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On at least one specific count, the answer to the question above is affirmative. Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in a 31-19 win against the Raiders, enough to move him past Joe Montana for ninth in NFL history. Brady was modestly having none of the comparisons after the game, but is he ahead of Montana in your all-time rankings?

• "I think its time to take the genius label away from Belichick. His defense has been horrible for years now. Tom Brady is the real reason the Pats are able to win anything." -- SN commenter thabrandon

Who will be remembered as the better quarterback?

•  
  47%
  Tom Brady
•  
  53%
  Joe Montana

(Total votes: 75,290)

Which quarterback would you rather have for the remainder of the season?

•  
  41%
  Tom Brady
•  
  59%
  Aaron Rodgers

(Total votes: 28,663)

Which of these is the best quarterback-to-receiver combination?

•  
  34%
  Tom Brady to Wes Welker
•  
  4%
  Cam Newton to Steve Smith
•  
  18%
  Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings
•  
  4%
  Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson
•  
  39%
  Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson

(Total votes: 35,198)

Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees got things started with a bang. Cam Newton spiced up Sunday. But Tom Brady used "Monday Night Football" to remind all challengers to the throne that they need to go through him. After opening his 11th season with 517 passing yards and four touchdowns against the Dolphins, how close is Brady to all-time bragging rights?

More from SN: Are the Patriots at the top of your NFL Power Rankings?

• "He has three rings, the first unanimous MVP vote, the single season passing TD record, a 16-0 regular season and many more records. Guys like Brady and Peyton are in a class of their own. Montana was great, but he also played in a different time. Guys weren't as big and fast. Put Montana in today's NFL and I don't think he gets his four rings." -- SN commenter njbruinspats
• "As a Pats fan I am concerned that once again we appear to be a "chuck and duck" team that can't run the ball or play strong defense. We have not won any Super Bowls with this current style, and I think we will once again fold up when faced with a strong defense that can control the clock with a running game." -- SN commenter TorreroX

How close is Tom Brady to being the best quarterback in NFL history?

•  
  28%
  He's already there
•  
  56%
  He has a little more work to do
•  
  11%
  He has a lot more work to do
•  
  6%
  He can't get there

(Total votes: 2,663)

Who has been more instrumental to the Patriots' success since 2000?

•  
  45%
  Bill Belichick
•  
  55%
  Tom Brady

(Total votes: 41,650)

Which is a bigger deal for the Patriots?

•  
  29%
  Tom Brady throwing for 517 yards vs. Dolphins
•  
  71%
  Defense giving up 416 passing yards vs. Chad Henne

(Total votes: 2,257)

Eli Manning beat Tom Brady in their one matchup in the playoffs, but very few people would take that to mean they're equally talented. Apparently, Manning is one of those people; he told Michael Kay on Tuesday that he is in a class with his counterpart on the Patriots. It remains to be seen how they compare this season, but Brady's stats over the past few years have dwarfed Manning's. Are the Giants even in competition in their own division with Manning behind center? Rank 'Em: Where do Brady and Manning stack up?

• "He was responded to a Catch 22 question, and he responded appropriately. If he says he's NOT in the same class as Brady, then critics say he lacks the confidence to lead the Giants. If he says he IS in the same class as Brady, critics say he is delusional and not taking accountability for his poor 2010 season. QBs are paid to be leaders; he answered it the right way." -- SN commenter rhuff1118
• "The only way these two were in the same class is if they took driver's ed together. Brady's better than your brother, and you're not even in HIS class." -- SN commenter bablyon_paladin

What do you make of Eli Manning saying he's in the same class as Tom Brady?

•  
  9%
  Accurate assessment
•  
  52%
  Ridiculous statement
•  
  40%
  Just Manning trying to pump himself up

(Total votes: 57,421)

Where does Eli Manning rank among NFL starting quarterbacks?

•  
  5%
  Top five
•  
  39%
  Top 10
•  
  49%
  Top half
•  
  8%
  Not in the top half

(Total votes: 193,979)

How will Eli Manning's next seven years compare to his first seven? (156 TDs, 113 INTs, 22,646 yds., one Pro Bowl/Super Bowl)

•  
  19%
  Noticeably better
•  
  61%
  About the same
•  
  19%
  Noticeably worse

(Total votes: 13,570)

Madden ratings are often the most contentious topics in sports video games. Should Devin Hester have a 99 in speed? Which defensive lineman gets top marks for toughness? Is my team's QB more accurate than your team's? All week long, SportsNation is ranking the players with the top marks at each position. Today, we're taking a look at the best QBs in "Madden NFL 12." Tom Brady is the only quarterback with a 99 overall rating, but do you agree that he should get the top spot? Cast your vote now!

• "This list is almost money. Brees & Rivers should be switched, but that's it. I haven't seen anything past this top 5, but it's hard to argue its accuracy from an objectionable standpoint. " -- SN commenter all_fitch
• "Manning should be a 99 like Brady" -- SN commenter ridgeraider24
• "To be honest, there are too many overall 90+ quarterbacks. I think it should be these guys in that order, but everyone below them (maybe with the borderline exception of Vick) should not be a 90. " -- SN commenter tb1283

• Rank 'Em: Where do you rank Tom Brady among NFL quarterbacks?

It's difficult to feel sorry for Tom Brady -- the man is married to a supermodel, has won three Super Bowls, is getting paid an absurd amount of money and so on -- but he's really not having the best few days. First, the Jets were really, really mean to him before the game, then they were mean to him during the game, and now he has to get surgery on a stress fracture in his injured right foot. It's almost as though he has real problems that the rest of us schlubs have to address every day.

Ha! Just kidding. He doesn't. Still, this past week has dulled some of Brady's luster. He's on a three-game playoff losing streak, and surgery is rarely good news for anyone, let alone a quarterback on the wrong side of 30. We may be going out on a bit of a limb here, but we have to ask: Is Tom Brady still the quarterback you fear the most in the playoffs? Mind you, we're not saying he's bad, or mediocre, or even above-average. We're just saying that he might not be the unstoppable force he once was.

• "This loss only showed how much the team leaned on him all year. 14-2 with the worst 3rd down D in the league. He didn't turn the ball over in a million attempts as the offense rolled. He had one bad game and the whole thing came crashing down. Still a bad performance by Brady in this game, but I think I respect him more than ever. He absolutely carried this team this year. " -- lodger16xyz
• "Tom played poorly. He rattles when he gets hit. He didn't use to, but having a broken foot probably had something to do with it. He made no excuses. The team was flat, which is on BB. " -- WasaChuckFan

• Vote: Are you taking the Patriots or the field to win the Super Bowl?
• Rank 'Em: Who are the NFL's best quarterbacks at the moment?
• Chat: Scouts Inc.'s Gary Horton reviews Sunday, previews Monday, 4 ET

Sports offers few certainties, but one thing we're sure of is that if it involves playing in snow, we're taking Tom Brady ahead of anyone in his generation. And that includes Bode Miller.

Kept nice and warm by his long locks amid the wind and snow at Soldier Field on Sunday, Brady left the Bears with their tongues frozen to the flagpole -- metaphorically speaking, of course. The veteran quarterback's 369 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 36-7 rout mean the MVP race is increasingly as foregone a conclusion as the Heisman race was for most of November, but what about Brady's non-gridiron peers?

He's shared the stage in the past decade with some amazing athletes, but is he the best of the bunch?

“

Outside of his brilliant 50 TD season, Brady is playing as well as he's ever played. As I've said before, the Belichick/Brady combo is up there with Walsh/Montana, Lombardi/Starr, and Noll/Bradshaw in terms of dominance.

” -- mrm87

2. Just how good are Tom Brady and Bill Belichick?

Perhaps they aren't quite as attractive a couple as Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen, but New England's quarterback and Bill Belichick have forged a pretty successful NFL marriage. Monday's romp against the talkative Jets was just the latest chapter, but where do Brady and Belichick stand against some of the best coach-QB combos ever?

• "I think Bill showed his defesive prowess last night after having an extra couple days to go over every thing w/Tom Terrific." -- SN commenter malizaar

• Vote: Tom Brady or Peyton Manning better right now?
• Rank 'Em: Are the Patriots the NFL's best team?
• Vote: Will the Colts beat the resurgent Chargers this week?
• Chat wraps: Bill Simmons on the Patriots and more

The Patriots and Colts have engaged in the NFL's fiercest and closest rivalry over the past decade. Neck-and-neck in everything except Super Bowl titles, their respective marquee quarterbacks seem to be constantly trying to one-up one another. This past weekend's matchup in Foxboro only raised new questions in this bitter rivalry. What are we to make, for instance, of a game decided by three points when one team was missing several of its best starters, and with Patriots breakout star Danny Woodhead having perhaps his best game ever? Should we believe it was a precursor of things to come?

• Yes, [Peyton] is an extraordinary QB who may be the best of our generation, however with all the miscues and team failures when people expected greatness from the Colts. Even yesterday when the Colts were driving I knew the interception was coming." -- greg_g74_pt.2
• "When Brady first started making plays for the Patriots back in 2000, there was a similar feeling [to Danny Woodhead's emergence]. Brady seemed to make things happen primarily through sheer determination. The Woodhead story is even more amazing though since his resume is so lacking of anything resembling NFL pedigree." -- William Wallis

• Rank 'Em: Is Tom Brady the NFL's best quarterback at the moment?
• Vote: Have the 49ers found their Tom Brady with a former Heisman winner?
• Chat: Football Outsiders' Bill Barnwell, 1 ET | Scouts Inc.'s Gary Horton, 4 ET

We talk a lot about his hair. We talk a lot about his relationships, be they his continuing marriage to a supermodel wife or his football break up with an enigmatic wide receiver. But we don't seem to talk a heck of a lot about his actual passing these days.

And as the Steelers will attest this morning, Tom Brady can still pass the ball.

Then again, it's not just Brady. Manny Pacquiao's political career gets a lot of publicity, as does the fight that seems destined not to happen against Floyd Mayweather Jr. But as Pacquiao showed in destroying Antonio Margarito to win a title in his eighth weight class, his boxing skills remain among the best of all time.

So which legend made the strongest statement this weekend about where our attention should be?