Peyton Manning Returns to sub-.500 Playoff Form. Sounds About Right
__________________________________________________________________________Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback of all time.
This is the dry storyline that was to be preached by the lapdog media as Peyton Manning had somehow made forgetters (that’s not a word, I know) out of all of us by virtue of his Magnifico performance against a seemingly untouchable defense, and The NFL’s original team of destiny, The New York Jets.
After losing to The NFL’s new team of destiny, The New Orleans Saints, Peyton Manning now goes from Michael Jordan to Brett Favre. A legacy that would have merited his face on The imaginary Mount Rushmore of Sports now includes his head hanging down in frustration as an assortment of ‘Manning is The Greatest Quarterback ever after Superbowl XLIV Win’ headlines will forever be hidden from view. 
I sipped the kool aid. After quote “setting my heat-seeking missiles” on The Saints and The Colts during the postseason, I suffered the old egg on the face when both teams ended up in The Superbowl and I was left to choose between the lesser of two evils. Were The Saints overvalued, or was Manning still a playoff choke artist?
It was kind of like that classic fight scene between two dopplegangers, where an added protagonist must choose which of the two is the evil one. I was that added protagonist. With a gun in my hand, I was forced to make my pick as to who’s obvious faults (that I had seemingly erroneously preached for months) would come back to haunt them.
Point. Aim. Shoot. I chose Peyton. Oops.
And while a prevalent school of thought in the aftermath of Superbowl XLIV is how we cannot base Peyton’s legacy on one throw, or one game, the truth is yes we can. That one game, where Peyton played valiantly yet hiccuped when it counted, means that Peyton goes from 10-8 in The Playoffs (a record nobody would have cared about) and the greatest quarterback ever (what playoff struggles?) to 9-9 and the greatest regular season quarterback ever. A title once held by the great Warren Moon. Yikes.
The self-destructive Peyton Manning returned to Playoff form. You know? The guy who went 0-3 to start his playoff career? The guy who has suffered disheartening one-and-out playoff appearances in 6 of his 10 seasons? The guy who is 9-9 in the playoffs? 9-9 is average. Average is about the best thing you’re going to hear about Peyton’s playoff acumen now that his postseason demons seemed to have been hanging on for dear life after all. Is Peyton Manning the greatest quarterback ever? I don’t know. But hold the presses on that one. Peyton’s still got another fur ball to hack out.
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Tags: NFL, NFL Playoffs, Peyton Manning, Suprbowl XLIV, What Playoff struggles? THOSE Playoff Struggles
