Bart Scott shares why he’d much rather face Tom Brady than the great Peyton Manning

Even though Tom Brady is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time due to all of the accolades he has piled up, one of the few signal-callers that can give him a run for his money in that department is Indianapolis Colts immortal and five-time MVP Peyton Manning.

Manning was not only matching Brady blow-for-blow in the standings while putting up comparable or better numbers every single year, but he did so with an utterly unique style of play that made it almost impossible for teams to get an edge against Indianapolis.

The sight of Manning essentially acting as his own offensive coordinator by running up and down the offensive line while calling out signs had to scare the daylights out of anyone who went up against him. Former Ravens linebacker Bart Scott seemed to be one of those linebackers who dreaded facing Manning.

Scott said that he would play Brady “every day of the week” if it meant that he wouldn’t have to play Manning. Scott said that Manning had the ability to intimidate defenses thanks to his mental acuity and knowledge of the game, which seemed to give him the edge over Brady.

“I’d rather go against Tom Brady every day of the week,” Scott said. “I lost as a No. 1 seed to Peyton Manning with the Baltimore Ravens. Peyton Manning gives you a different set of anxiety. With Tom Brady, it was more about Bill Belichick and the entire team, the execution, and them having a game plan.”

Bart Scott was afraid of Colts legend Peyton Manning

Far be it from me to declare a team coached by Tony Dungy and leaning on the services of names like Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne deficient in coaching or talent. However, having Bill Belichick on the sideline and a Top 10 defense every year likely played a part in Brady’s success against Scott and the rest of the AFC.

Scott never had much success against either one of these legends. Scott’s Ravens went 2-4 against Manning’s Colts and 2-8 against Brady’s Patriots in his career. However, Scott might attribute his failures against New England to a superior infrastructure around Brady that Manning lacked.

In addition to top-tier arm talent, Manning’s ability to study the game and fool defenses is unmatched across NFL history.

Even a player like Scott, who was routinely a starter for some of the most lethal units in the league, was aware of the damage Manning’s brain could do.

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