Tom Brady has a great case to claim himself as the greatest of all time, and he can point to his seven Super Bowl rings to make an argument. But if luck had been a bit kinder, Brady could have had three more championships. That’s right — he lost three Super Bowls, including the first two against none other than Eli Manning. Those losses even slowed the momentum of the established New England dynasty.
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In fact, Brady and his Patriots experienced a decade-long hiatus from winning the Lombardi Trophy because of Eli Manning. The former Patriot won his third Super Bowl at age 27 during the 2005 season and didn’t add another ring until 2015, when he was 37.
Brady faced the Eli Manning-led New York Giants in 2008 and 2012. In Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots suffered a 17-14 loss to the Giants. The first half saw only 10 points scored, with the Patriots holding a 7-3 lead. The Giants took the lead early in the fourth quarter when Manning connected with David Tyree on a five-yard touchdown catch.
A touchdown pass from Brady to Randy Moss gave the Patriots the lead again, but Manning then hit wide receiver Plaxico Burress for the go-ahead touchdown, giving the Giants a 17-14 lead with 35 seconds left.
Both Manning and Brady had solid games. Manning completed 19-of-34 passes for 255 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Brady completed 29-of-48 passes for 266 yards and one touchdown pass. Manning was named Super Bowl MVP for his performance.
Four years later, the two met again in Super Bowl XLVI. Once again, the Giants won by less than a touchdown, defeating the Patriots 21-17 in the rematch.
The Patriots took a 10-9 lead at halftime as Brady threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Danny Woodhead. A touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez gave the Patriots a 17-9 lead with 11:20 remaining in the third quarter. The Giants would finish the game strong, scoring the final 12 points and coming out on top 21-17.
Again in the rematch, both quarterbacks played solid. Manning was 30-for-40, throwing 296 yards and a touchdown. Brady was 27-for-41 and threw for 276 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Again, Manning was named Super Bowl MVP.
Manning may have gotten the better of Brady in their head-to-head matchups, but Brady wound up as one of the greatest athletes all-time by becoming the winningest quarterback in NFL history.
The two share a good friendship off the field and have poked fun at each other about their Super Bowl matchups. Brady once hilariously answered a question about whether he thought the NFL was scripted, giving a funny response related to his Super Bowl losses to Manning.
“You think I really would have played along with a script that had me losing to Peyton’s little brother Eli twice in the Super Bowl?” Brady questioned.
All that said, one can only imagine what it would have been like if Brady had won both games against Manning. Would he have gone on to play as long as he did? Would the Mahomes-Brady GOAT debate even exist? Those are plenty of questions we’ll leave for you to answer.
