Quote:
Originally Posted by Defensewins
I will agree that Brady has benefitted from a better a slightly better team defense only if you agree that Manning has choked in really big games through out his entire carreer.
Examples: (his QB ratings are most alarming)
1) Wild card lose to Jets in 2002: 2 int's ; Zero Td's and a QB rating of 31.3
2) Confrence Playoff loss to NE in 2003: 4 int's; 1 TD; QB rating 35.5
3) Confrence Playoff loss to NE in 2004: 1int; zero TD; QB rating 69.3
4) Divisional Playoff WIN to Bal 2006; 2 int; zero TD; QB rating 39.6
Brady's worst playoff QB rating in his career was last weeks San Diego game 57.6, otherwise his INDIVIDUAL PLAY and stats IN THE BIG GAMES is way better than Mannings. You can say all you want about their team mates talent, but the Colts defense did not throw 4 ints to NE. It was Manning that made the decisions, read the defenses and threw the ball that earned him those failing QB ratings. Not his teamamtes. Manning has to take responsibilty for his actions.
Oh, and wasn't it Manning that in frustration during their end of regular season 5 game losing streak called out the defense during a post game interview?
Pot to kettle your black.
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In both Patriot losses, the team had a top 10 defense. In 2003, the Patriots had the No. 1 pass D and the No. 4 rush D. Last week, his opponent, Baltimore, had the leagues No. 1 defense. All 4 of the games you mention were road games for the Colts in chilly to freezing outdoor environments.
Does that mean that the losses weren't Manning's fault? Of course they were. He deserves as much blame for the losses as credit for the wins (which IMO is far less than he gets, but w/e). But to me, a choke situation can only occur when a team is heavily favored to win, and they go in and lay an egg. In ALL of those contests you mention, his team was the underdog. So losing those matchups to me is not a choke situation, and the bad statlines are a result of his team getting beaten (by a superior unit) as much as they are a result of some bad decisions.
I think you could argue that he may have choked last year vs. Pittsburgh, but that team went on to win the Super Bowl. And he spent most of that game on his ass as his offensive line had a horrendous day. Theres little doubt in my mind that Peyton played well enough to win that game and his team let him down. That's not necessarily the case with all the games, just this one.
So not only does he not choke in all big games, I think he might have choked once, ever, and even thats debateable.
The point is that we don't know why Brady usually wins in the playoffs and Manning sometimes struggles. Maybe something wacky happens to Peyton's brain during playoff time that clouds his judgement (But only in certain games, other times he's normal). Maybe he's just facing superior defensive units. Maybe it's the cold weather that affects his judgement. Maybe the games are fixed. Maybe it's bad luck.
Maybe the sample size is too small to know anything. We don't know for sure and that last reason is why.
What we do know is this. If you combine the playoffs with the regular season into a clump I like to call "football games", Manning is the far superior QB to Brady. Under the most pressure packed situations, Manning almost always comes through in the clutch. So we can be almost certain it isn't the pressure. In Peytons 3 most impressive playoff games, Manning has torched the opposition to the point where the Colts averaged 1 punt a game over those three. Did Brady ever have a 3 game stretch remotely close to that impressive?
Maybe we need to define what "choking" is before using it against a guy. Put some paramaters on it.