Defenses win championships in football and his teams were never built for the playoffs (bad D line, soft receivers). Yet he found a way to win the SB with a team that had the worst run defense giving an average of 150 yds/game. That has never happened in NFL history. If you look at most of those playoff losses with Indy, especially in the peak of his career, the opposing teams had twice the time of possession. It wasn’t rocket science to beat the Colts: pound the ball and keep Peyton off the field. He lost one SB on an onside freakin kick. In his 3 losses with the Broncos, one was on a hail Mary desperation throw by Flacco, one was against possibly the greatest defense in NFL history and the last one he had a torn quad. It’s hard enough to win in the playoffs against good teams, when your D and special teams play poorly it’s nearly impossible.
Not to mention he had the most overrated coaches (Dungy, Fox) that were unable to adapt in the playoffs. There’s no doubt in my mind he would have had more than 1 SB if Belichick was his coach because Belichick knows how to adapt and does anything in order to win (spygate, ineligible receivers, double coverages, etc).
I haven’t looked into the stats in detail, but I don’t consider Peyton the best QB of all time or even worth mentioning near the very top of the list. It’s not just about stats. You have to win. He’s not a winner when it counts. You can put together whatever stats you want, but there is simply no way Peyton is better than Montana or other clutch post-season QBs. He’s not as good as Rodgers or Brady, either, if we’re talking about current players only.
QB’s get too much credit for winning SB’s and too much criticism for not winning them. Did Elway really go from being just okay to one of the all-time greats because Terrell Davis won him 2 SB’s? Is Trent Dilfer better than Donovan McNabb because he has a ring and #5 doesn’t? Is Terry Bradshaw tied with Montana as the best QB ever? Is Eli Manning 2x as good as Kurt Warner (who has the same SB record as Peyton)?
I don’t know if you can reverse it and say that, but that does raise an interesting question: If you were in the playoffs, all else equal, would you rather have Eli or Peyton running the show?
In 2005, the Colts had the #2 defense in the NFL. They got a first-round bye and lost their first game to the Steelers (when Jerome Bettis fumbled at the 1-yd line and Roethlisberger had the game-saving tackle).
IN 2006, the Colts had the #23 defense in the NFL and won the Super Bowl.
In 2007, the Colts had the #1 defense in the NFL. They got a first-round bye and lost their first game to the Chargers (who were playing without Rivers or Tomlinson).
In 2008 and 2009, they had the #7 and #8 defense in the NFL. In '08 they lost in the WC round, and in '09 they went to the Super Bowl.
How are you measuring defense ranking? By pts allowed? Obviously the defense never showed up in the playoffs because the opposing teams kept pounding the ball on the ground for 5-6-7 minute possessions on every drive. I just checked it out, the 2006 Colts finished #32 in rush defense giving 173 yds/game!! It was the first (and I believe only time) that a team ranked last in rush defense won the SB. Now that is an accomplishment and the offense deserves major credit for that.
This is a no brainer. It’s Peyton. If you said Brady or Rodgers, then we can have a serious debate.
And I’d rather have Clayton Kershaw pitching for me in the playoffs (despite his 1-5 record and 5.12 ERA in the post season) than some mediocre starter that happened to have decent post season numbers and a few rings.
I always use the Elway comparison too. Someone doesn’t go from a choker to a clutch player overnight.
I like using the opposite comparison too. In his first 10 playoff games, Tom Brady was 10-0 with 3 SBs. Since then, he’s 9-8. His team has won the division every year (exception being in 2008 where he missed the entire year) since then and yet he can’t “win the big game” anymore. He lost 2 SBs, lost to Peyton twice in AFC Championships (ironically the choker beat the clutch guy) and lost 3 more home playoff games (2 vs BAL, 1 vs NYJ).
Has Brady lost his magic to win the big game all of a sudden? The answer is obviously not. There are so many factors that determine the outcome in a playoff game between 2 good teams and the QB believe it or not doesn’t control a lot of them.
I don’t think it’s a debate, you’d obviously much rather have Rodgers or Brady hands down under any scenario in the post season. Peyton was a great QB, he’s just not the best of all-time.
If Rodgers doesn’t win this year, recent history isn’t on his side to ever win another one again. He turns 32 next season. Look at the trend during the last decade:
2003 — Tom Brady, Patriots, 26 2004 — Tom Brady, Patriots, 27 2005 — Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers, 23 2006 — Peyton Manning, Colts, 30 2007 — Eli Manning, Giants, 27 2008 — Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers, 26 2009 — Drew Brees, Saints, 31 2010 — Aaron Rodgers, Packers, 27 2011 — Eli Manning, Giants, 31 2012 — Joe Flacco, Ravens, 28
If playoff record is what matters, I’m gonna go with Troy Aikman. 11 wins and 3 losses. 3 Super Bowl victories, and one NFC Conference finalist. Better than any of those Rodgers or Manning guys.