All-time Top 12 seasons by a QB

[SniperSB23]

It has everything to do with defense why the Patriots win more games. Look at the almost perfect correlation between the Patriots defensive rank and their record since Brady took over in 2001:

4th - 16-0
6th - 12-4
7th - 14-2
9th - 14-2
10th - 11-5 (injured)
23rd - 9-7
24th - 11-5
26th - 10-6

On the other hand Peyton Manning has had exactly one defense better than 11th since 2003 and that happened to correspond with the year the Patriots went 16-0. Yet he's still managed these records:

12-4
12-4
14-2
12-4
13-3
12-4

Of course in the playoffs that lack of defense has hurt them but very few of the playoff losses have been Manning's fault. And guess what, the only time Manning got to go head to head with Brady in the playoffs at home, he won.