Manning was great. Top 10 if not top 5. Always worried about him. But for most of his career he withered in the most crucial moments, and the D saved his bacon in both of his Super Bowl wins. Manning was so overconfident that he was not careful with the ball so he made gut wrenching fumbles and interceptions. & when he left the confines of the Dome, he didn't much like the cold weather either.
I give him a ton of credit for his one great year with the Broncos. He looked great. Had learned his lessons. Played in cold weather. But then he was obliterated by the Seahawks.
It's very odd that people always say Brady won his 6 SBs because of Belichick's great D, but they rarely if ever mention that 3 of those Super Bowl wins were because of a great offense (Carolina, Seattle, Atlanta). Not to mention that 2 of the losses were due to poor defense (NY Giants #2 and Philadelphia #2). All credit goes o the Patriots D vs. Rams #1, Philly #1, Rams #2, but otherwise it was all Brady.