Super Bowl Bound!!!!!

Over rated Hack? You obviously dont know crap about football if you really believe that. Manning is one of the best QB's to ever play the game. The man works and studies as hard as anyone in the league. Sounds more like sore loser syndrome than anything even remotely close to truly knowing the game of football.

In ten years or so I for one will be very sorry to see Manning and Brady retired. I am smart enough to know I am getting to see a very special era in pro football with two very special QBs and intend to savor every minute of it.

Originally Posted by shrap

Over rated Hack? You obviously dont know crap about football if you really believe that. Manning is one of the best QB's to ever play the game. The man works and studies as hard as anyone in the league. Sounds more like sore loser syndrome than anything even remotely close to truly knowing the game of football.

In ten years or so I for one will be very sorry to see Manning and Brady retired. I am smart enough to know I am getting to see a very special era in pro football with two very special QBs and intend to savor every minute of it.

I believe Manning is suffering from the same overabundance of praise that Brett Favre labored under for so long, although not to the same degree.

A quarterback's job is generally fufilled in four ways; his direct and personal physical performance on the feild, his awareness and leadership on the field, his commitment and leadership off the field with the team and his leadership qualities away from the team as a figurehead.

Manning is certainly able to physically perform on the field, he's got a great arm. This is where the Favre thing comes in though... Brett had a great arm but more importantly he had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, some legitimate weapons on the ground that prevented defenses from just doubling up pass coverage and some recievers that had been bitten by radioactive spiders.

Put Manning on a team that fits an NFL average rather than an NFL exception and I believe, like Favre, that his field awareness would start to come up a little lacking and the media focus on the individual would result in poorer performance on the field since the team effort would lag a bit. NOT to the same degree as favre, who really is a bad quarterback with a good arm and always has been... but certainly it would make the distinction a bit clearer that the current Colts are a noteworthy success versus the current Colt's Quarterback being a noteworthy success. Your local media coverage and fan base may see a lot more praise and acknowledgement of effort than we do in the national media but from over here... Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS, FOX and the various NFL networks and web sources have told me that the success of the Colts is due to the efforts of Peyton Manning and I'm simply not willing to believe that.

Since the ever present comparasin is to Brady; Brady isn't as physically up there as Manning is (although sometimes I think his physical abilities are downplayed because the Patriots do not run an offense with an emphasis on long passes; rarely does he toss the ball more than five-eight yards forward of the line to the point of reception) but the leadership and game awareness certainly exceed anything that Peyton has shown himself to posess.

A mediocre quarterback can win with an amazing team making them look good. A truly great quarterback can win with a mediocre team. Manning isn't mediocre and is pretty much sure-fire hall of fame material but I am not yet convinced that there isn't a fair portion of that Favre factor at work and the way the colts struggled a *little* bit offensively this year against certain defensive fronts would tend to support that contention.

Also- talking football is all about the superlatives and hyperbole. "Overrated hack" = "I don't think he's quite as good, as an individual, as he is often represented as being and that his obvious success comes from more than personal acchievement." Where "Worst Quarterback Ever" would mean he was tied with Favre and Brian "I tripped over my *hic* dog" Griese.

There were two great quarterbacks on the field last Sunday. Both performed beautifully. ( Can you imagine the concentration you need when you have your opponent only a few feet from you and you have to concentrate on the play down field.) Pats had a few dropped passes both teams got a little luck, recovering balls in the end zone. But, and I am a staunch Pats fan saying this, the writing was on the wall when Manning came out firing in the second half. I knew the Pats were in serious trouble when they had to settle for a field goal with a about 4 minutes left in the game. Indy scores a touch down then we need one also, with about a minute to play.
Pats had a great year considering the injuries and the loss of players. I was glad Vinatieri wasn't a factor. Pats were dumb to let him go. and I didn't want to be pissed off at him.
Manning is a great quarterback. Hard to figure where he fits in with the likes of Tittle, Staubach, Unitas, Namath to name a few that come to mind. If Indy wins the super bowl he certainly will be compared to the best.

Having spent a great deal of my life in Colorado (I know you lived in Denver area for awhile too Seamus) all this talk about going to Brian Griese in Chicago over Rex Grossman, just makes my hair stand on end (of course there is that much of that). I think Brett is significantly better than Brian is. Brian Griese is a better tackling dummy than a quarterback.

I think Brady is a good quarterback with strong fundamentals, the media builds him to be so much better. What Brady has, and Seamus is right, is a strong team around him both on offense and defense. They can march up and down the field with control and the defense will stop you more than you stop them. Which leads to my answer for Kevin I didn't say run up the score, I said in favor of Colts. You have a suspect defense and not many can stop the patriot offense even if your playing well. So the fastest way to keep the Patriots from scoring is don't let them have the ball. A touchdown at the end of a long pass is the same six points as a touch down at the end of a long drive. The difference is you took 6 minutes off the clock doing it and your percentage of success is greater than the bomb. You also need to establish the short game (runs, swing pass, underneath, or screen to spread the defense and hold the safeties). The colts didn't do any of that they just kept trying to go down the field. It wasn't until the start of the second half they started rolling.

Originally Posted by shrap

Bill errrrr Amy, Rozann and the other Bears supporters.... It's all good fun. It should be a great game.... and yes I hope the Colts whoop that butt.

Amy is the Bears fan, she told me I have to cheer them on. She is gonna be surprised on Feb. 4th when I'm yelling "Go Colts!!" I hope you know how much grief I am going to get over this if they win. I'm sure she will say it like the Black Crowes sing it, "Keep your hands to yourself".