Peyton Manning...

I'm pretty sure he won a Super Bowl already and had several clutch performances in those playoffs as well as these. One bad throw for a pick 6 doesn't mean he's a choke artist. The Colts would have had no problem if they were able to make one stop on defense.

I'll admit over the past few years, he's had some played very well in some big games. However, it's not too hard to put together a list just as long of huge games where he either had a poor all around game, or made that one disastrous mistake that ended up deciding the game.

'96 UF - Two horrible INTS in the first half, one returned for a TD that contributed to UT falling behind 35-0 in the first half.

'97 UF - The Tony George pick 6 basically ended that game before it ever started.

'03 playoff vs. Jets - 2 INTS and barely over 100 passing yards in a 41-0 defeat.

'04 AFCCG vs. Pats - 4 INTS destroy any chance the colts had of winning that game, followed by the colts whining so much about the pats playing tough coverage that the NFL had to change the rules to help them.

'05 playoff vs Pats - new rules didn't help as manning throws no td's and is picked once as the colts only manage 3 points.

'10 Super Bowl vs. Saints - Good game, but in the end threw a backbreaking pick-6 on the potential game tying drive.

Manning has been a great QB for a long time, but in terms of "the greatest ever", it's hard to see someone earning that title having failed so epically so many times when the lights were at their brightest.
 
:birgits_giggle:

They are all over the place

It seems Bill Simmons has a pretty good following on the Pats, and Boston boards. It figures, he got his start in Boston. I read his page 2 column pretty regularly and I think he was the one who coined the term "Manning Face" when the Pats were dominating the colts every year. In his mailbag this week he talked about how his, and everyone else's perception of Manning choking in big games has changed over the past few seasons.

Q: Did you just witness the New Peyton Manning Face? That one that says, "I SMASH fools, NO ONE is as hard as me. NO ONE prepares like I do. I am the Field General. I am Peyton Effing Manning!" I had my doubts, but there's no way the Colts are losing this game.
--Aaron, Corvallis, Ore.


SG: That arrived in my mailbox at 4:42 p.m. ET during the Jets-Colts game. And Aaron couldn't have been more right. Old Peyton Manning Face is either gone or hibernating. New Peyton Manning Face is carrying the day.

And if you're trying to talk yourself into the Saints on Sunday, you keep coming back to one question: "Has Manning reached that hallowed MJ/Montana/Bird/Federer 'Don't Bet Against Me, It's Just a Bad Idea' level?" That Jets game was his masterpiece. New York had all the momentum. They had gotten two big plays, gone up by two scores, taken the crowd out of the game and had Manning as (seemingly) rattled as he'd been in a while. They just needed to make it to halftime. What happened? Manning trotted back out and just throttled them. Four plays, 80 yards, two world-class throws. The game was never the same.

What shocked me most: I was sitting there expecting Manning to come through … a player I always assumed would choke in big moments as recently as four years ago. Isn't that the final stage for a great athlete, when we expect an impeccable performance from him during a truly dire situation? Look, I hate the Colts and bleed Brady. Nothing makes me unhappier as a football fan than the increasing likelihood that (a) Manning is cementing his claim as the best quarterback of his generation (and possibly the best ever), and (b) the Brady-Belichick salad days may have come and gone. It's a worst-case scenario for me. I hate it. But if you like football, if you care about it at all, how could you not appreciate what Manning inflicted on the Jets? Within the span of an hour, he singlehandedly broke the will of an overachieving team that had been firing on all cylinders. By the end of the third quarter, everyone on New York's defense had the body language of a boxer who was getting his butt whupped but still had four rounds to go. They were done.

We saw Brady hit this level during the first 10 weeks of New England's 16-0 regular season; Manning has been banging it out for five solid months. And if you're thinking about betting against him in the Pierre Bowl, ask yourself this: How dumb will you feel in the fourth quarter, with the Colts leading by 10 and driving for another score, if Manning has the New Peyton Manning Face going? Would you be kicking yourself? Would you be saying, "Why did I go against Manning? What was I thinking?" More on this at the end of the column.

He went on to conclude the column with his Super Bowl pick...
For me, it comes down to this: I can't pick against Manning in a big game. It's just a bad idea. Hence, I like a relatively close game with Indy prevailing 31-23 (covering the 4½-point spread but hitting the under of 57½). Then we can spend the subsequent week wondering whether Indy could have gone 19-0. That will be a barrel of laughs.
 
I'll admit over the past few years, he's had some played very well in some big games. However, it's not too hard to put together a list just as long of huge games where he either had a poor all around game, or made that one disastrous mistake that ended up deciding the game.

'96 UF - Two horrible INTS in the first half, one returned for a TD that contributed to UT falling behind 35-0 in the first half.

'97 UF - The Tony George pick 6 basically ended that game before it ever started.

'03 playoff vs. Jets - 2 INTS and barely over 100 passing yards in a 41-0 defeat.

'04 AFCCG vs. Pats - 4 INTS destroy any chance the colts had of winning that game, followed by the colts whining so much about the pats playing tough coverage that the NFL had to change the rules to help them.

'05 playoff vs Pats - new rules didn't help as manning throws no td's and is picked once as the colts only manage 3 points.

'10 Super Bowl vs. Saints - Good game, but in the end threw a backbreaking pick-6 on the potential game tying drive.

Manning has been a great QB for a long time, but in terms of "the greatest ever", it's hard to see someone earning that title having failed so epically so many times when the lights were at their brightest.

Out of those you listed, you're REALLY stretching to say they were all Manning's fault. I find it really idiotic to blame one QB for getting behind 35-0 or losing 41-0. There's no way one guy is responsible for that type of futility. I was at the '96 game and I know this for a fact. Manning had nothing to do with blowing a 4th down TD by the Gators to begin the game, a play every fan in the stadium could have told you was about to happen. Any Vol fan can tell you the game went downhill from there.

Also you're leaving out 2 very important factors...Phil Fulmer and Tony Dungy.
 
Out of those you listed, you're REALLY stretching to say they were all Manning's fault. I find it really idiotic to blame one QB for getting behind 35-0 or losing 41-0. There's no way one guy is responsible for that type of futility. I was at the '96 game and I know this for a fact. Manning had nothing to do with blowing a 4th down TD by the Gators to begin the game, a play every fan in the stadium could have told you was about to happen. Any Vol fan can tell you the game went downhill from there.

Also you're leaving out 2 very important factors...Phil Fulmer and Tony Dungy.

Obviously you can't put all the blame for a 41-0 defeat on the QB of the losing team. However, even if the Jets had only managed a field goal that day, it would have been enough since the Colts couldn't even manage to score. Getting shut out in the playoffs is never good.
 
gotta love it when the "Biggest Manning hater competition" threads break out.
 
So for real, do Colts fans, or Peyton Manning for that matter, realize how lucky they are that the opponent in Super Bow XLI was led by Rex effing Grossman?
 
So for real, do Colts fans, or Peyton Manning for that matter, realize how lucky they are that the opponent in Super Bow XLI was led by Rex effing Grossman?

at least come with something original and not a line every blogger is using this morning. Thought you were better than that.
 
So for real, do Colts fans, or Peyton Manning for that matter, realize how lucky they are that the opponent in Super Bow XLI was led by Rex effing Grossman?

When was the last time your team was even in the hunt for a playoff spot? There are 30 other team who wished they were in that game last night
 
There's an article on SI about Manning's problem in big games: he never won a state championship in high school, never won the NC as a college player, etc.
 
There's an article on SI about Manning's problem in big games: he never won a state championship in high school, never won the NC as a college player, etc.

You mean the guy who won a SEC championship, 2 AFC championships, a Super Bowl and has a record 4 MVPs?
 
I love the people acting like Peyton is a bad QB. Sounds like bitter Titans fans

They are bitter because most everytime Peyton and the Colts kick their butts. Peyton is one of the best to ever play and the best in football right now. No 1 player deserves all the credit or blame. This game was lost as a team, no one person.
 
They are bitter because most everytime Peyton and the Colts kick their butts. Peyton is one of the best to ever play and the best in football right now. No 1 player deserves all the credit or blame. This game was lost as a team, no one person.

Just needed a lil more defense. They simply couldn't stop the Saints at what they did all season. I thought they would be a lil more ready than they were.
 
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