A Win Puts Manning In A Whole New Class Of QB’s

Peyton Manning has it all. Great arm, great composure in the pocket and under pressure and the ability to do so many things at the line like no other signal caller who ever played the game of football. He even has a ring. But for someone who’s more of a perfectionist than anyone has ever seen in the NFL, Manning must want this game more than anything he’s ever wanted in his life.

A win on Sunday for Manning gives him a second championship and puts him in the conversation for the greatest Quarterback of all time. Monatna, Marino, Unitas and Manning would be on the proverbial Mount Rushmore of QB’s.

It’s an often used cliché that the best players in any sport takes what the defenses give them, and Manning did just that during the AFC Championship Game. New York took away the running game and élite receiver Reggie Wayne, and undrafted WR Pierre Garcon had the best game of his life which he dedicated to his native Haiti. Austin Collie and Dallas Clark had phenomenal games against the Jets and Manning shifted his offensive line’s protection scheme after a rocky and rough first 23 minutes of the game where the offense sputtered and Manning found himself on his back more often than any other stretch in recent memory. But he adjusted, like he always does, and the Jets couldn’t stop him the rest of the way.

New Orleans Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams always brings heavy pressure, but there’s nothing Manning hasn’t seen, nothing he hasn’t done, nothing he has not conquered and persevered through. A Super Bowl victory on Sunday would put Manning on a whole new level in the all-time QB discussion. His first championship silenced the doubters; his second ring would have the world singing his praises and would have many people call him the greatest who ever lived.