The funny thing is that the old story on Manning (i.e. he got happy feet, panicked and choked in the playoffs) is now being replaced by a new story. Peyton would win super Bowls but he is saddled with a horrible defense.
They're making him out to be Dan marino, and he's not. marino was saddled with horrible defenses, and Marino never panicked. He chewed his teammates out, but he was clutch, unlike Peyton.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_(sports)
Since then, NFL teams popularly labeled chokers (or often, "choke artists") have included the Minnesota Vikings more or less throughout the 1970s, the San Diego Chargers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Buffalo Bills in the 1990s and, most recently, the Philadelphia Eagles and the
Indianapolis Colts in the early 2000s. In all five instances the respective quarterbacks for these teams — Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Donovan McNabb and
Peyton Manning — have also been stereotyped personally along with the entire teams themselves, McNabb adding to his reputation for choking with three interceptions in the Eagles' 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX after having been intercepted only eight times during the entire 2004 regular season. Manning's reputation for choking was added to due to the Colts loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Colts' first game of the playoffs in 2006, along with his record against the New England Patriots (1-7, 0-2 in postseason) in the playoffs and his 0-3 record against Florida in college.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutch_(sports)
NFL players like Joe Montana and
Tom Brady (whose idol is Montana), neither blessed with the athleticism and arm strength of "prototype" quarterbacks like
Dan Marino, came up big when their respective teams, the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots, needed them in the Super Bowl or in any other big game. Neither Brady or Montana have put up the stats Marino (who lost his only Super Bowl appearance) did in his career, but they have 7 Super Bowl wins among them (Montana 4, Brady 3).