Thoughts Of Manning As Best Ever Ludicrous After Super Bowl Crushing By Jeff Sperber February 09, 2014 3:36 pm 
In late 2011, it seemed like Peyton Manning might never throw another pass in the NFL ever again.After surgery on his neck in May 2011, Manning underwent a second neck surgery in September before being officially ruled out for the season. His streak of consecutive starts as the Indianapolis Colts signal caller topped off at 208 regular season games, 227 games if you include the playoffs.And ultimately, after 13 seasons as the pride of Indy, after nine consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins, the Colts released Manning on March 7, 2012. NFL fans were left to wonder if Peyton would ever be back and whether or not he’d be able to return to an elite level of play if he did return.Well, Manning did come back, now a Denver Bronco, and he looked to be better than ever. Since his improbable return, Manning has won Comeback Player of the Year (2012), NFL MVP (2013), and been named to two Pro Bowls. Oh yeah, he also statistically had the best regular season in NFL history in 2013—throwing a record 55 touchdown passes, passing for a record 5,477 yards, and leading a unit that scored 606 points, the most in the history of the league.Manning led the Broncos to two 13-3 seasons. He helped them achieve back-to-back No. 1 seeds. But, despite all of that, despite all of the accolades and all of the records, Peyton Manning should have just retired. He should have retired as an Indianapolis Colt after his two surgeries. No one would have blamed him. Because now, after this Super Bowl, Peyton Manning hasn’t helped cement his legacy as one of the greats; he’s hurt it.If you want to be great, win the Super Bowl. At the end of the day, records are fun, but being an NFL champion is what you want. Pete Carroll didn’t win Coach of the Year. No member of the Seahawks ridiculously dominant defense won Defensive Player of the Year. Russell Wilson didn’t break all of the passing records in the book. Do you think they care? It’s fun to hold a record, to be the answer to a trivia question, but winning the Lombardi Trophy determines your legacy.Eleven quarterbacks have won two Super Bowls or more. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw won four apiece. Troy Aikman and Tom Brady each won three. Brady plays now. He’s been Manning’s main rival. Brady has three Super Bowl wins; Manning has one. Brady is better. Period.Not only has Brady outdueled Manning more times than not (Peyton that is, Eli might be another story), but he has done more with less. Peyton Manning has thrown to some of the top receiving corps in league history—from his days passing to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne to this year’s group. Manning as the best ever? He’s not even the best of his generation. Two other current QBs also have more Super Bowl rings: Peyton’s little brother and Ben Roethlisberger. I don’t think anyone’s ever going to argue that Big Ben is superior to Peyton, but I bet you Peyton would trade all of this season’s records for one of Roethlisberger’s rings.To be great you have to win in the playoffs, and the poster boy for Papa John’s is 11-12. Eight times he’s made the postseason and failed to win a game. He’s 1-2 in Super Bowls. (The Rex Grossman-led Bears team the Colts beat in Super Bowl XLI wasn’t particularly impressive either.)If you’re the best quarterback of all time, you don’t start 15 seasons at your position, as the leader of one of the NFL's best teams the far majority of those years, and come away with one championship. You come away with three or four. Or you make a dramatic comeback from an awful neck injury, break every NFL record in the books, and then become Super Bowl MVP picking apart one of the best pass defenses of all time. Yeah, that would at least put you in the discussion.But Peyton didn’t do that. He did not beat the Seattle Seahawks. Football is, of course, a team sport, but the Denver Broncos were Peyton Manning. If you’re ready to be the face of the Super Bowl champs, you have to be ready to also be the face of the Super Bowl losers. Plus, I have a feeling it wasn’t coach John Fox in that Broncos’ locker room at halftime breaking things down for the offense.This was Peyton’s last chance. He is not going to win another Super Bowl. He blew it. His Denver Broncos could not beat the clearly better NFC champions. What’s worse is that they didn’t even compete. At 37, how many years does Peyton really have left? Two? I sure don’t see a Super Bowl ring coming over one of those seasons. Years from now, when Alex Trebek reads, This NFL quarterback threw for a record-high 55 touchdowns in 2013, I will know the answer is Peyton Manning. Unfortunately for Peyton, if Trebek reads, This NFL quarterback holds the record for the most playoff losses, he’ll also be the answer. http://www.footballnation.com/content/thoughts-manning-as-best-ever-ludicrous-after-super-bowl-crushing/28523/
He IS the best ever.......Regular season QB. Hes a playoff choke artist and should consider himself lucky to even have A ring.
He IS the best ever.......Regular season QB. Hes a playoff choke artist and should consider himself lucky to even have A ring.
+1
Well, I guess if we're going to ask that, then maybe we should ask the same about marino, who has no superbowls, but was one of the game's best qb's?Seeing how he's been on two different teams that went to the sb, we have to believe he's one of the best ever. He can have a couple more years of success on a team that's pretty good. He might go back again before it's all said and done.
He IS the best ever.......Regular season QB. Hes a playoff choke artist and should consider himself lucky to even have A ring.
Agree. He should just retire already. He has to have more money than God tucked away. And playing with that neck held together by super glue is dangerous.
Peyton Manning is the best regular season QB of all-time. End of discussion.
Legend has it Eli has more hardware...But this is just a tale used to scare children into becoming Peyton homers.
Choke artist.
lolol
Always been a choke artist. All the way back to the Tennessee days when UF would ass rape him every year.
Peyton Manning is the best regular season QB of this era. End of discussion.
Fixed - Even Denver reporters don't believe Peyton is the best ever. http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_25040661/great-debate-rages-about-best-quarterbacks-all-time
Manning's only SB win was against Rex Grossman. He lucked into that one, for damn sure.
Manning's only SB win was against Rex Grossman. He lucked into that one, for damn sure.
Even Peyton can't beat Brady on SB chokes. He just tied Brady with that last one. Of course Brady had 3 wins before the 2 chokes of late.
Brady has done more with less than any i've ever seen
Going into the Super Bowl Manning had better post-season numbers than Brady. Biggest difference between them is Vinatieri made the kicks and Vanderjagt didn't.
