After five weeks of football, Peyton Manning is looking spectacular in every way. Even before this season, I can remember watching Peyton Manning do things on the field that were just jaw dropping. I have always seen Peyton Manning as a leader of his team. I am also confident in saying Peyton is one of the best quarterbacks to play in the NFL ever.
Courtesy: USA Today
Peyton is currently playing in his second season with the Denver Broncos. Last season, he had amazing statistics throwing for almost 5,000 yards and 37 touchdowns, not to mention he was coming off surgery. He had such a great season; he won the 2012 Comeback Player of the Year. Unfortunately, the Broncos fell to defeat to the Baltimore Ravens, with a 38-35 home loss in their divisional playoff matchup.
Now that Manning and the Broncos are 5-0, they are looking to be heavily favored as the Super Bowl contenders this year. So far, Manning’s performance has led him to be a candidate for MVP. After five weeks of NFL action, he has thrown 20 touchdowns, thrown for 1,884 yards and has a QB Rating of 92.04.
He is a 4x MVP, 2x Bert Bell (Player of the Year), a 12x Pro Bowl section, a 6x First-Team All-Pro, and has one Super Bowl championship. With out a doubt he will end up in the Hall of Fame, alongside the other great quarterbacks of all time. But how great is Peyton Manning? Will just one ring be the factor that stops us from crowning him as the greatest quarterback of all time?
Here is a quick look at great NFL quarterbacks and their Super Bowl win-loss record:
Quarterback SB W-L
Tom Brady 3-2
John Elway 2-3
Terry Bradshaw 4-0
Joe Montana 4-0
Troy Aikman 3-0
Ben Roethlisberger 2-1
Kurt Warner 1-2
Bart Starr 2-0
Eli Manning 2-0
Joe Theismann 1-1
Brett Favre 1-1
Peyton Manning 1-1
Manning’s post-season record is just 9-11. This season, he is facing one of the ultimate tests that his career will face. Manning is surrounded with all the pieces of a Super Bowl team. This season, Manning must win a second Super Bowl to cement himself as one of the best quarterbacks ever in the NFL. Manning has always had offensive options while playing for the Indianapolis Colts. The difference in his Denver team is defense. The Broncos current defensive team is better than any that Manning has had with the Colts.
This season, for Manning and the Broncos it is Super Bowl or bust. Manning is 37 years old and the window of opportunity is closing. To be honest it still shocks me that his younger brother, Eli Manning, has just as many Super Bowl appearances as Peyton and has one more Super Bowl ring than Peyton.
Without a doubt, we can call Peyton Manning the best regular season quarterback of all time. He is second all-time in completed passes, second all-time in passing yards and second all-time in career passing touchdowns. He falls behind Favre in each category. Manning has 50 game winning drives, which is second for all time, just one game behind Dan Marino. He is first all time in 4th quarter comebacks with, 39, three more than Dan Marino. What is stopping us from giving him the title of best quarterback ever, is how he finishes the season. If he doesn’t finish with a championship, all those amazing statistics become bittersweet.
When it comes to Manning’s play, he has a very high level on intensity and tons of pure skill. Also, the numbers are all there but what Manning is missing to his “best quarterback of all-time” campaign is multiple Super Bowl Championships.
Right now, shadows of his younger brother Eli and Tom Brady cover the greatness of Peyton. I believe though, that this season is the Denver Bronco’s and Peyton’s best chance at winning the Super Bowl. Last season, there were many obstacles in place. For instance, Peyton missed the 2011 season, he was coming of neck surgery, he was on a new team, he had new teammates and he was learning a new system. Denver is now a team that has been fine tuned by Peyton and their system is fluid.
This Denver team seems very similar to the 1998 Denver Broncos with John Elway, when they won the Super Bowl. That year, they went 14-2 and I wouldn’t be shocked if it plays out the same way expect instead of Elway it will be Manning and instead of Shannon Sharpe it is Julius Thomas.
All of the pieces are there, if Manning is to come up short and not win a Super Bowl this year, it will stain his legacy. He is on mark to break the single-season record for touchdowns. That record is currently set by Tom Brady (50), it would be quite the feat to see Manning break Tom Brady’s record and win the Super Bowl, which would remove him from behind Brady, in who’s a better quarterback.
Manning needs to get the job done. This season will be the most important in his career and legacy. If he can win a second Super Bowl title, Manning will be remembered as the best quarterback of all-time.
All statistics credited to football-reference.com
