NFL Divisional Round Winners and Losers: Manning, Luck, Seahawks and more

LOSERS: Peyton Manning

Manning isn’t really a loser, even if he retires. The fact is, he is one of—if not THE—greatest regular season quarterbacks of all time. He’s also one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, period.

He has MVPs, he has a Super Bowl, he has playoff wins.

Where the narrative derails is when we focus on the playoff losses. Over the last three seasons, Manning has been one and done twice with the Broncos, and although the first time he was merely a safety play away from victory, there were chances to win that game against Baltimore prior to that.

Manning will forever battle the ‘choker’ label when it comes to the playoffs and that’s unfortunate because he is such a tremendous player overall. In the end, he really needed to win that last Super Bowl to shake the label, but after this another championship might not even do it.

I have to wonder if, even after ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out that Manning had been playing the past month of the season with a torn right quad, people will still buy into the ‘choker’ narrative. I suspect many will.

If anything, the quest for one more ring could be the thing which brings him back. But he was a shell of himself the last month, and what many (including myself) didn’t want to admit was that maybe it was finally the decline we expected post-neck surgery.

Manning has a ton to decide this offseason and I cannot imagine how tough it will be to make them. It’s unfortunate though that at the end of his career he will likely now be more well known for his losses in the playoffs than for his successes overall.

Next: WINNERS: Seattle Seahawks