A BEATEN MANN!
After this beatdown, Peyton can’t be called ‘Greatest Ever’
THE great ones never flinch. They never blink. They never cower. They never panic. They feel serenity when others feel chaos. They figure it out. The heat of battle never scorches them. Somehow, some way, they find a way. They will a way.
It can be inside a boxing ring in Zaire. Or a football stadium in New Jersey. Even the great ones can’t count on an Mr. October night at the beginning of February. A Game 7 Clyde Frazier night at the Garden. An Air Jordan night at the Garden. A perfect Don Larsen day at Yankee Stadium. An uplifting Mike Piazza night post9/11.
But on a warmerthanwecouldhavehopedfor night at MetLife Stadium, against this swarming, sneering, swaggerlicious Seattle defense, Peyton Manning didn’t have a legacy to stand on
He had his chance, very possibly his last chance, to be crowned THE GREATEST EVER unceremoniously intercepted.
He too often looked more like Eli Manning against the Seahawks in December than the Peyton Manning who terrorized the NFL at age 37.
Instead of feeding off its deafening 12th Man, it looked as if the Seahawks were playing with 12 men, and the clock in Manning’s head became an alarm clock.
They made him look every bit like a rattled, jittery quarterback two months from his 38th birthday.
He was Mannhandled, 438. By Manneaters. . In this quarterbackdriven NFL, defense still wins championships, if you can field a defense like this.
After 12 seconds, Manning trailed 20, because center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball over his head as Manning approached the line of scrimmage.
After 4:39, Manning trailed 50.
Manning went threeandout in large part because Kam Chancellor made like Jack Tatum on a twoyard completion on a crossing pattern to Demaryius Thomas.
With 2:16 left in the first quarter, Manning trailed 80.
The Broncos refused to let Marshawn Lynch beat them, so Wilson started beating them, and Manning wasn’t helping his own cause.
It was thirdand7 when Manning, pressured by Cliff Avril, threw high over the middle for tight end Julius Thomas, oneonone against K.J. Wright, and Chancellor intercepted at the Denver 37.
By the end of the first quarter, Manning possessed the ball for all of 3:19.
With 12 minutes left in the second quarter, Manning trailed 150.
Finally, he began looking like Manning, moving the ball down the field with short, surgical strikes to Demaryius Thomas. But now it was thirdand9, and Manning needed to convert in the worst way. He did, on a 16yarder to Wes Welker against Walter Thurmond.
But once again it was third and long, this time thirdand13, and Manning again needed to convert in the worst way.
Only Avril had other ideas. Avril brought the heat into Manning’s kitchen and hit his elbow as he unloaded the ball and Malcolm Smith returned the fluttering lollipop 69 yards to pay dirt. Manning trudged to the shell shocked Denver sidelines as the Sea hawks whooped it up.
With 3:21 left in the half, Manning trailed 220.
Manning needed a touchdown before the half in the worst way. He matched his team to fourthand2 at the Seattle 19, only to have Chris Clemons deflect a pass left for Demaryius Thomas.
His quarterback rating for the half ? 46.3. He didn’t bother trying to establish a ground game. His longest completion went for 19 yards. His QB rating at the end of the game was still a pedestrian 73.5.
The second half didn’t get any better for Manning as Percy Harvin resembled Usain Bolt returning the opening kickoff 87 yards, and 12 seconds into the second half. He trailed 290.
No Lombardi Trophy for him. No second ring. No historic championships with two different teams.
No Greatest Ever.