Why Peyton Manning has only beaten the Patriots 4 times

Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Whenever Manning and Brady clash, the news articles and sports papers always put the two future hall of famers head to head in comparisons. But among the 14 games before this one being the 15th meeting, Peyton Manning has only knocked off his rival Tom Brady and his Patriots four times. How could this be? Well first we must take a look at the losses.

11/7/05: 40-21 L
11/5/06: 27-20 L
1/27/07: 38-34 L
11/15/09: 35-34 L

If there is one thing that we can all see in the score, it's that all losses were high scoring games for Manning's offense, with the lowest being 27. While all four losses have almost the same stats, digging deeper for information, it is evident, aside from the 1/27/07 playoff loss. That the Colts were the first team to score, all of which being touchdowns. They also were the last team to score before halftime, going into the locker room with some positive thoughts. To go a bit further into scoring patterns and trends, Manning's team was also first to score coming out of the half as well aside from the 11/15/09 game. And just for laughs, Manning's offense also was the last team to score in three of the four games. Thus meaning that Peyton Manning led teams scored in possibly the most key junctures of a football game: First to score in the game, last to score in the half, first to score in the half and last to score in the game.

Aside from crazy scoring patterns, looking at the first loss, the Patriots only rushed for 34 yards as a team and while they were down two scores to start the second half, giving the ball to Dillon 12 times is unacceptable. The second loss had five Patriots turnovers, need I say more? And the other two losses were basically just late second plays of which anything could have happened.

So when we watch Peyton Manning and Tom Brady square off for a 15th time this Sunday, keep an eye on when and where each team scores in the game, and if this game is closely matched stat wise, we could be in for a shootout where any late mistakes could possibly cost a trip to New Jersey.