The true mark of a great NFL quarterback is his ability to directly impact and contribute to his team’s success.

Without a doubt, both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have done this for their respective teams and have deservedly earned the right to be called not only the best quarterbacks in the league, but among the best in league history.

But throughout the years, Manning has consistently done more for the Indianapolis Colts’ success than Brady has for the New England Patriots.

Manning’s intelligence, numbers, consistency and his role in orchestrating the offense make him the best quarterback in the league, even better than Brady.

The statistics speak for themselves. Now in his 12th season, Manning possesses a 95.3 career passer rating, which is not only above Brady’s, but is the second highest of all time. His career completion percentage of 64.7 is also higher than Brady’s, despite the fact that Manning has attempted more than 2,300 more passes than him. Brady’s average passing yards per season, which is a bit more than 3,700 yards, also pales in comparison to the 4,100-plus passing yards that Manning averages in a given year.

Additionally, Manning has racked up more than twice as many 300-yard or four-touchdown games than Brady, by a margin of 64-31. And while Brady is usually recognized as the most clutch player in the NFL, it is Manning who deserves the credit for producing more fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives, with 28 late-game comebacks entering the season.

This number does not include the come-from-behind drive he has put together this year, which includes a spectacular fourth-quarter rally over Brady’s Patriots.

With all of those numbers, Manning has racked up a considerably more hardware than Brady has during his career. He has been named league MVP three times, which is three times more than Brady has won. He has been named to nine Pro Bowls, which is more than double the amount that Brady has played.

Given Manning’s 2009 numbers, he is well on his way to adding to both of those totals this season. He also was also named the MVP of the only Super Bowl he has ever played in.

But it is more than stats and awards that separate Manning from Brady. Manning is a much more cerebral quarterback and unquestionably has a better knowledge of the game. Not only does he regularly call his own plays, but he also usually does so at the line of scrimmage. His uncanny ability to read defenses and make quick adjustments is the reason why the Colts have consistently been among the league leaders in total offense and have had the highest third-down conversion rates in the league since Manning has been drafted. The same is true with fourth-down conversion rates, which is why the Colts have allowed Manning to occasionally waive off the punt team at his own discretion.

To an extent, Manning has revolutionized the quarterback position to the point where he is just as much a coach as he is a player. This is a stark contrast to Brady, who is an talented and effective quarterback but has been a piece of mastermind coach Bill Belichick’s system. Brady has played on teams with better defenses and coaching than Manning. And while Brady has performed in big games, people forget that some of the Patriots biggest plays in those games were not Brady’s doing. If the Patriots don’t get the “Tuck Rule” gift against the Raiders in the 2002 AFC Divisional Playoffs, who knows how Brady would have ended up today. Brady has been great, that is not in question, the point is that when we take a closer look at some of his biggest games, Brady hasn’t always been as clutch as people remember.

Even in seasons where the Colts have played poorly, Manning has always delivered for them.

As a rookie on a 3-13 team, he posted 3,739 passing yards and 26 touchdown passes, and set four rookie passing records.

The fact that the Colts have been able to revolve their own system around Manning is the reason they are 9-0 right now even though they are playing under a first-year coach.

Additionally, Manning will go down in history for his consistency. He has started all 185 Colts games since being drafted, which is a record for quarterbacks. His ability to stay healthy is a strong sign that his career still has many years left to it, which would put him in position to even further cement his place in NFL history. With 48,500 total passing yards, he will most likely break Brett Favre’s all-time record if he plays past his late 30s.

It is easy for fans to simply say that since Brady has more Super Bowl rings, he is the better quarterback. That logic is flawed.

While great quarterbacks generally win championships, the number of rings does not determine the skill level of the individual player. Following that logic, Terry Bradshaw, who won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s, would be the greatest quarterback of all time.

Bradshaw was not a bad quarterback by any means, but those championships were won primarily because of the Steelers’ phenomenal defense, known as the “Steel Curtain”, Hall of Fame teammates Franco Harris, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth on offense and the coaching of Chuck Noll. Bradshaw had his moments of greatness, but his numbers were erratic throughout his career. It would be insane to argue that he was a better quarterback than players with less rings such as Joe Montana or John Elway, among many others.

In that same spirit, look at Dan Marino. Marino never won a Super Bowl, but was indisputably a top-10 quarterback of all time. It would be completely unfair to remove him from the all-time great quarterbacks conversation because he did not win a championship, while players like Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson or Jim Plunkett, who won two despite largely mediocre numbers throughout his career, did. Rings just simply are not the mark of the great quarterback.

Football fans will forever recognize quarterbacks such as Marino and Favre for their gun-slinging mentality and longevity. Elway will always go down in history for his comeback abilities. Brady, Bradshaw and Montana will always be recognized for their titles. But when Manning one day retires and is recognized in Canton, he will most likely be the quarterback that possessed the best mix of all these qualities, which will mark him as not only the greatest quarterback of his generation, but maybe all time.

— Contact David Michaels.