From 2001 until their final match in 2015, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning developed one of the greatest individual rivalries in sports history, right up there with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. .
The seriousness of the Brady-Manning rivalry makes any comparison to their rivalry worthwhile. That’s exactly what happened this week, when Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd compared the quarterback game in Cincinnati’s next game between Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes to the biggest quarterback rivalry in the annals of the league.
“It goes back to that quarterback fight. I look at it like Manning and Brady,” Boyd said via the team’s website. “You can’t stop them. It comes down to who excels and takes advantage of their opportunities and drives and scores. These are the types of games we have to take care of in football and not turn it around.”
It’s early, but Boyd’s comparison has some legs. Burrow and Mahomes already have playoff history, as Cincinnati rallied to upset Kansas City in overtime in the AFC Championship Game last January. Earlier that month, the Bengals won a high-scoring game against the Chiefs that saw Burrow throw for 446 yards and four touchdowns.
Both quarterbacks are enjoying stellar campaigns in 2022. Mahomes, who already has league and Super Bowl MVPs on his coat, is in the driving seat to win his second league MVP. He currently leads the league with 3,585 yards and 29 touchdowns. Mahomes’ play — which is even more impressive considering Tyreek Hill’s offseason trade — led the Chiefs to a 9-2 record.
Burrow rebounded from a slow start. Returning Player of the Year last year, Burrow completed 68.2% of his passes for 3,160 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Burrow has continued to have success of late despite missing top wide Ja’Marr Chase for four games and missing Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon for the last one-and-a-half games. Burrow’s play helped the Bengals go 7-4 after an 0-2 start.
Clearly, the talent of both quarterbacks makes any matchup between their teams a must. And given the level of excitement over their last two clashes, it’s safe to say that Mahomes and Burrow may be on the verge of having a rivalry similar to the one Brady and Manning shared during their storied careers. . Given their ages (Mahomes is 27, Burrow is 25), the two quarterbacks should have plenty of matchups against each other over the next decade-plus.
Boyd was comfortable comparing Burrow-Mahomes with Brady-Manning. It was a different story, however, when asked which of the two was Brady and which played Manning.
“It’s Burrow and Mahomes. I wouldn’t compare them,” Boyd said. “These are two guys with records for the fastest two quarterbacks to reach 10,000 yards. It’s hard to stop Burrow and hard to stop Mahomes. At the end of the day, Burrow is down to two. Regardless whoever you want to choose, whoever has the most wins, that’s it.”
