NFL defensive coordinator compares Tom Brady's late career success with Peyton Manning

Tom Brady is the greatest of all time and the Super Bowl rings on his fingers are proof of that. Of course, there's also the fact that he just turned 45 years old and is still one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.

In fact, he was ranked No. 3 [in Tier 1] behind just Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes in The Atheltic's recent quarterback tier rankings. The website asked anonymous NFL coaches and executives to vote on their tiers of starting quarterbacks heading into the 2022 season, and even as he rounds the corner to 50 years old, Brady is still better than most.

Brady has been around and dominant for so long that it's almost easy to forget chunks of his career. Like when he took over for Drew Bledsoe as a nobody, late-round pick from Michigan and instantly led the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl win.

Or how about his many epic battles with Peyton Manning? 

That was a quarterback rivalry that spanned 14 seasons and 17 head-to-head games. Brady won the overall matchups between the two legendary quarterbacks, 11-6, but some of that could be because Manning saw a drop off in his physical skills toward the end of his career.  A terrible neck injury that cost him the 2011 season likely played into that, but it was evident toward the end of Manning's career that even though he was still sharp as a tack and completely in control at the line of scrimmage, his arm was starting to give out.

That's not the case with Brady, according to an anonymous defensive coordinator who was explaining his vote for Brady as a Tier 1 quarterback.

“You still have to give the dude a 1,” a defensive coordinator said. “He still has the physical skills, different than Peyton (Manning) at the end of his career. Tom is going to get you into the right plays and make the right decisions, and he can still throw it. He can win games.”