.
“Eli’s been in the league less years and has more Super Bowls,’’ Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said Wednesday. “That makes him the quarterback I’m going to🌸 go with. If you ask Peyton … I guarantee you he’d tell you he’d rather have another Super Bowl. Go ask Dan Marino or Jim Kelly. They’ll take a few less yards or touchdowns for a Super Bowl. I’m no genius, but I think ܫI’m correct on that one. I know I would.”
Peyton, who threw a record-tying seven touchdown passe꧟s in last week’s win over the Ravens, was asked that very question on a conference call and gave a non-answer, rambling on about how “every single year’’ he tries to “do everything I can to help my team win’’ to get his teams “in position at the end of the year.’’
While Peyton sounded on the seven-minute call as if he’d rather have been cleaning Eli’s room than being peppered with questions 🎀about his younger brother, Eli spent nearly 30 minutes cordially and patiently answering questions about the impending “Manning Bowl.’’
Eli acknowledged how special the moment is to have two brothers playing the same position in the same league at the same high level, saying, “There are 32 starting quarterbacks in the league and my brother and I are among those, so I understand that is rare. It doesn’t happen very often and it is neat to see your big brother on the sideline across t🎶he field when the national anthem is playing and you give him a nod.
“Those mom𒐪ents are the things you will remember for a long time.’’
After a pause, Eli added, “Hopeful💫ly, when I think back on these games that we played against each other I can think back and remembe🗹r at least one win [against Peyton].’’
The game m🔜arks the first meeting in NFL history of quarterbacks who both threw for 400-plus yards the previous week (Peyton had 462 in the win over Baltimore and Eli had 450 in the loss in Dallas).
Because the NFC East and AFC West do not play each other again until 2017, when Peyton would be 41 🦋and Eli 36, the game likely marks t🏅he last time the two will ever play against each other again — barring the ultimate “Manning Bowl’’ occurring in four months at MetLife Stadium in the Super Bowl.
“That’s a long way away,’’ Eli said when that tantalizing possibility was brought up. “We’ll worry about this game and deal 𒆙with that if we have to.’’