The Tom Brady–Peyton Manning rivalry was a series of games that took place between 2001 and 2015, involving two quarterbacks in the National Football League : Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Brady played for the New England Patriots from, when he was the 199th selection in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, through. After Drew Bledsoe was injured in week 2 of the 2001 season, Tom Brady got his first career start against Peyton Manning's Colts, winning the game 44-13. Brady was the Patriots' starting quarterbackever since, with the exception of, when he tore his ACL in the opening game. Manning was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1998 NFL Draft with the number 1 pick, and played for the Colts until a neck injurycaused him to miss the entire season. Prior to the season, Manning signed with the Denver Broncos, for whom he played until his retirement following the season. Manning and Brady are considered by many as two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
Rivalry
Manning and Brady played each other 17 times. Brady led the Patriots to a record 9 Super Bowls and won a record 6 times. Manning led his teams to 4 Super Bowls and won twice. Brady led the head-to-head series 11–6. From 2001–2015, the two quarterbacks met at least once every season, except,, and . The two quarterbacks did not meet during the regular season, but they met in that year's AFC Championship Game. Brady led the Colts–Patriots series 8–4 and also led the Broncos–Patriots series 3–2, though Manning's two wins with the Broncos both occurred in the AFC Championship Games in and. Brady led the series in Foxborough 8–2, while Manning led the series in Indianapolis/Denver 4–3. The two quarterbacks met five times in the NFL Playoffs, in which Manning won three of them. Four of the five match-ups were in the AFC Championship Game, with Manning winning three of the four, one of the games with the Colts and another two with the Broncos. The winner of each of the playoff match-ups went on to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Four of the teams, Brady's 2003 and 2004 Patriots and Manning's 2006 Colts and 2015 Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl, while Manning's 2013 Broncos lost the game.
