Post Super Bowl Assessment of Peyton Manning

     Peyton Manning had his head bowed down, hiding the look of despair on his face. Only two teams in NFL history had ever suffered bigger defeats on the largest stage in pro football. Well, technically only one other team because the biggest blowout was the Denver Broncos in 1989 at the hands of the great Joe Montana. Then there was a 36-point drubbing of the Patriots by the 1985 Bears, thanks in large part to that legendary defense. And at third place? The 2013 Denver Broncos, tied with the 1992 Buffalo Bills who were beat down by the man who was calling the game for the Broncos, Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys. Each team lost by 35 points.

Joe Montana vs. the Broncos. The 49ers won this Super Bowl 55-10, the biggest blowout in Super Bowl history

     It really is a sick feeling to see Manning suffer such a gut-wrenching defeat, especially because he is such a fan favorite and one of the classiest, if not the classiest players in NFL history. After all Manning has gone through and how hard he works, I really hoped he could win last night.  Heck, the morning after the Super Bowl, Yahoo Sports’ headline is not the Seattle Seahawks defense. It is not the disappearance of the Broncos offense. It is a headline praising Manning as it reads “Super Bowl XLVIII was a nightmare for Peyton Manning, but what he did in defeat showed his true mettle.” Everybody wants Manning to be great, because as a person, it is hard to find somebody better. But the same people that were ready to crown him champion even before kickoff, need to be fair in assessing the loss.

     There were a lot of people last night, solely rooting for the Broncos to see Peyton Manning rise up and capture the moment. To silence all of his naysayers. To once and for all, put to bed his struggles in big moments. I was one of them. And as gracious in defeat as Manning is, I don’t think it is fair to say that the loss didn’t hurt him a little bit. Let’s take a look at the cold hard facts.

     Manning is now 11-12 in the postseason. Those 12 losses are the single most losses by any quarterback in NFL history.  In his three Super Bowl, he has thrown 4 interception, two of which have been returned for touchdowns (Tracy Porter’s game-sealing, and Malcolm Smith of the Seahawks). In the lone Super Bowl he won, he had more interceptions than touchdowns in that postseason run and the guy opposing him in the big game is now a third-string quarterback for the Washington Redskins who posted a QBR of 7.1, Rex Grossman. Speaking of QBR, the lowest QBR since that of Rex Grossman was posted by Manning last night, a lowly 24.4. Manning is 1-2 in the Super Bowl.

     On the flip side, Manning has been extraordinary in the regular season, capturing 5 MVP trophies and having records such as most touchdown passes (55), most yards (5,477) and also led his team to most touchdowns and points by any offense in NFL history. There is little doubt that Manning will own every major career passing record by the time he hangs his helmet. The problem with all that is that when a guy plays at that high of a level, he is held to a higher standard. In this era, there have only been two guys like that. Manning and Tom Brady.

     Tom Brady is 18-8 in the playoffs. When people say that it is an amazing feat that Manning has even been in 23 playoff games, they should not forget that Brady has been in 26 and he has played three less years than Manning! Brady is 3-2 in Super Bowls, losing both to the New York Giants. In five Super Bowls, Brady only has two total interceptions, zero returned for touchdowns.

     So when assessing Peyton Manning’s legacy long term, it is hard for me to put him in front of Brady, a guy who also has a higher total wining percentage and rarely has ever had the weapons that Manning has consistently had. It is also annoying when people say that my assessment is biased or that I make it all about the rings. That is far from the truth. I said before the game that if Manning won, to me he would cross Brady. Obviously this would have been Manning’s second ring to Brady’s three so it isn’t about the rings. It is about the total package. It is about circumstances, as Kurt Warner said before the game And if I were biased, I would not say Manning could be better than Brady. In fact, I still believe he can be. Manning’s career is not over. Neither is Brady’s. They both still have room to climb and distance themselves from any other guy in history.

     So yes, Manning writing letters to players that retire, or asking Richard Sherman how his ankle is after defeat, or talking with Ray Lewis in the locker room after a playoff defeat is all very nice and classy. It is something that a guy like Brady does not necessarily always do. Brady is known for talking trash to Sherman, Terrell Suggs, and getting fired up and taunting the New York Jets’ sideline. That is not to say Brady is not classy. But maybe not up to Manning’s level.

     So if somebody wants to say that Manning is the classiest or smartest quarterback in NFL history, I have no problem with that. If you want to add greatest regular season quarterback ever, go right ahead. But to say overall he is placed ahead of Brady or Joe Montana (widely regarded the greatest) would not be fair. 

                      Not yet.