Manning cements his legacy with 31-17 loss to Saints

“Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback of all time.”

For many years, the national sports media have bombarded us with this proposition.

I have never been a big fan of Manning. After all, he has a likeable personality. His commercials are amusing, and he once served as a hilarious host on Saturday Night Live. His Indianapolis Colts have often been an opponent of my favorite team, the San Diego Chargers, but since he has played against and lost to the Chargers twice in the playoffs, I’ve never had any real beef with him for that reason. I do not take issue with the assertion that Manning is great. But I do have a major problem with the belief that Manning is among the greatest.

There is no doubt that he is a winner — at least during the regular season. Aside from the 1998 and 2001 seasons, he has won at least 10 games every year. The recent years have been particularly impressive, considering that the Colts, who once boasted a great running game headlined by Edgerrin James, have not run the ball well.

But I would argue that his regular-season numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. In recent years, modifications to the NFL’s rules regarding defensive pass interference and illegal contact penalties have allowed NFL passing offenses to put up numbers that were previously unheard of. This season, five quarterbacks finished with quarterback ratings greater than 100. It’s become standard to expect at least a 95 for an elite quarterback.

For reference, Joe Montana’s career quarterback rating was 92.3, Dan Marino’s was 86.4, John Elway’s was 79.9 and Johnny Unitas’ was 78.2. Of course, the stats don’t tell the whole story. These four quarterbacks were the class of their eras.

Manning has a very good chance to walk away with all the major quarterback records: completions, yards and touchdowns. But his numbers must be understood in their context: a period during which the NFL decided that pass-happy offenses were in its best interest and altered the rules accordingly.

Then there is the issue of his playoff performance, which has been sub-par from start to finish. After losing his first three playoff games, Manning reached the AFC Championship in consecutive years. He was turned back both times by the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. In 2005, he went one-and-done again.

In 2006, Manning led the Colts on one of the most unremarkable Super Bowl runs in recent memory. Manning defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, a weak team that had nearly missed out on the playoffs. In the next game, he defeated the Baltimore Ravens, a team with a historically inept offense that lived up to its name by scoring only six points in the game. He then achieved what is probably the marquee win of his career, a 38-34 defeat of Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. The Colts had trailed 21-3, but a furious second-half comeback saw them win the game. The victory was impressive, but was as much a result of a breakdown of epic proportions on the part of the Patriots.

In the Super Bowl, the Colts faced the Chicago Bears. The Bears were arguably worse than all six of the AFC playoff teams, having taken advantage of a weak NFC. Manning won — though not that impressively — 29-17.

In 2007 and 2008, Manning was one and done at the hands of Philip Rivers and my Chargers.

Then came this season, and another spectacularly unremarkable run to the Super Bowl capped off by a poor performance in the big game. The Colts first defeated the Ravens, who still haven’t figured out their offensive problems. Then came the upstart Jets, whose biting defense was supposed to be a big test for the Colts’ dynamic offense. The Jets jumped to an early lead, but their utterly inept offense and confused defense ushered Manning back into the game. Off the Colts were to the Super Bowl again.

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While I was disappointed to no end that my Chargers were not in the Super Bowl, I was somewhat contented by the fact that Manning would be faced with a legitimate challenge in the Super Bowl. The New Orleans Saints possessed just as dynamic a passing game as the Colts, a solid running game and a play-making defense. I thought to myself, “If Manning can make this look easy, maybe I’ll finally become a believer.”

I don’t think I’ll ever be a believer. After leading his team to a 10-0 first-quarter lead, Manning’s offense stalled. The Saints slowly crept back, taking a 13-10 lead early in the third quarter. Manning’s offense responded with a touchdown of its own, but that would be all for the Colts. The Saints added a field goal and a touchdown with a two-point conversion to take a 24-17 lead with 5:42 remaining in the game.

Manning then took over and did what he has done time and time again in the playoffs — choke. Following a wimpy seven play, 39-yard drive, Manning threw a pick-six to Saints cornerback Tracy Porter. The touchdown cemented the game for the Saints, who won 31-17.

With the loss, Manning’s playoff record stands at a mediocre 9-9. This is not to say that Manning is a bad quarterback. His durability, wins and four MVP honors will never be forgotten. But his regular season stats must always be viewed in light of the defensive rule changes, and his playoff performances have been largely unimpressive.

Manning can keep throwing four touchdown passes every time he plays the Houston Texans for the rest of his career. But unless he steadies his play in the playoffs, it would be wrong to consider him as one of the top-five quarterbacks of all time.