The knock on Manning was his record in the playoffs. Many feel that despite that Super Bowl three years ago, his dominance of the regular season, his talent, and Indianapolis' eighth season in a row with with ten or more wins, he should already have more than one title to his name, or at least a more competitive playoff record than 9-8 before Sunday's game.
Following on from defeat by a smart and adventurous New Orleans side, the media has rounded on Manning, labelling him a choker, the tag that followed him around during the early part of his career.
It is ridiculous to swing from one extreme to the other on the basis of one game, or even one pass, intercepted by Tracy Porter and returned for a fourth quarter touchdown. Manning did not play a bad Super Bowl, passing for over 300 yards, more than Drew Brees. He was not helped by his receivers, with Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne both dropping the ball at key moments, and he was the victim of a smart play by Porter, who successfully gambled and jumped Wayne's route for the interception.
Manning lies on the ground as Porter returns his interception for the game-winning touchdown, sparking Saints celebrations
Manning is one of the greats, and needs to be in any conversation about the greatest of all time, his achievements leave that in no doubt. That does not mean that he is the greatest, but you would have to at least discuss his credentials before moving on to other candidates. There is plenty of evidence that Manning is not a choker, with numerous big game wins, many of them in the fourth quarter or inside the two minute warning. This season's nail-biting win over New England or the comeback against the Jets in the AFC Championship game bear witness to that.
There have been those playoff failures, it is a serious issue when considering his career, and the Super Bowl defeat is a setback, but there is a difference between underperforming and choking, and between losing and choking. Some days a player underperforms, sometimes they get away with it and sometimes they don't. Some days the opponent plays a good game and there's little to be done about it. Playoff games and Super Bowls in particular, are especially unforgiving in their nature. The Saints played a smart and bold game, and they won the game, rather than Manning losing it.
Manning will forever be compared to Brady, his contemporary and rival, who has three titles to his name
Even Tom Brady's 14-4 postseason record does not reflect the fact that of his eight trips to the post-season, Brady has eventually failed in five of them. In the NFL there can be only one winner, so to tag any player as a loser for failing to be the one out of 32 who wins every time, is an unrealistic assessment of the player's worth. Of course, winning is the most important thing in professional sport, but failing to win the only prize on offer does not invalidate a player's other achievements.
What Manning has done on the field, calling his own plays, from a no-huddle offense, is unique in the modern game, and even in the old days when quarterbacks did call plays, the league was dominated by running, and the passing game was less complex. Manning is performing the most remarkable feats on the field week after week, and deserves credit for it. As a result, he is the victim of his own high standards. Many believe that Kurt Warner will one day end up in the Hall of Fame, but last year he too threw a costly interception in the Super Bowl. Because it happened early in the match, and Warner had an up and down career, he was not hauled over the coals for it. No-one expected super human feats from him as an underdog, like they do from Manning. Fans have been spoiled by his achievements, and mistakes that would be tolerated from others, are not from him.
Up to a point, the change in the media is because those who support him were the loudest voices before the game, whilst the critics had nothing to discuss. Now theirs are the loud voices, whilst those who believe he is the greatest quarterback of them all have kept quiet. It has been good to see however, that some have stepped forward to defend him, and inject some reality into proceedings, notably John Clayton and Tim Keown on ESPN.com.
Elway did not win his first Super Bowl until he was 37
Whether or not Manning is the greatest can never truly be objectively measured, and one might ask why it even needs to be discussed, rather than just appreciating the individual merits of all the greats, instead of ranking them. Regardless, it is a debate best left for after his retirement. After all, many consider John Elway the greatest quarterback, yet he lost three Super Bowls before his first win, which came when he was signifcantly older than Manning is now. Sean Payton, Drew Brees and co. played a great game last Sunday, give them credit for their win, rather than apportioning blame for the Colts' loss.
No comments:
Post a Comment