Peyton Manning's Legacy

All of Sunday Night, and pretty much all of Monday, this is what I've heard:


"Peyton Manning is a choker."

"Peyton can't get it done on the big stage."

"Tom Brady would've done better."

"All that offense and Peyton only scored 8 points? He's terrible!"

"He's not even better than his brother."

"Can we finally stop talking about Manning in the "Greatest of all time" talks?"

"Peyton will never win another Super Bowl."

Nonsense and ignorance from people who don't know any better. Before I address this, I'm going to talk about Manning's Legacy. And for the record, no, I'm not a Broncos fan. My team is The Colts. I am merely defending one of the greatest.


I've really heard people place all the blame on Peyton. How can ALL the blame fall on Manning? Did he make some poor throws? Absolutely. Did he force some throws? Absolutely. Could he have played better? Yes, but that point is debatable. I don't think any QB with an O-Line that bad could've had a better game. We act like Manning threw for 90 yards, or something. He still had 280 yards passing and set a new record for completions in the Super Bowl. Manning deserves some of the blame, but ALL? Let's be serious for a minute.

Manning didn't lose the game. Seattle's defense won it and won BIG. There is a clear difference. If you couldn't see that, then you weren't watching the same game I was. When a QB doesn't get enough time in the pocket to make plays, of course he's going to look bad. Seattle's defense shut down everything Denver's offense was trying to do. What worked so well for Denver in the regular season and those first two playoff games, Seattle took it all away from them and the only thing Denver could do were screen plays and dink-and-dunk down the field. Why else did people think they were running those plays? Nothing else was working. That defensive line made it impossible for Denver's offense to run without any sort of rhythm. From the offset, they let the Broncos know what kind of night they were in for.

Manning could've gotten the ball out of his hands faster and take sacks rather than just throwing it up. But is it his fault the offensive line got dominated and couldn't block? Is it his fault that he had pressure in his face all night and he couldn't stand and deliver in the pocket? Is it his fault the defense couldn't tackle and were getting abused? Is it his fault that his receivers looked scared out there, dropping passes and plays where they didn't even try for the ball? I guess Manning was out there playing defense and should've done something to stop Percy from returning that opening 2nd half kickoff. Denver as a team, clearly didn't come prepared and got blown off the field.

Let's give Seattle's defense credit for shutting down the highest scoring offense in NFL History, rather than saying "Manning choked, or saying he doesn't play well in the postseason. Don't be ignorant. If Manning had gone out there and threw for 80 yards with 4 picks, then we'd have a conversation. To be fair, I don't think any other AFC QB would've performed well against that defense with an O-Line that poor.

Peyton is still Top 5 All-Time as far as I'm concerned. One of the greatest to ever play the game. But he had a bad game. QB's have bad games. This happens. We're going to negate everything Peyton Manning has done in his career and base his Legacy off this game? A game which his entire team was unprepared, got out coached, and got beat up by and extremely physical, fast, and sound defense? He'll be back next season with a Vengeance.

People say a Super Bowl Ring is the only thing that matters. Dan Marino doesn't have a ring, yet's he's a Top 5 All-Time QB. Terry Bradshaw has 4 rings, yet you rarely hear his name in Top 5 talks. Why? Marino is clearly the better QB, but Defense wins Championships. Brady has 3 rings. People rarely bring up the fact that he had a great defense and run game that led him to those rings.

If Brady went out there and only scored 8 points and his team lost by 35, who would people blame? Brady, or everybody else?

One person can't do it alone. Teams win games. The media will slander Peyton from now until next season. Peyton's Legacy is fine. He will still go into the Hall of Fame, and still go down as one of the greatest of all time. Anybody who says otherwise doesn't know Football.





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By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete