Peyton Manning should retire

Manning would have looked positively ancient if the guy across from him wasn't looking even more ancient.

 

Man, there are some haters on this board. Dumb haters. Manning went out, scored on the first drive through the air, got his team the lead and did nothing to lose said lead in a game where both defenses dominated except for Manning's first drive. He wasn't fabulous, but he was faultless. I know it spoils a popular narrative, but why don't you give it up and try to appreciate a great athlete. There's no way I could feel anything but admiration for either of those two teams or those two quarterbacks after this game.

 

Wicked pissah!

 

The hot takes involving Manning and/or Brady are, indeed, some of the best.

 

It could be argued that you're trying to convince yourself they're still on top of their game.

They're not.

 

Absolutely. He made plays at the start, and the two throws to Daniels were the reason the Broncos won. He did more than simply manage the game in the first half, and the first half is where the Broncos won.

 

If Manning goes 17-for-32 for 176 yards, 2 TDs and 0 interceptions: His defense won the game! He didn't! He sucks!
If Manning goes 25-for-32 for 380 yards, 3 TDs and 0 interceptions: Glory boy! He has to hog the spotlight! He's still only won one Super Bowl, and it was against Rex Grossman and the Bears, and his defense carried him then too, and he does too many commercials! He sucks!

Manning wasn't great today, but he wasn't bad either. He certainly helped his team more than he hurt them. It's also obvious, even to Manning I'd bet, that the defense is going to win or lose a championship for the Broncos this year. His job is to not fuck it up.

Meanwhile, nobody poo-poos another so-so performance by Brady in an AFC championship game (27-for-56, 310 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs). Getting there 10 times is phenomenal, winning six times is incredible, but not once in any of them has he been as good as his reputation.

 

Brady got hit 23 times today. The fact that he made it out alive is remarkable.

 

Very true. The Broncos' defense was awesome. It wasn't so much that Brady was awful, as the Broncos' defense simply beat the Patriots' offense.
However, if the same thing had happened to Manning the storyline would be how much of a choking dog he is and how he came up short yet again in a big spot against the Patriots. It's all silly. It's also amazing that four rings -- only one of which has come in what would be considered his prime -- seems to have bought Brady immunity from any of that kind of criticism.

 

My appreciation of what Manning does increased the week he came off the bench to replace Osweiler and immediately put a huge charge into the offense.. In that game, it wasn't so much throws or plays that he made. Instead, it was plays he got the Broncos' offense into. Getting the team into a correct running play that goes for big yardage doesn't show up in a QB's stats, but it's just as important part of the job.

 

That's exactly what I said, in different terms. He was a slightly worse version of Alex Smith. He wasn't the main reason they won.

Seems a very odd time for gloating and I told you sos.

 

Did you watch Brady play this year? He looked ancient to you this year?

Denver's D hammered him.

The narrative is priceless, Gotkowski misses extra point, Peyton played great. He makes that and Patriots win in OT, another Peyton failure.