Enough is enough. Peyton Manning is the greatest QB of all time.

[Deviant]

The Greatest of All-Time does NOT choke in the Super Bowl.

That is an automatic disqualifier.

You can be #2-through-infinity, but, you can not be number one.

I know you said the Super Bowl, but the proclaimed "GOAT" Montana choked against the greatest Super Bowl choker of all time in the AFC Championship Game:

But... he wasn't on those teams. You could say the same thing about Tom Brady too.. and not to sound like a raging Favre lover, but I'm sure Favre would have done pretty damn good with those stacked Niners teams that Montana won on.

If we're doing what-if scenarios, I'm sure Marino would have liked to have a Terrell Davis like Elway did. Or a Marshall Faulk like Warner had. Or the 2000 Ravens D. Etc, etc.

Given what we KNOW.. and given what we have SEEN.. Peyton Manning has 1 championship and Joe Montana has 4.

Until Manning wins another, this cannot even be a realistic discussion right now. Hell Brady was a dropped Asante Samuel pick away from having BOTH 4 rings and a perfect season under his belt. And even then, we can't anoint him the GOAT yet.

That's because Brady isn't really an elite status quarterback. He gets the praise because of his records, not necessarily his ability. Whenever Brady is brought up in discussion, it's always about Super Bowls won and playoff record and now his 18-1 season. Brady never screamed "one of the greatest quarterbacks" to me. It also doesn't help his case that he got injured and Matt Cassel, his backup, essentially had a similar season to him last year. The Patriots could still make runs with Tom Brady and I believe that he's a story that just happened to be in the right place at the right time with Bledsoe's injury. I don't even think many people had him as a Top 5 quarterback for this previous season.

Is that why Manning's losses have mostly been because of the offense scoring much less than expected? They came out against a so-so defense and only were able to put up 17 points, while giving up 7 on an interception. Their defense held the amazing Saints offense to 24, which is by no means bad. Manning should have been able to put on a show, but I guess it was his defense's fault that they could only put up a +10 point differential when the Colts had the ball.

The Colts' defense constantly gets ragged on, but without it, Manning wouldn't have his only ring. The defense got Peyton to the Super Bowl and helped him win it. He was awful that post-season.

As for the 49ers comparison, I would love to see what numbers Montana would be able to put up in Manning's system where players cannot be touched 5 yards past the line and the offense is given nearly every advantage. Montana would have easily put up better post-season numbers than Manning... oh wait... he did that already without all those benefits.

Montana is number 1 and he is by himself.

Manning's performance last night really dropped him down a notch or two in my mind. That pick he threw was just awful. Joe Montana would have never thrown that pass. Not to mention, Manning's playoff record and stats are not that great, either.

He will finish his career as the best regular season QB of all time, but when it comes to the playoffs, he can't hold a candle to Joe.

Joe Montana was so great, San Francisco got rid of him and won another Super Bowl with Steve Young. That team was greater than Montana was. Had Montana reached the Super Bowl with the Chiefs, I'd buy the Super Bowl argument.

People also forget that Garcon dropped a would be first down in their first possession of the second quarter and that the Colts attempted to run out the clock in their last one. Critical drop because the Saints then take control of the entire second quarter afterwards.

Also, the follow performances were by Joe Montana in the playoffs:

9-23, 39.1%, 125 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 39.2 RAT
12-26, 46.2%, 109 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 42.0 RAT
8-15, 53.3%, 98 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 34.2 RAT

I think we can stop with the "Montana wouldn't do that" argument because it's silly. They're both humans. They both make mistakes.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I watched Joe Montana have some of the most horrific playoff performances i've ever seen.

People put far too much weight into SB's when comparing great QB's. It's just one factor.

[jaxjaggywires]

Manning makes some awesome faces though...runs in the family: Link

[Jagsfan61]

i actually hate the colts BECAUSE of peyton manning.

[FedEx227]

Manning makes some awesome faces though...runs in the family: Link

[jaxjaggywires]

Oddly enough, that's how he looked after the game too...

[Tailback U]

Peyton Manning's forehead is bigger than his torso.

[Len B]

I do love the two polar opposites fans take with this approach.

For me, it's simple. Do you draft a player and hope that he has the best statistical season ever, or do you hope that he steps up big in the playoffs and gets your team the ultimate goal, the championship?

Manning will statistically be the best QB to ever play the game, and will rank in the top three to five when all is said and done. However, you cannot look past the fact that he is just 9-9 in his playoff career.

The competition gets better in the playoffs, opposed to regular season games where you are lucky to get in eight playoff caliber opponents. If you can't carry your team in the playoffs, all you are doing is establishing your team is mediocre year after year.

I love Peyton Manning's game, but you simply cannot bypass a lot of the shitty playoff performances if you want to call him the greatest ever. It's obviously a team game, but when teams are as evenly matched as they were last night, and the other QB out performs you on the biggest stage, it's an eye opener.

It'd be like watching Patrick Ewing beat Michael Jordan, or watching Sergio Garcia beat Tiger Woods in a best out of seven.

[Archer]

I do love the two polar opposites fans take with this approach.

For me, it's simple. Do you draft a player and hope that he has the best statistical season ever, or do you hope that he steps up big in the playoffs and gets your team the ultimate goal, the championship?

Manning will statistically be the best QB to ever play the game, and will rank in the top three to five when all is said and done. However, you cannot look past the fact that he is just 9-9 in his playoff career.

The competition gets better in the playoffs, opposed to regular season games where you are lucky to get in eight playoff caliber opponents. If you can't carry your team in the playoffs, all you are doing is establishing your team is mediocre year after year.

I love Peyton Manning's game, but you simply cannot bypass a lot of the shitty playoff performances if you want to call him the greatest ever. It's obviously a team game, but when teams are as evenly matched as they were last night, and the other QB out performs you on the biggest stage, it's an eye opener.

It'd be like watching Patrick Ewing beat Michael Jordan, or watching Sergio Garcia beat Tiger Woods in a best out of seven.

For me, it's simple. Do you draft a player and hope that he has the best statistical season ever, or do you hope that he steps up big in the playoffs and gets your team the ultimate goal, the championship?

What kind of a question is this? Why would anybody draft a QB with no intention of winning the superbowl

The competition gets better in the playoffs, opposed to regular season games where you are lucky to get in eight playoff caliber opponents. If you can't carry your team in the playoffs, all you are doing is establishing your team is mediocre year after year.

Yeah it does. This is the same for every QB in history though so I'm not sure what the point is . I guess the competition wasn't high enough when Manning tore the number one defense in the NFL apart in the AFCCCG. I also didn't know 12-14 wins seasons were mediocre

I love Peyton Manning's game, but you simply cannot bypass a lot of the shitty playoff performances if you want to call him the greatest ever. It's obviously a team game, but when teams are as evenly matched as they were last night, and the other QB out performs you on the biggest stage, it's an eye opener.

Both QBs played equal games [or close] all the way until Manning's pick . Brees threw a bad pass in the first half but Bethea dropped it . Garcon also dropped a pass that probably would have led to the Colts being up 13-3 or 17-3 . A drop that Manning can do nothing about .

It'd be like watching Patrick Ewing beat Michael Jordan, or watching Sergio Garcia beat Tiger Woods in a best out of seven

Horrible comparisions. Both are sports where one player can take over and almost do it all by himself [hell golf is a one player sport for fucks sake].

[Bear Pand]

Yeah it does. This is the same for every QB in history though so I'm not sure what the point is . I guess the competition wasn't high enough when Manning tore the number one defense in the NFL apart in the AFCCCG. I also didn't know 12-14 wins seasons were mediocre

That's how it goes though. When Manning rips through two top 3 defenses (in terms of points given up per game and yards given up per game) it's just on to the next one to see if he chokes.

Considering everything that happened in that game yesterday Manning basically would've had to have played perfect and gotten a little luck to win. Because even if they score it comes down to the Colts D making their first stop of the second half, and then possibly an OT coinflip.

Colts had the ball 8 times. They scored on 3 of those drives (The TD drive I think was the longest or tied for the longest in SB history). On one of the drives they missed a fg. Two punts (one due to them running 3 straight plays and trying to run the clock out, the other due to Garcon dropping a huge pass on third down). Then the other two drives ended with his pick 6 and the desperation drive at the end.

Peyton makes one mistake the entire game and that's enough to break the team's back. The blame is still on him for making that mistake but it was a total team loss. It's the Colts fault for building the team that way and constantly putting him in that situation. You can only come back in the 4th quarter so many times in one season I guess.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

[Fox1994]

Horrible comparisions. Both are sports where one player can take over and almost do it all by himself [hell golf is a one player sport for fucks sake].

People talk about QBs the same way.

[manchild24]

I dont care if Manning won the game or not last HE WILL GO DOWN AS THE GREATEST QB OF ALL. CASE CLOSED

I FUCKING HATE when they talk about SB wins. Well Marino never got one so he sux according to all these guys. BUT because its Marino its all good. Brady won cause they cheated, how did they do this year. He was a project of the system, is good? Very Good! But If I had to chose a QB in this era.

Manning
Brees
Rivers
Brady
McNabb- YES I said it. This guy has gotten to more Playoff games and did more with less talent then anyone on the above.

I Cant believe I heard Michael Irvin (dont even get me started on this guy, how he is in the HOF ahead of guys like Carter, Brown, Reed and got in before Monk is BEYOND ME. COKE, PROSTITUTES, STABBED A FUCKING PLAYER with scissors over a hair cut) compare Aikmen to Manning, saying Aikmen has three and had less around him. Aikem onl had a great TE the best FB at the time, the best O line, the all time leading rusher, and two above average WRs.

[Archer]

People talk about QBs the same way.

People should stop then

A QB can not take over a game like a player in basketball can .

[FedEx227]

Yeah, that's an awful comparison.