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For years Patriots fans laughed at all of Peyton's postseason collapses.
There was not a peep from the media, save for one lonely comment in 2006 by Boomer Esiason. Boomer was roundly slammed for saying on TV that Peyton & the Colts needed to beat Brady & the Pats or else some people would (very unfairly, in his opinion!) think that Peyton was another A-Rod (meaning a choker). Boomer was taken to the woodshed for that mild comment.
We know what then happened in the 2006 AFCCG. Flu. 85 degree heat. 2nd half collapse. A bogus face-guarding flag. An official apology for missed calls. Then the Bears and Rex Grossman provided almost a bye to a Colts Super Bowl win, capping a 3 game run "led" by Peyton with 3 TDs and 7 INTs.
Then came 2007. The Colts, not the Patriots, had the #1 D in the NFL. The 16-0 Patriots got all of the attention. Nobody in the media chirped as Billy Volek outdueled Peyton Manning, giving him one-and-done #5.
Lather, rinse, repeat: in 2008 there was yet another one-and-done loss to San Diego, #6 if you are counting.
In 2009 Peyton and the Colts went to the Super Bowl. Peyton threw a soul-crushing pick-6 to lose the game. No one blamed him one bit, other than a few of us Patriots fans who chuckled and pointed at his 9-9 playoff record.
In 2010, one-and-done AGAIN, one-and-done #7.
Injured in 2011.
2012, one-and-done #8. But...the discussion CHANGED, almost overnight.
Fool me once, twice, 3 times.... then eight times there was finally a wake-up call! The eighth time is a charm I guess! After that loss, one year ago, we finally started hearing people on ESPN, Fox, and even NFL network at least bringing the (then) 9-11 record into the discussion. There became at least a discussion of the contrast between the 9-11 QB with 8 one-and-dones and the 17-7 QB with two one-and-dones, who had virtually the same regular season success while the 9-11 guy had by and large more talent to work with.
Sure, most of the media were regularly lathering up Peyton's ballsack and STILL calling him the greatest ever. This fawning chorus only increased this year, with a season of goofy pinball numbers.
But some people had already spoken up, on TV last year. Spoken up about playoff success (or lack thereof). That had not changed. The 9-11 record was real. The 4-10 record in head-to-heads vs. Brady was real. These few brave media people were not just going to forget it, amazingly.
We now hear more of them, louder and louder. Yes, we have turned them around. Peyton has ownership of that 10-11 career record. Media people, not just Patriots fans, are talking openly about a "mixed legacy" for Peyton Manning. They are talking about Sunday being a "must win" for his career. Even the Colts owner publicly griped that one ring in an amazing decade was just not enough.
In short, national news media are saying what we were saying 8-9 years ago.
That is refreshing.
We need this one on Sunday, though, or a lot of them will immediately sweep it all under the rug and say that 11-11 Manning has caught up to (in that scenario) or even passed 18-8 Brady, that 5-10 in head-to-heads is close enough to call it "advantage Peyton"
I REALLY hope that we do not let that happen.
Nothing would cap the stupid already-resolved (in Brady's favor) Manning-Brady "debate" like another beatdown of the fivehead as a home favorite, at the hands of the true greatest QB of all time.
:rocker:
There was not a peep from the media, save for one lonely comment in 2006 by Boomer Esiason. Boomer was roundly slammed for saying on TV that Peyton & the Colts needed to beat Brady & the Pats or else some people would (very unfairly, in his opinion!) think that Peyton was another A-Rod (meaning a choker). Boomer was taken to the woodshed for that mild comment.
We know what then happened in the 2006 AFCCG. Flu. 85 degree heat. 2nd half collapse. A bogus face-guarding flag. An official apology for missed calls. Then the Bears and Rex Grossman provided almost a bye to a Colts Super Bowl win, capping a 3 game run "led" by Peyton with 3 TDs and 7 INTs.
Then came 2007. The Colts, not the Patriots, had the #1 D in the NFL. The 16-0 Patriots got all of the attention. Nobody in the media chirped as Billy Volek outdueled Peyton Manning, giving him one-and-done #5.
Lather, rinse, repeat: in 2008 there was yet another one-and-done loss to San Diego, #6 if you are counting.
In 2009 Peyton and the Colts went to the Super Bowl. Peyton threw a soul-crushing pick-6 to lose the game. No one blamed him one bit, other than a few of us Patriots fans who chuckled and pointed at his 9-9 playoff record.
In 2010, one-and-done AGAIN, one-and-done #7.
Injured in 2011.
2012, one-and-done #8. But...the discussion CHANGED, almost overnight.
Fool me once, twice, 3 times.... then eight times there was finally a wake-up call! The eighth time is a charm I guess! After that loss, one year ago, we finally started hearing people on ESPN, Fox, and even NFL network at least bringing the (then) 9-11 record into the discussion. There became at least a discussion of the contrast between the 9-11 QB with 8 one-and-dones and the 17-7 QB with two one-and-dones, who had virtually the same regular season success while the 9-11 guy had by and large more talent to work with.
Sure, most of the media were regularly lathering up Peyton's ballsack and STILL calling him the greatest ever. This fawning chorus only increased this year, with a season of goofy pinball numbers.
But some people had already spoken up, on TV last year. Spoken up about playoff success (or lack thereof). That had not changed. The 9-11 record was real. The 4-10 record in head-to-heads vs. Brady was real. These few brave media people were not just going to forget it, amazingly.
We now hear more of them, louder and louder. Yes, we have turned them around. Peyton has ownership of that 10-11 career record. Media people, not just Patriots fans, are talking openly about a "mixed legacy" for Peyton Manning. They are talking about Sunday being a "must win" for his career. Even the Colts owner publicly griped that one ring in an amazing decade was just not enough.
In short, national news media are saying what we were saying 8-9 years ago.
That is refreshing.
We need this one on Sunday, though, or a lot of them will immediately sweep it all under the rug and say that 11-11 Manning has caught up to (in that scenario) or even passed 18-8 Brady, that 5-10 in head-to-heads is close enough to call it "advantage Peyton"
I REALLY hope that we do not let that happen.
Nothing would cap the stupid already-resolved (in Brady's favor) Manning-Brady "debate" like another beatdown of the fivehead as a home favorite, at the hands of the true greatest QB of all time.
:rocker:
That WOULD IMHO cement Brady's legacy as the best QB ever. But that's not all on Brady, is it? Just like losing any game isn't all on one player.
