Right. Let's remember who his team beat and how Manning 'put that team on his back' en route to that Super Bowl, shall we?
• 23-8 over the Kansas City Chiefs, coached by Herman Edwards (out of football) and quarterbacked by Trent Green (out of football, threw more picks than TDs that year). Manning threw 3 INTs in this game and the main reason the Colts won was the defense's ability to stop a completely gassed Larry Johnson (416 carries that year, would never be the same).
• 15-6 over the Baltimore Ravens, once again, not because of Manning, who threw 0 TDs and 2 INTs that day. Baltimore was QB'ed by an over-the-hill Steve McNair and their RB was an over-the-hill Jamal Lewis. McNair's best WR was Mark Clayton, who's never broken 50 receptions or 700 yards since 2006. Manning never got his team into the end zone and they won with 5 Adam Vinatieri field goals.
• 38-34 over the New England Patriots. This is the game everyone remembers, as the Colts fell behind 21-3 at home to the Pats before roaring back to win in the 2nd half. Manning threw for 349 yards in this game, but only 1 TD and 1 INT, and let's remember who he was facing. Brady's great, but his #1 WR that year was Reche Caldwell. Need I say more? This was also the last game New England's washed up RB Corey Dillon would ever play. A far cry from the 18-1 Pats team of the following year.
• 29-17 over the Chicago Bears. Manning has a respectable game of 247, 1 TD and 1 INT, but again, who was on the other sideline? Rex Grossman, who had calls for his head all season and postseason that year despite the Bears going 13-3. The same guy who's started all of 8 games in the NFL since the Super Bowl. He was predictably awful in this game, throwing for 165, 1 TD and 2 INTs. And let's not even mention the coaching discrepancy.
Manning's stat line in the 4 games that postseason: 97-163, 1,034 yards, 3 TDs, 7 INTs. A whopping 66.4 QB rating, compared to his lifetime 95.5 number.
But yet this brilliant stretch is what makes him great and not a loser like Marino.
Listen, as a Jet fan, nothing makes me happier than the fact that Marino never won anything and became synonymous with the word 'choker' in the NFL. But Manning was as lucky as lucky gets to win his one Super Bowl and he should be far more famous for his failures in the postseason than his one 'success'. He's probably the greatest regular season quarterback who ever lived, but
this is what people who actually know and watch the game will associate him with way before the one time he managed to not play worse than Rex Grossman.
The guy is 9-9 in the postseason despite his team averaging 12.2 wins per season in 10 playoff years. But yeah, he's great and Marino's a choker.