Posted by MikeT23 on 2/4/2014 9:49:00 AM (view original):

Posted by zsap on 2/4/2014 9:26:00 AM (view original):
Only stat that matters is the W
Brady: 18-8 in the postseason
Manning: 11-12 in the postseason

The playoffs are where you prove how elite you are

I see.   Brady is like Superman.   He snaps the ball to himself, blocks a few defenders while scanning his receivers, all named Tom Brady, before completing a pass to himself.    Then, after he kicks the extra point, he takes the field to play some defense. 

Trent Dilfer is 5-1 in the post-season.  One of the best ever? 

I think you've got something wrong here, because Gisele Bundchen very specifically said "My husband cannot ******* throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time." after Super Bowl 46.

Obviously, in 8 games, he decided to let the other 52 guys play.   And you know how those games turned out. 

Posted by zsap on 2/4/2014 9:26:00 AM (view original):
Only stat that matters is the W
Brady: 18-8 in the postseason
Manning: 11-12 in the postseason

The playoffs are where you prove how elite you are

Brady won his first 10 postseason games with a team that wasn't really built around the offense and is a .500 QB in the postseason since.   He's lost several home postseason games, and 2 Super Bowls in which the Pats were favored, one in which they were a prohibitive favorite.

Did he suddenly become less elite in 2005?

Posted by AlCheez on 2/4/2014 10:11:00 AM (view original):

Posted by zsap on 2/4/2014 9:26:00 AM (view original):
Only stat that matters is the W
Brady: 18-8 in the postseason
Manning: 11-12 in the postseason

The playoffs are where you prove how elite you are

Brady won his first 10 postseason games with a team that wasn't really built around the offense and is a .500 QB in the postseason since.   He's lost several home postseason games, and 2 Super Bowls in which the Pats were favored, one in which they were a prohibitive favorite.

Did he suddenly become less elite in 2005?

Spygate.

Posted by AlCheez on 2/4/2014 10:11:00 AM (view original):

Posted by zsap on 2/4/2014 9:26:00 AM (view original):
Only stat that matters is the W
Brady: 18-8 in the postseason
Manning: 11-12 in the postseason

The playoffs are where you prove how elite you are

Brady won his first 10 postseason games with a team that wasn't really built around the offense and is a .500 QB in the postseason since.   He's lost several home postseason games, and 2 Super Bowls in which the Pats were favored, one in which they were a prohibitive favorite.

Did he suddenly become less elite in 2005?

Ironically, you can easily argue he got better.

As for Irsay's idiocy, in the 10 seasons prior to Manning, 67 wins, two playoff appearances and a best record of 9-7.   Twice, in 13 seasons with Manning, did they fail to win at least 10 games and make the playoffs.   Irsay should STFU and be thankful he didn't draft Ryan Leaf.

Honestly, at this point, while Manning certainly has a large contingent die-hard defenders who refuse to see any of his flaws, I think it's Brady who gets more protection from criticism these days.  Because he won 3 Super Bowls right away, there's still real resistance to evaluating his postseason legacy.  He's been coming up small in big games for a while recently too - sometimes for reasons beyond his control, sometimes not.

I think the original question has been answered.  

People who have no plans on "defending" Manning do so when someone says "Playoff wins are all that counts" and point to his 11-12 record.   I know that's why I've done it today.   Trent Dilfer is 5-1 in the playoffs and anyone who even tries to favor him in a comparison to Manning should be slapped in the mouth.  Manning's numbers are slightly off in the playoffs but, I imagine, most QBs will be as they're facing better defenses.  Manning is hardly reason they lost 12 of 23. 

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/4/2014 10:04:00 AM (view original):

Love those gifs.  

I wasn't watching very closely after the 1st quarter (bored), but it seemed pretty clear that Manning was gonna get somebody killed over the middle with his 20-mph softballs into the zone.  I can only remember one completion over 20 yards (and that one was fumbled).  Given their game plan (throw short and get receivers pounded into hamburger) and their fumbilitis, they're lucky they only lost by 35.

And since Peyton is the one calling all these crappy plays (which they love to emphasize), yeah, he deserves a lot of the blame.

Uh, Manning does not have the arm strength to throw anything but short.   Someone has been saying this for a year and a half.  Oh, yeah, that was me. 

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/4/2014 1:05:00 PM (view original):
Uh, Manning does not have the arm strength to throw anything but short.   Someone has been saying this for a year and a half.  Oh, yeah, that was me. 

Ditto.

Reason he looked great vs the Pats, was once Aqib got injured, they CB's stopped playing bump coverage and let the WR have 5+ yards free.  Thomas (both of them) could catch and pound our small corners.

I imagine Manning looked at coverage a few times and thought "I wish I had time to send someone deep.......Ah, ****, I can't throw deep.   WTF was I thinking?"

You can't (or shouldn't) throw deep anyway when every single DB is faster than every single one of your WRs.

Denver's best chance was to establish a run game, and try to get the linebackers to respect play action to open up the short/medium zones.  We were all laughing when Peyton was faking handoffs when they were down by 20 points.