By KENNY DUCEY

COLUMNIST

What makes a good QB?

There are countless factors that affect their performance: poise, throwing power, accuracy, playmaking ability and so on. One man may be outperforming every quarterback in the history of the game in each of those categories and his name is Peyton Manning.

It’s not really a crazy thing to say Manning could be the best QB to ever play, is it? He may not be as prestigious as Joe Montana, but his talent and regular season numbers speak for themselves. At the very least, he’s got a Super Bowl ring, so I say we need to include him in the conversation.

Through this weekend, Manning is on pace for 6,029 yards, which would shatter Drew Brees’ single-season record of 5,476 two years ago. He’s led the Denver Broncos to a perfect 5-0 and is showing no signs of slowing down. To top it all off, he’s the best of the best in a pass-heavy league, and it’s not close.

Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees all had magnificent 2011 campaigns, all while Manning was nursing an ailing neck. He was all but finished according to the Colts. Peyton is younger than all of them and now, in a season where those three are underperforming, he’s thriving.

It’s not just his numbers that make him one of the greats, it’s how he gets there. An on-field coach, Manning almost has a better idea of what the front seven will do than they do. Just this week he pulled the most Manning thing in the Manning family’s history — a bootleg which he walked in for a score. I mean, who does that?

His throws are always on the money, despite his loss in velocity. He makes Julius Thomas look like Tony Gonzalez, just as he did with Dallas Clark for years.

Only Peyton Manning would be able to defeat someone who threw for over 500 yards and five touchdowns, like he did against Tony Romo on Sunday.

Helped by one of the best receiving corps assembled over the last couple of decades, there’s no reason the Broncos shouldn’t go undefeated. Manning may, in fact, go on to tie his brother at two rings apiece and who knows — maybe he will get his third next year.

Would that do it? Would three rings make you believe Peyton Manning is the greatest to ever play the QB position?

I’ve always found the rings argument a little much, because let’s face it, Eli is no Peyton. He’s been the motor of two Super Bowl winning machines, but he’s not at Peyton’s level. Big brother wouldn’t be leading the league in turnovers through five weeks, no matter how bad his offensive line was.

No, Manning would make it work, just as he’s done his whole career. He’s calm, he’s got a big arm and he puts the ball in the right spot every time.  He’s on pace to obliterate several records this year and probably at the right pace to take home another Super Bowl ring. At 37, that’s something I don’t see Brady, Brees, (other) Manning, Romo or even Montana doing.