Bell Tolls: Manning-Brady rivalry built on staying power

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, or Manning and Brady if you prefer, have provided no shortage of essentials–and then some–to fuel the NFL's greatest individual rivalry.

Snapshot moments of greatness. Incredible comebacks. So many milestones, they could fill up their own thick record book.

Hardware. MVP trophies, Super Bowl rings, and so on. Marquee value. There are no two bigger names in the NFL.

Yet as much as anything, this rivalry is built on staying power.

Manning and Brady have been so great for so long. Without that, the rivalry would have fizzled years ago.

Listening to the two legends this week, with their 16th head-to-head matchup looming on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, there is little doubt that the longevity is what they appreciate most about the other.

Brady on Manning: "Phenomenal--so consistent and durable for a long period of time."

Manning on Brady: "One of his real strengths is always answering the bell."

It's fitting that Brady, 37, will make his 200th NFL start for the Patriots on Sunday, with Manning on the other sideline. He will join a club that includes just seven other quarterbacks with as many games, topped by Brett Favre's 298.

Manning, 38, second to Favre, will make his 248th start. During his 13 seasons with the Colts, he started 208 consecutive games. Since joining the Broncos, he's started a new streak, 43 and counting, including the postseason.

Ask Manning about all of his records – stuff like most TD passes in a season – and he typically comes back with some response about the durability.

This is a stock answer from the heart, which resonated even more when he missed a season and saw his career threatened by four neck procedures in 2011.

"I've always had great respect for Favre's consecutive start streak because he was always there," Manning said. "He played hurt and had great toughness and durability. I think Eli (Manning) holds the longest streak now, which speaks to his (durability).

"That was one I was always proud of, making all those starts, so when I got injured that was difficult because I couldn't be there."

Brady can relate, and it's something he and Manning have talked about while developing a friendship over the years. Brady suffered a season-ending torn ACL in the opener in 2008.

That their greatness is built on longevity – "That's probably why he's been breaking all those records because he's been so consistent and durable, dependable for his team," Brady said of Manning – resonates when considering the plight of other quarterbacks this weekend.

Tony Romo is a game-time decision for the Cowboys, due to another back injury that kept him out of practice this week. Romo is a tough gamer, no doubt, but he underwent back surgeries in each of the past two offseasons, and suddenly there's an X-factor attached to Dallas' sizzling start.

Then there's Robert Griffin III. He is poised to return to Washington's starting lineup at Minnesota on Sunday after being sidelined since suffering a dislocated left ankle in Week 2. Griffin, 24, is only in his third NFL season, but there's undoubtedly a question of whether he will ever be the amazing player that he was as a rookie in 2012, when he led Washington to the playoffs – only to be derailed by the torn ligaments in his left knee.

In the violent world of pro football, health and durability are never to be taken for granted.

Manning and Brady play a different brand of quarterback than Romo and Griffin. They are classic drop-back quarterbacks who you never see take the type of hit that floored Romo or the blows Griffin absorbs too often when escaping the pocket.

Even so, it's dangerous in the pocket, too. It's football. Griffin's knee finally buckled in that playoff game as he stood in the pocket, although he was injured earlier in the game as he scrambled to the sideline. Brady suffered his severe knee injury when hit low while standing in the pocket. One of the hardest hits I've ever seen Manning take was during a game at the old RCA Dome, when the pocket collapsed against Miami and he took a blow to the chin.

Typically, though, Manning and Brady help protect themselves by keenly seeing the field--knowing where the protection is, where the defenders are coming from and where the receivers are supposed to be--and getting rid of the football quickly.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, Manning, not surprisingly, has the quickest release of any NFL quarterback this season, with an average time-in-pocket of 2.11 seconds. Brady ranks fourth at 2.19 seconds.

That's smart football, and it's at the heart of their durability. However Brady, unlike Manning, will routinely stick his head into the scrum as one of the most effective quarterback sneak artists in the NFL.

Manning's tough, too, and not just mentally. He appreciated the respect Bill Belichick showered on him this week in calling him the toughest quarterback he's ever coached against.

"I think certainly you've got to have good protection," Manning said. "You've got to have good coaches calling plays where you're not just getting hit nonstop with bad protection schemes or whatnot. I've had good coaching. I've had good, tough offensive linemen that have fought and blocked and done everything they could to try to protect for me, so I've been very appreciative and grateful of that."

There's much to appreciate about two of the greatest quarterbacks ever--starting with the fact that they have stood the test of time.

Other items of interest as Week 9 rolls on…

Who's hot:Antonio Brown. There may not be a more under-appreciated star in the NFL than the Steelers receiver, who makes up for his lack of size (5-10, 190) with uncanny body control. With an NFL-high 60 catches (852 yards, 7 TDs) Brown is very much on Ben Roethlisberger's radar – and has been for quite some time. Brown heads into Sunday night's tilt against the Ravens with a string of at least five receptions for 50 yards in 24 consecutive games – the longest-such streak in NFL history.

Key matchup:Teddy Bridgewater vs. the blitz. Washington D-coordinator Jim Haslett, whose unit has the second-highest blitz rate in the NFL (42%), according to ESPN research, threw the kitchen sink at Tony Romo on Monday night. He sent seven rushers on six plays at Dallas – something he did just once in the first seven games. Now comes a rookie quarterback in Bridgewater, who has been blitzed on 47 of his 155 pass attempts (30.3%), and generally held his own (59.6% completion rate). His stiffest test looms, but it's not all on the quarterback. In addition to the blitz pickups by running backs, young wideout Cordarrelle Patterson needs to become more consistent in reading blitzes and adjusting his routes accordingly.

Pressure's on:Michael Vick. What a way to land a spot back into the starting lineup. The Jets have a seven-game losing streak, and Geno Smith made matters worse. Yet there's another issue that lingers for Vick, as he heads into the game at Kansas City: Turnovers. Since the start of the 2011 season, Vick has committed 28 interceptions and 29 fumbles. He came off the bench on Sunday against Buffalo and had three giveaways. And how have the Jets tried to address this pattern? Quarterbacks coach David Lee put Vick through the "gauntlet drill" twice this week, doubling the usual effort. You'd think Vick should know better by now. Last year in Philadelphia, he went through the exercise of toting a football around NovaCare Complex, high school-style, but that didn't turn out so well, either.

Stat's the fact: Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, with 1,054 yards, leads the NFL in rushing by 288 yards over Houston's Arian Foster. That's the largest gap through Week 8 since 1975, when O.J. Simpson (1,128 yards) had a 543-yard edge on Lawrence McCutcheon.