Time for Peyton to lead the Broncos

When you think of greatness in the NFL, you think of success in the playoffs. Great players are the ones who are able to overcome adversity and lead their teams to both playoff and Super Bowl wins. A lot of the time, that greatness comes in the form of a team’s quarterback and more recently we have seen different quarterbacks become “great” right before our eyes. In today’s NFL, we think of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and even Joe Flacco last season. While all these players are great at what they do, I believe that one of them is a bit overhyped for his play in the playoffs despite all his greatness.

Peyton Manning is the greatest regular season quarterback I have even seen, but the key words there are regular and season. Manning will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL but his lack of success in the playoffs will be the only pinch on his hall of fame resume. To his credit, he did win a Super Bowl with the Colts. But his postseason record stands at 9-11 with eight one-and-done appearances in the playoffs and a very disappointing loss last season to the Ravens in the divisional round. He’s been great throughout his career, just not AS great in the playoffs.

Manning had a season to remember in 2013. In the greatest statistical season ever by a quarterback, he piled-up 55 touchdowns, 10 interceptions while throwing for a record 5,477 yards. In the process, he led the Broncos to a 13-3 record along with the AFC West division title and the number one overall seed in the AFC playoffs.

We all know about Manning and his impressive numbers, but when the games have mattered a little more, he and his teams have just been average. Peyton had an historic 2013 but with another early playoff exit, his superlative regular season won’t seem as great, like others before it.