Week 2 brings to NFL fans one of the most anticipated matchups in years as the Manning brothers meet face to face once again, to battle on the playing field this Sunday when the New York Giants host the Denver Broncos. Instead of an NFC or AFC territorial rivalry this week, it’s a sibling rivalry that will keep football fan’s eyes glued to their televisions this Sunday afternoon to watch Peyton Manning and Eli Manning compete.

Only twice before have the Manning brothers played on the field together; once in 2006 and again in 2010. If you’re keeping score, Peyton – two, Eli – zero.

So which brother will lead his team to victory and which brother will be defeated? As it is in horse racing, preliminarily there is a “favorite” and a “longshot”. While the elder brother, 37-year-old Peyton appears to be the front runner in this field competition, 32-year-old Eli, will be trying to play at his finest determined not to let his big brother claim his third victory over him on his home turf.

Both brothers, Peyton a 16-year veteran of the game, and Eli with 10 years in the NFL, were each first round draft picks who can boast many accomplishments in their careers. Peyton has 12 Pro Bowls under his belt and has led his team to the Super Bowl twice. Eli, a three-time Pro-Bowler has also brought his team to the Super Bowl two times, however both occasions were victorious for Eli, not to mention his appearance at the Super Bowl is much more recent.

In comparing the brothers for their 2012 season, big brother Peyton clearly outplayed Eli, as he ranked sixth among quarterbacks, passing for an impressive 4,659 yards. This was not too shabby for a man who went through multiple surgeries and was pretty much pieced back together just the year before.

Eli, who had a fabulous year in 2011 while Peyton sat on the sidelines, can’t quite brag about finishing 20th in the quarterback rankings for 2012 and just passing for shy of 4,000 yards, with 3,948 to be exact. 

So, where does each brother stand in comparison going into Manning v. Manning this Sunday in Week 2?

While some quarterbacks have to dust off some rust in the first game of the season, this was not the case for Peyton last week, who played a nearly flawless game in the season opener against the Ravens, as he passed for 462 yards, threw seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Seven touchdowns haven’t been thrown by a quarterback in one game since 1969. Fantasy owners were rewarded 46.28 fantasy points for choosing Peyton for their starting quarterback.

This week Peyton will arrive in the Big Apple heavily armed with his receiving crew consisting of new teammate, Wes Welker, the recipient of two touchdowns, and whom Peyton connected with plenty last week. He will have his best ranked receiver, Demaryius Thomas, who also caught two touchdowns, and a shiny new rookie tight end, Julius Thomas, who wowed everyone last week connecting with Peyton for yet two more touchdowns. Peyton should target each of these guys multiple times this Sunday, as well as wide receiver Eric Decker, who should hopefully show improvement on his ball security this week.

Look for the Peyton and the Broncos to air the ball most of the game, hoping to secure the lead, and then blend in more short passes and handoffs later in the game if they do gain a significant lead. Peyton and the Broncos will have had a week and a half since last Thursday’s game to become plenty prepared to play in New York, so the Giants had better be ready.

Speaking of the Giants, they play at their home field, which is a huge advantage for them this week. Eli has to be more adequately prepared than he was his first week as there were layers of rust he had to shovel through at the beginning of the Week 1 game, which started off with an interception in the first 10 seconds of the game. If Eli and his team can play like they did after their first half last week, they’ll be on target for a real competition. Eli finished last week with 450 passing yards and four touchdowns, which alone sounds pretty awesome, but throw in his three interceptions, and that awesomeness slips down a few notches.

Eli, like his big brother, should also be playing a pass-heavy game this Sunday, likely trying to keep up, or positively thinking, maintain the lead. Look for Eli to heavily target Victor Cruz, his touchdown machine, who caught three last week, and when defenses are covering Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Rueben Randle will see plenty of pass action. Another weapon for Eli, is tight end Brandon Myers, new to the Giants, already with one touchdown on the books from last week.

For the Giants, the air game should be the safest way to attempt to win this week as the Giants will probably limit the running plays. This could be a handicap but is due to Week 1 where starting running back David Wilson fumbled twice early in the game landing himself on bench while the Giants scrounged the backup runner remains to pick up the ground slack.

Conclusion

Even though the Giants are playing at home and coming off a Week 1 loss, and have some fantastic players, they are facing the Broncos defense, not to mention an incredible offense. The Broncos are missing a couple of their key defense men, however, they were highly efficient at keeping the Ravens in check last week, so Eli will be challenged.

The Broncos' tough offense will be quite the match for the Giant’s average defense and they will have to work extremely hard to hamper Peyton and his horsemen this week. Look for multiple points and fantasy points to be scored by both quarterbacks, the wide receivers and tight ends from the Giants and Broncos. Peyton will likely have a clean game, but Eli might see a couple of picks, so I have to predict that Peyton will play the more superior game this week.

Statistical Projections

Peyton: 435 passing yards, 34 pass completions, four passing touchdowns, zero interceptions, 27 fantasy points
Eli: 410 passing yards, 30 pass completions, three passing touchdowns, two interceptions, 17 fantasy points