Poetic justice. That’s the phrase I thought of when Super Bowl 50 came to an end. Actually, it’s the phrase I thought of before the game even began. It’s the phrase I came up with when I imagined how I would feel after a Denver Broncos victory. And now, it’s the phrase I use, after that victory has been secured. Peyton Manning has received his poetic justice.
Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50, defeating Carolina Panthers, 24-10
This game could not have been more about the defenses. Both pass rushes were unbelievably disruptive in the backfield, and ultimately, the team that made fewer mistakes was victorious. This game was ugly. There were 7 fumbles, 4 of which were recovered by the opposing team. There were two interceptions, but there definitely could have been more if Josh Norman could have held onto a couple of fluttering passes that Manning threw. This game was just ugly, in the sense that the defenses were completely overpowering. Newton was sacked 6 times and hurried many more times. In my Super Bowl prediction, I said that Newton’s mobility was going to make him tough to bring down, but that was not the case at all. Newton was completely overwhelmed, and I don’t think any quarterback could have succeeded against that Denver defense on Sunday. Cam will get a lot of the criticism for this loss, which I think is unfair. The Denver defense was just unbelievably dominant. The Broncos could have taken knees on offense for the entire second half, and they probably still would have won. They pretty much did this is the fourth quarter by running the ball on every play, then punting, knowing that there was no way that the Carolina offense would score a TD against their vaunted defense. And they were right. When Cam fumbled the ball for the final turnover of the game, the Super Bowl was sealed. Until then, the game was close all night; however, it never seemed like the Panthers had a chance, as the Broncos were far superior.
Now that I have gotten the recap out of the way, the rest of this post will be all about Peyton Manning. For 18 years, number 18 blessed us with his presence in the NFL. For 17 years, Peyton Manning was a great quarterback. For about 10 of those years, Manning could be considered the greatest of all time. For 5 of those years, he was the most valuable player in the league. Still, he only had one Super Bowl Championship to show for it. If the quarterback position is all that a team needs to succeed, then where are Peyton Manning’s 5 Super Bowl rings, one for each of the seasons that he was considered the best player in the NFL? The lack of championships was the only knock on Manning’s claim to being the greatest quarterback of all time. Many people feel that since the quarterback is the most important position on the field, the quarterback is the determining factor of success. I do not agree with this, especially after watching the Denver defense will this team to victory for the entire season. After 17 seasons of being great, Peyton Manning was awful for one season. And now, during a season that can easily be considered Manning’s worst NFL season by far, Manning has won his second Super Bowl.
In my mind, this does not add to Manning’s legacy. How could someone believe that Manning’s legacy is greater for winning this second Super Bowl? His career was just as great before Super Bowl 50 as it was after. In fact, in my opinion, this final, terrible statistical season marginally hampered his illustrious career. This season was far and away the worst season of Manning’s career. 9 touchdowns. 17 interceptions. Those were Manning’s regular season numbers. The only other time Manning even threw more interceptions than touchdowns in a season was way back in his rookie season (26 TDs, 28 INTs). The Broncos won in spite of Manning all year, and this game was a perfect example of just how bad Manning was this season. Manning threw for 143 yards and 1 interception. Kubiak no longer trusted him to throw the ball in the fourth quarter, knowing that his defense was all he needed to preserve the lead. There was no need to risk another Manning interception or fumble. So, all Manning had to do to win the game was hand the ball to CJ Anderson, and wait for the clock to run out. I’m fairly certain that any one of the other starting 31 quarterbacks in the league could have won a Super Bowl, backed by this world class defense.
However, my point isn’t to chastise Manning’s final NFL game, rather it is to glorify his NFL career. This is his poetic justice. In Manning’s final season (there is no way he plays another season, right?), he proved that even the worst quarterback can win a Super Bowl. Now, quarterbacks like Marino and Manning (two of the greats who had trouble in the playoffs) don’t have to be haphazardly muddled together with the likes of Joe Flacco, Russell Wilson, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, etc. Marino and Manning are all-time greats, while the latter few are fortunate Super Bowl winning quarterbacks (granted a quarterback like Wilson is still young and has time to prove how great he can be). It is for this reason that Trent Dilfer is one of my favorite Super Bowl champion quarterbacks. Dilfer is one of the worst quarterbacks (probably the worst before 2015 Peyton Manning) to win a Super Bowl, which he did in Super Bowl XXXV thanks to an unbelievable Ravens defense. Quarterbacks influences a team more than any other position, but they are hardly the all-determining factor.
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will forever be compared against each other. Tom Brady is generally believed to be the greater of the two all-time great quarterbacks, which is mainly due to his four Super Bowl championships. However, while the four Super Bowls are great indicators of success, they should not be the only deciding factor when determining how great a quarterback is / was. If you really look into it, Brady never won any Super Bowls during his best seasons. He won a Super Bowl during his first season in 2001, long before he had even cemented himself as a top tier quarterback. While he was still improving, during the 2003 and 2004 season, Brady won two more Super Bowls. Coincidentally, Manning was the MVP during both of those seasons. If quarterback ability decided championships, shouldn’t these Super Bowls have belonged to Manning? Finally, Brady notched another Super Bowl victory during the 2014 season, at the ripe age of 37, well out of his prime. Brady is a great quarterback, but to say that his career was greater than Manning’s, based on Super Bowl victories, would be unfair. In fact, when Tom Brady was at his very best, he was not winning Super Bowls (though he came close twice). If Super Bowls were all that mattered, someone would have to explain to me how 2001 Tom Brady (18 TDs, 12 INTs) was better than 2007 Tom Brady (50 TDs, 8 INTs).
In the end, who really cares which quarterback is greater? Who cares whether Manning is considered the greatest of all time? The fact of the matter is that for 18 years, Manning was my favorite player to watch, and now he has received his poetic justice. Manning revolutionized the quarterback position. No one knew more about the game, or the tendencies of his opponents than Manning. No one analyzed a field and called more audibles than Manning. No one had as great of an NFL mind as Manning. As a kid, one of the things I specifically remember from playing Madden on XBox was playing against the Colts because of how annoying and frustrating it was. In the game, most computer-controlled offenses snap the ball within a few seconds. However, when playing Manning’s Colts, the snap would come after about 25 seconds and 4 audible calls. It was so annoying to play against, having to wait so long for every single play. Contrarily, in real life, it was a pleasure to watch (maybe because in the video game it was all meaningless, while in real life it was actually effective). Either way, I will miss what Manning added to the game, even if his last couple seasons were somewhat painful to watch. He is the greatest quarterback I ever saw play, and now he has his second Super Bowl championship. Finally, it’s time for Manning to ride off into the sunset. After 18 years, I think he has given enough to the game.
On a side note, with respect to my predictions, I finished the post-season 10-1 straight up and 9-1-1 ATS. Those numbers are unbelievable. However, there is still room for improvement. I’ll be making my attempt to go undefeated next post-season. For now, we can all relax with the off-season. Next season is only about 30 weeks away.
