During an interview with 105.7 The Fan, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason explained why he thought Tom Brady doesn’t compare to Peyton Manning and Ed Reed. The Ravens are known to have some bad blood with Tom Brady so I don’t know how serious Mason’s opinion can be taken. Though it may be biased to some degree, he does make a point…
"You take Tom Brady off New England they showed that they can go 11-5. Now you take Peyton Manning off the Colts I don’t know where that teams goes offensively. Another guy I look at and say it changes the scope of what they do is a guy like Ed Reed. You take Ed Reed off of our defense not to say I don’t think the defense would be good, we’re good, because we have good players, but if you take him off the back end it changes us somewhat and it showed last year. Once you insert him [Ed Reed] we’re back to … quarterbacks are scared to throw the ball deep down the field. You don’t want to just rank them because they had a good season or a 1,000 yard season. You rank them as if I took this player off this team or away from this side of the ball what does it do for that team? Do they get better? Do they get worse? The only person I know, two people really, is Peyton Manning and Ed Reed."
When Tom Brady was injured in 2008 and sat out the whole season, Matt Cassel quickly took the reigns and managed to go 11-5. Though they didn’t have the same spark seen with Brady at the helm, the Patriots still proved to be successful. On the other hand, Peyton Manning is a game changing player. I thoroughly believe that he can be put on any team and completely turn their season around. Time after time he’s made practice squad players look like Jerry Rice. When he steps on to the field, he sees things differently then what we do. He has an eye for football and shows it day in and day out. If you take him away from the picture, the Colts take a turn for the worst. While trying to remain objective, I agree with Derrick’s statement given that Peyton provides a more pivotal role in the Colts organization. Do you? Post your thoughts in the comments!